Planetary health recognizes a balance is needed among the global systems of land, air, water and life. It raises awareness about our looming crisis of rapidly growing populations juxtaposed against limited food and natural resources. Climate change adds more unpredictability and extreme events into the mix. Planetary health identifies solutions that will help populations, both human and animal, to foster resilience in the face of changing environments. The Center for Planetary Health envisions a healthy planet supporting healthy people.
We believe achievable responses to large-scale health and environment transitions will be intrinsically integrative, multidisciplinary, and multi-campus, involving stakeholders globally and locally. The CPH has the ability to galvanize faculty, researchers, and students across the ten UC campuses to address the threats and opportunities surrounding the health of populations and their environments and develop effective solutions.
The USAID-funded One Health Workforce - Next Generation project engages across sectors to prevent, detect, and respond to emerging disease threats of epidemic and pandemic importance. On an international scale, the One Health Workforce has now trained over 30,000 people across 17 countries in Africa and Southeast Asia on topics related to global health security and planetary health including antimicrobial resistance, risk communication, gender and One Health, and outbreak investigation and response. This project includes supporting front line teams working out of 100 universities in the 17 LMIC countries to engage with local communities and university students as well as faculty, and also creation of the One Health Workforce Academies online training platform that has now reached university students and faculty learners across 80 countries and provides access to online courses, case studies, facilitator guides, and field guides at no cost to learners at this time. UCGHI and CPH leadership including Drs. Woutrina Smith, Ndola Prata, Dele Ogunseitan, and Federico Castillo have been involved in these internationally recognized efforts across multiple UC campuses, and numerous UC faculty and students have engaged and benefited as well.
Read more about the initiative here: https://ucghi.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/one-health-workforce-academies-creates-global-academic-connections-interdependent-world
Established in 2017 at UC Berkeley, The Latinxs and the Environment Initiative (LEI) seeks to establish a comprehensive program designed to generate knowledge and encourage increased study and research on Latinxs and the environment—both in the U.S. and abroad with the coordinated participation of policy makers, community based organizations (CBOs) and the academic community.
LEI intends to create a space where Latinx students are provided with the guidance and resources in order to demystify research, graduate school and other higher education programs that are not as accessible for first-generation students. We seek to increase student retention and success by providing students with the skills and tools they need in order to achieve their higher education goals. This includes funding student research projects, for both undergraduate and graduate students, hosting student-led seminars and community spaces, and creating connections between students and our university faculty and community partners.
Latinx & the Environment expanded to UC Riverside in 2022 with funding from the UC Office of the President Hispanic-Serving Institution Doctoral Diversity Initiative (UC-HSI DDI).
The Summer Work Experience Program is coordinated by the UCGHI Center for Planetary Health in partnership with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension (UC ANR) and California Department of Conservation (DOC), and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). This program offers students a unique hands-on opportunity to work on projects related to conservation, natural resources, agriculture, nutrition, climate change, and environmental and health policy. The program has supported 54 fellowships since 2017.
Populations of humans, animals and plants are threatened with degradation of their homes and environments due to pollution, landscape destruction and the adverse effects of climatic changes. Such threats leave these populations vulnerable to food insecurity, disease threats and exposure to added environmental pressures. The CPH brought together several UC campuses, the Lawrence Berkeley and Livermore National Labs and UC Cooperative Extension to develop and implement solutions for planetary health.
“ I am grateful for this [Summer Work Experience Program] opportunity where I got to learn new statistical methods that enriched my capabilities. Moreover, I met amazing researchers that are committed to the preservation and restoration of our planet.”
-Nuri Flores, 2023 Summer Work Experience Program Fellow
