Audience
Failing Our Children is Not an Option!
Combating Climate Change, Harmful Chemical Exposures, and Environmental Injustice is Necessary for the Health and Well-Being of Current and Future Generations
Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, MPH, Executive Director, the Children’s Environmental Health Network
Thursday, February 23rd at 4:45 p.m. in Library 321
Human activities, especially emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, vehicular emissions and land-use change, are some of the primary drivers of climate change. The effects of climate change on our most vulnerable, especially children, include physical and psychological impacts of weather disasters, increased heat stress, decreased air quality, altered disease patterns of some climate-sensitive infections, and food, water, and nutrient insecurity in vulnerable regions. Looking further at the implications directly upon African American, Latinx, tribal, and poor children we find that the synergies among the social determinants of health and basic injustice drivers are strong when considering those impacted by climate change. For generations, especially high risk families have continued to find themselves in direct exposures to the harsh and real impacts that climate change brings. This presentation will acknowledge the injustice realities of environmental disasters caused by climate change and offer example pathways for achieving equitable futures for all children.
Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, MPH, serves as the Executive Director for the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN), where her responsibilities include successfully organizing, leading, and managing policy, education/training, and science-related programs. For the past 21 years, she has served as a key spokesperson for children’s vulnerabilities and the need for their protection, conducting presentations and lectures across the country. She is a leader in the field of children’s environmental health, serving on the External Science Board for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) NIH Research work. She is a Co-Leader of the Health/Science initiative of the Cancer Free Economy Network and Co-Chair of the National Environmental Health Partnership Council. Ms. Witherspoon is also the Board Chair for the Pesticide Action Network of North America, a Board Member for the Environmental Integrity Project, and serves on the Maryland Children’s Environmental Health Advisory Council.
Ms. Witherspoon has a B.S. in Biology Pre Med from Siena College and an M.P.H. in Maternal and Child Health from The George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services. She is a proud mom to 4 children!
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