Tag Archive: health
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One Health One Planet Symposium
Leave a CommentKeynote Speaker Announced for 2020 One Health One Planet™ Symposium
Opening Reception Tues., April 14
Symposium Wed., April 15
Click Here for Tickets – Early Bird Rate Through Sun., March 1 OnlyPhipps Conservatory is pleased to announce the 2020 One Health One Planet™ Symposium, “One Health and the Air We Breathe.” At One Health One Planet, hundreds of attendees and experts from across the country will discuss the critical issue of air quality and explore ways to address it. The keynote speaker for this year’s symposium is Heather McTeer Toney, the National Field Director for Moms Clean Air Force, an organization of over 1 million moms and dads committed to fighting air pollution and protections against climate change. Prior to coming to Moms, Heather served as the first African-American, first female and youngest mayor of Greenville, MS. In 2014, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Regional Administrator for Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Southeast Region. She has appeared on news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and Democracy Now!; and has written for and been featured in numerous papers including the New York Times and the Washington Post. McTeer Toney was featured in the May 2005 issue of Essence Magazine as one of the “50 Most Remarkable Women in the World.
Heather will be joined by a group of dynamic leaders of their fields including:
Myron Aronowitt – State Director for Pennsylvania, Clean Water Action
Jamil Bey, Ph.D. – President and CEO, UrbanKind Institute
Neil Donahue, Ph.D. – Thomas Lord Professor; Director of Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research, Carnegie Mellon Univeristy
Jim Fabisiak, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health; Director of the Center of Healthy Environments and Communities, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
Gretchen Goldman, Ph.D. – Research Director at the Center for Science and Democracy, Union of Concerned Scientists
Jack Harkema, DVM, Ph.D., Dipl ACVP – University Distinguished Professor of Pathobiology & Diagnostic Investigation, Michigan State University
Ned Ketyer, M.D., F.A.A.P. – Retired Pediatric Physician, University of Pittsburgh Climate and Global Change Center
Matt Mehalik, Ph.D. – Executive Director, Breathe Project
Camila Rivera-Tinsley – Director of Education, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Debra J. Romberger, M.D. – Henry J. Lehnhoff Professor and Chair, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Meghan Scanlon, WELL AP – Wellness and Sustainability Specailist, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
John Stolz, Ph.D. – Director of the Center for Environmental Research and Education, Environmental Microbiology Professor, Duquesne University
Sally Wenzel, M.D. – Professor of Medicine; Chair, Department of Occcupational and Environmental Health, University of Pittsburgh
Linda Wigington – ROCIS Team Leader, ROCIS Pittsburgh
Nsedu Witherspoon, MPH – Executive Director, Children’s Environmental Health NetworkPhipps is pursuing professional continuing education credits for M.D.s, D.V.M.s and nurses. Stay tuned for details.
Questions? Contact Dr. Maria Wheeler-Dubas at mwheeler-dubas@phipps.conservatory.org.
Learn More and R.S.V.P. -
Sustainability & Health: Partners by Nature Webinar
Leave a CommentOn Tuesday, March 24th, from 10-11:30 a.m., the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC), Penn State’s Sustainability Institute, the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Villanova School of Nursing are co-hosting a webinar on the intersection of sustainability and public health in Pennsylvania. This call will introduce frameworks of sustainability and the social determinants of health and open a discussion on how we can build collaborations across organizations working in these fields going forward.
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Inspire Speakers Series: Inspirational Stories on the Intersections of Climate, Equity, and Health
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Green Building Alliance’s first Inspire Speakers Series of the decade will engage local leaders and changemakers to tell their inspiring stories of the Intersections of Climate, Equity, and Health. Their amazing storytellers will recount their experiences throughout each topic, showing the symbiotic harmony between climate, equity, and health.
4:30-5:30 – Food, Drinks, and Networking
5:30-7:00 – Presentations by our Storytellers
7:00 – Q&A Session, Networking with Storytellers -
Environmental Film Series: Right to Harm
Leave a CommentJoin Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens on Fri., Jan. 17 from 7 – 9 p.m. in the Botany Hall Auditorium at Phipps for a screening of Right to Harm. Through the riveting stories of five rural communities, Right to Harm exposes the devastating public health impact factory farming has on many disadvantaged citizens throughout the United States. Filmed across the country, the documentary chronicles the failures of state agencies to regulate industrial animal agriculture. Known formally as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations – or CAFOs – these facilities produce millions of gallons of untreated waste that destroys the quality of life for nearby neighbors. Fed up with the lack of regulation, these disenfranchised citizens band together to demand justice from their legislators.
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Leaders and Lead: Creating Lead-safe Municipalities
Leave a CommentCome learn how municipalities and elected officials can lead the charge to protect your community from lead!Join Lead Safe Allegheny County Coalition for an inspiring morning that can set your municipality apart:
- Ordinances that are fiscally friendly
- Protect your community’s most valuable asset: children
- Proactive lead inspection programs and rental registries
- Costs associated with regulations; resources available for testing and remediation
- Implementing lead-safe demo practices
Plus, a real world case study featuring: Len Merritt, Manager of Code Enforcement, City of Rochester
Check in / Breakfast — 9:30am
Speakers / Discussion — 10:00 to Noon
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October Events Roundup
Leave a CommentOctober was an exciting month for Sustainable Pittsburgh, full of opportunities to learn and connect with leaders, experts, and motivated community members! Below are highlights from some events in which SP engaged:
PML Summit
October 5-6, 2018The 119th annual summit of the Pennsylvania Municipal League (PML) was held in Cranberry Township. Elected and appointed officials from across the state gathered to connect and network with colleagues, attend informative and educational sessions, discuss issues facing the Commonwealth’s municipalities, share resources and best practices, establish legislative policy, and elect officers and members of the Board of Directors for the coming year. A new organizational logo and tagline, “Strength Through Engagement,” were announced; a new website will follow in early 2019. A summary video of the day can be found here.
