Public Health and Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Adaptation Planning
Working in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Yale University Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness Planning, the Center for Humans and Nature is conducting research on the ethical issues involved in preparedness planning and adaptation and is helping to create educational materials on ethical issues in emergency planning for public health professionals. Public health preparedness planning covers a wide range of hazards that could cause an emergency situation for public health and safety. Such hazards include pandemic outbreaks of infectious disease, bioterrorism, and extreme weather conditions. Adaptation to climate change and such health preparedness are converging issues that the Center for Humans and Nature is at the forefront of exploring. One aim of this work is to create a richer and more comprehensive dialogue between the environmental and conservation community, on the one hand, and the field of public health, on the other. Thus far, the Center for Humans and Nature is supporting the research, writing, and consultative activities of staff member Bruce Jennings in his work with the CDC and Yale.