In a first-time partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha Center for Afghanistan Studies, the Water, Climate and Health Program in the UNMC College of Public Health recently hosted 10 environmental health faculty from universities in Pakistan.
A select group of female faculty were invited to participate in a two-week visit in May to UNMC, UNO and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where they collaborated with local faculty researching the impacts of climate change. The trip — part of an exchange program made possible by funding from the U.S. Department of State — was designed to help build the capacity of women’s universities in Pakistan.
“In countries such as Pakistan, women and children are the first group of people impacted (by climate change),” said Sher Jan Ahmadzai, director of the UNO Center for Afghanistan Studies and the principal investigator for the program’s grant. “They are the most vulnerable population, and educating women educational leaders in this field is of immense importance toward addressing climate change and helping them prepare to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change in their lives.
“With this project, we are trying to play an important role empowering women educators and harnessing them with knowledge they can share with their students and other community members.”
Visiting faculty worked with UNMC’s Kristina Kintziger, PhD, Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Health and Environment, and Jesse Bell, PhD, Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Water, Climate and Health, to learn about human health impacts of climate change.
Dr. Kintziger, whose research centers around environmental exposures and human health impacts, said the program is an important collaborative effort.
“Training female faculty from a variety of disciplines on the impacts of climate change on human health not only will increase awareness among academics and their students but will also potentially bring new perspectives and novel methods to address these issues,” Dr. Kintziger said.
For more information about this program, please contact Summer Woolsey, communications and outreach coordinator for the UNMC Water, Climate and Health Program.