Join the NH Psychological Association for “Is our warming climate making us anxious and depressed, or more resilient?” with NH Healthy Climate members Reb MacKenzie, LICSW, and Andy Gersten, PhD.

Climate change has been declared a public health crisis. In our region, extreme weather events, such as heat waves, flooding, intense storms, prolonged droughts, and increases in vector-borne disease are causing significant economic, physical, and mental health problems. Individuals, families, and communities continue to struggle with coping and adapting to these adverse impacts of climate change. Transformational Resilience is a model and set of skills that will enable individuals and communities to better adapt to climate change, particularly the mental health consequences. Resilience can be enhanced through acquiring healthy emotional regulation skills, strengthening relationships with others and the ecological web on which life depends, recognizing a sense of purpose, and defining values that contribute to our wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. This interactive workshop will provide an introduction to the Transformational Resilience Model, present a community-level resilience project, and enable attendees to develop their own project.

Mikey Pasciuto currently serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer at Scrapp, a start-up dedicated to creating data-driven sustainable waste programs. Through Scrapp, Mikey specializes in product and packaging recyclability globally, zero-waste programs, and all things sustainable packaging. He recently had the privilege to present to his Majesty the King at COP28, as part of Scotland's delegation, about sustainable materials management. Mikey also serves as the President of Collaborative Solid Waste Strategies (CSWS), a local non-profit dedicated to promoting sustainable waste management in New Hampshire. Mikey was born and raised in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2021 with a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Sustainability. His professional interests include renewable energy, recycling, and sustainable systems. Whenever Mikey isn't working, you can catch him gardening, composting, or spending time with his animals.

This webinar will be co-sponsored by the NH Network for Environment, Energy and Climate.

Marion (Molly) Girard Dorsey is a professor of History, core faculty in Justice Studies, and core faculty in the Medical Humanities, Society, and Ethics minor at the University of New Hampshire.  She majored in Human Biology and History at Stanford and later earned a law degree at Harvard followed by a doctorate in History at Yale.  Dorsey teaching classes and publishes in the history of medicine, war & society, and history of law.  Her most recent works are Holding their Breath: How the Allies Confronted the Threat of Chemical Warfare in World War II with Cornell University Press and a shorter work, with Rosemary Caron, “Effective COVID-19 Vaccine Management in the Face of Public Trust and Concern.

What happens to our bodies after death can have environmental and social benefits for those left behind in the form of land conservation and carbon sequestration, spiritual and emotional reintegration, and strengthening of community. Natural burial is a climate strategy that everyone can plan for and act on in the here and now by creating burial spaces free from toxic materials and that protect land for new modes of public use for the future. These spaces are designed for the living, changing our relationship with death in fundamental, healing ways. We’ll take a look at what green burial is (and isn’t) and how our lives, in the end, can contribute to the wellbeing of others and the planet.

Lee Webster is a public speaker, author, and educator on funeral reform, former nonprofit leader of the Green Burial Council, Conservation Burial Alliance, National Home Funeral Alliance, National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, and director of NH and VT Funeral Resources & Education.

This webinar will be co-sponsored by the NH Network for Environment, Energy and Climate.

Jenna Tipaldo is a PhD candidate in Environmental and Planetary Health Sciences at the CUNY School of Public Health, with an advanced certificate in Demography from the CUNY Graduate Center. She is a fellow with the CUNY Institute of Demographic Research and has also served as a Fellow with the NYC Panel on Climate Change's (NPCC4) Health Working Group. 

Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, is the Chief Science Officer at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, where she develops and leads the Center’s scientific agenda. She is the founding director of the Center’s Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment, a multidisciplinary group that synthesizes and translates scientific mechanisms related to the many ways that the built and natural environments impact children’s development and lifelong health. She engages regularly in presentations and conversations with diverse stakeholders to communicate this science to a variety of audiences, with the goal of making it both accessible and actionable. Lindsey is also a practicing primary care pediatrician in the community outside of Boston and is board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine. She holds a BA from William & Mary, an MD from the Yale School of Medicine, and an MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Ken Alex is the director of Project Climate at the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and Environment, focusing on the most promising climate solutions and moving them more quickly to policy and scale, including responses to the federal attack on climate change action.  From 2011 to 2018, Ken was a Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Chair of the Strategic Growth Council, focusing on climate, energy, environment, and land use issues.  Before joining the Governor’s Office, Ken was the Senior Assistant Attorney General heading the environment section of the California Attorney General’s Office. From 2000 to 2006, Ken led the California Attorney General’s energy task force, investigating price and supply issues related to California’s energy crisis. Ken is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. in political theory from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Note: This is a 90-minute webinar.

Dr. Alahmad will summarize scientific studies that describe the effects of heat on health, primarily on the heart, kidneys, and brain. He will discuss what these findings mean for workers, their productivity, and their safety. Then he will review the regulatory options available and show examples of successful emerging solutions.

"Barrak Alahmad, MD, MPH, PhD, is an Instructor at the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He holds a medical degree from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, a master's in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a doctorate in population health sciences from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Alahmad studies climate change and health in the Middle East, specifically the adverse impacts of dust storms and extreme temperatures on vulnerable populations. He extensively studied the effects of environmental exposures on migrant workers in Kuwait. His work has been highlighted by professional health organizations, including the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association, and numerous media outlets, including the BBC, CNN, New York Times, The Guardian, and among others.

In 2022, he was named to the inaugural 40 Under 40 Public Health Catalyst list by the Boston Congress of Public Health, recognizing rising leaders and innovators in the field. In 2023, he received the Rebecca James Baker Award from the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) for his collaborative and international research in environmental cardiology and health equity for migrant workers. In 2025, the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) Board-Council honored Alahmad with the AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science, recognizing his outstanding contributions to engaging with the general public and the migrant workforce on heat and health in Kuwait."

Jennifer Rasmussen, RN, MPH, is a registered nurse with over 12 years of experience in community health and home care. Since 2020, she has dedicated her professional work to the field of planetary health, focusing on education, advocacy, and global engagement. In 2022, she was selected as an Environmental Health Nurse Fellow with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, where she worked alongside Boston-based organizations on climate change, health equity, and environmental justice. Currently, as an Education Fellow with the Planetary Health Alliance, Jennifer develops educational resources on planetary health and contributes to the Education Action Plan Group for the Planetary Health Roadmap, advancing planetary health principles across curricula, communities, and governance. Passionate about public health and protecting natural ecosystems, Jennifer has lobbied for improved air quality standards on Capitol Hill, written about eco-anxiety and environmental justice for respected publications, and has given presentations at national and international conferences. Jennifer holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from Bates College, a BS in Nursing from Simmons University, an MPH from UMass Amherst, and a certificate in Climate Change and Health from Yale University.