Recent Stories
The Director of the Center for Climate and Health Receives Beverly A. Brown Professorship
The Director of the Center for Climate and Health, Dr. Gregory Wellenius, has been named the Beverly A. Brown Professor for the Improvement of Urban Health. The Beverly A. Brown professorship, a multidisciplinary position dedicated to addressing health disparities among urban populations, aims to highlight and advance the efforts of an... More
Communicating Extreme Heat Health Risks with Local News Orgs
Much of the United States has declared multiple heat advisories so far this summer. Ahead of the first heat wave in New England, Patricia Fabian joined the NPR show "All Things Considered" to discuss the ways in which extreme heat can affect vulnerable populations, and how best to prepare and... More
Research Connecting CKDu and Physical Labor in Extreme Heat Featured in Nature
Research from Madeleine Scammell is featured in a June 2025 piece in Nature: How a mysterious epidemic of kidney disease is killing thousands of young men., which discusses the epidemic of chronic kidney disease of unknown cause (CKDu) in Central America. CKDu affects people aged 20 and 50 years who... More
New Special Issue on Climate Change and Health in the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
The May 2025 publication from the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy: Special Issue on Climate Change and Health explores the unique opportunities and challenges cities encounter in promoting public health in a changing climate. Alumna Quinn Adams served as a guest editor. The issue includes exciting contributions... More
Symposium Convenes Stakeholders to Advance Equitable Heat Health Actions
On June 18, 2025, the Center for Climate & Health and Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) hosted a symposium: "Fostering Collaborations: A Symposium to Advance Equitable Heat Health Actions" to bring together regional stakeholders including state and municipal governments, academics, healthcare institutions, community-based organizations, foundations, and advocacy groups in the... More
Optimizing Tree Canopy and Cool Roofs to Provide Cooling in Boston
A paper led by Ian Smith (Earth & Environment) showed that given a constrained budget, a strategy that combines addition of cool roofs and new trees is optimal for reducing vulnerability weighted excess heat exposure in Boston. The study quantifies the changes in tree canopy coverage and cool roof solutions... More
Affiliate Spotlight: John (JT) Lambert
Each newsletter we feature a CCH affiliate to learn a bit more about their work. This month we speak with John (JT) Lambert, a 2024 Center for Climate and Health Fellow and recent BUSPH MPH graduate. Tell us a bit about your background in public health: I earned my MPH from BUSPH... More
New Data Visualization: Where Will Extreme Heat Hit Hardest by 2050?
A new study led by CCH Research Data Analyst Zach Popp uses applied statistical and geospatial methods to map the intersections of shifting demographics, including social vulnerabilities, with increased warming predicted for mid-century across the US. This novel research combines methodology from climate science to understand future heat extremes, demography... More
Federal Cuts at FEMA and NOAA Threaten Disaster Response Ahead of Hurricane Season
Forecasters are predicting an "above-normal" hurricane season in the Atlantic for 2025, while workforce cuts driven by the Trump Administration at federal agencies FEMA and NOAA will affect disaster response. “Reducing the staff that are working to make weather forecasts more accurate and effective, while also making cuts to the agency... More
CCH Co-hosts Symposium “Climate, Biogeoscience, and Health: Transformative Science to Real-World Action”
With support from the Hariri Institute, the Center for Climate and Health and the BU URBAN program co-hosted a symposium on December, 6 2024 to showcase leading research at the intersection of climate change and human health drawn from across Boston University with particular focus on BU research that is... More