Additionally, Jim Price, Sustainable Community Manager at Sustainable Pittsburgh, held an open workshop in the morning to discuss the Sustainable PA Community Certification with interested attendees, and presented an educational session in the afternoon with planners from the City of Pittsburgh on how municipalities can use the EcoDistricts protocol for community development.
North American Passive House Network Conference
October 17-21, 2018The 2018 annual conference and expo for the North American Passive House Network was in Pittsburgh at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where sessions included topics such as policy and zoning, social equity, health and wellness, and technological innovations. Passive House principles can play a pivotal role in increasing sustainability for projects and communities by reducing energy demands and costs, increasing indoor air quality and occupant comfort, and providing safe, engaging spaces across a range of housing types and uses.
Rail~Volution Conference
October 21-24, 2018Rail~Volution’s theme, “Building Livable Communities with Transit,” was explored in depth during the annual conference, this year at the Wyndham Grand in Pittsburgh. The conference discussed the links between land use, transit, and development through four days of sessions and mobile workshops, highlighting the transit infrastructure and development that currently exists, the work being done to advance both technology and equity, and inspiring stories of successes across North America. Local leaders and employees told Pittsburgh’s story and hopes for a more equitable future, while experts from dozens of cities shared their knowledge and lessons learned.
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SCDN Webinar: Urban Agriculture – From Vacant Properties to Green Space
Leave a CommentNovember 15 @ 1:00 – 2:00 pm
Register Here
FREEThe presence of vacant properties is a challenge that municipalities face every day, but these spaces can be utilized to benefit the community in several ways: returning properties to the tax rolls, improving community engagement, fostering economic development, and combating food insecurity.
Interest in urban agriculture and community gardening has seen a major resurgence in the last 15 years. As municipal leaders seek ways to improve the quality of life for their neighborhoods, community gardens have shown to cultivate resident engagement and productive community partnerships. Utilizing vacant lots as green space in some communities has also revealed an improvement in air and water quality, helping with stormwater issues and even calming local traffic.
As a response to rising interest in community gardening, Grow Pittsburgh formed in 2005 and has since become a go-to resource when it comes to self-sustaining urban agriculture in the region. Join Local Government Academy in partnership with Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Community Development Network (SCDN) as we host speaker Rayden Sorock, Director of Community Projects at Grow Pittsburgh, for a webinar describing best practices for starting an urban agricultural project. Learn which policies municipalities can adopt to facilitate growing food, and then hear from Rebecca Bradley, Manager of Wilkins Township, about a real community garden project.
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Making the Connection: Physical Activity, Air Pollution and Asthma in the Urban Environment
Leave a CommentJoin GASP for its next event: “Making the Connection Series: Physical Activity, Air Pollution and Asthma in the Urban Environment” on Wednesday, May 3rd from 5pm – 8pm at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC. Dr. Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir will discuss her research and afterwards there will be a panel of health and community experts to respond to her presentation. Networking and refreshments will be from 5pm – 6pm in the Hutchinson and Hayashi Auditorium.
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La Vie en Vert
Leave a CommentThis special Earth to Table dinner celebration will commemorate the annual three-day sustainable festival. The event will take place at Coterie Company, Pittsburgh’s newest female forward coworking space located in the Frick building Penthouse.
From 7PM to 9PM, general admission guests are invited to enjoy musical stylings by DJ Jess and signature cocktails crafted with Blume Honey Water, a locally produced 100% bee-friendly, artisanal water beverage, will be offered to guests courtesy of Blume Honey Water. Guests will also enjoy a Parisian Pop Up Boutique with Michelle Montana of Basil, a local & vintage “curated closet”.
VIP attendees will enjoy all of the above in addition to an exclusive experience from 6PM to 7PM featuring hypnotic music by Nichole from Cello Fury’s “Steel City Trio” featuring Kara Cornell performing French infused opera, mesmerizing aerial performances by Iron City Aerial high atop the Penthouse of the Frick, an open bar, and elegant dinner offerings by our three distinguished caterers. Decadent desserts will also be provided courtesy of Amanda Wright of A519 Chocolates.
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Webinar: Cancer and Early Life Exposures to Environmental Pollutants
Leave a CommentWhile pediatric cancer is still a rare disease, the rate of new cancers has increased nearly 30% since 1975. In the last decade, a growing body of research associates increased risk of pediatric cancer with environmental exposures in utero and in childhood. Recent science also points to a role for early life exposures in priming the body for developing cancer in adulthood.
In this webinar, presenters will review the state of the science on the contribution of environmental exposures in early life to cancer, and reflect on its implications for clinical practice and engagement of health professionals in policy change. A special focus of the webinar will be on air pollution, with information on exposures in the Allegheny County region.
