NH Healthy Climate Working Groups

NH Healthy Climate’s volunteers are spread across our five active Working Groups Learn more about each group below and get involved!

Dr. Bob Feder

Behavioral Health Working Group

Initiatives:

  • Strategize about approaches to education and advocacy on the impact of climate on the mental health of children and adults

  • Develop recommendations and guidelines for behavioral health clinicians whose patients are dealing with symptoms related to climate change

  • Reduce the behavioral health impacts of climate change by developing recommendations and guidelines for communities to increase their climate change preparedness

  • Establish collaborations with national and state groups

  • Created, “A Brief Guide to Individual Therapy for Climate-Related Mental Distress”

Chair:

Maria Finnegan

Children’s Health Working Group

Initiatives:

  • Engage the broader child healthcare community, including trainees and early-career healthcare workers in climate action

Chair:

Semra Aytur

Suzanne Gaulocher

Climate Justice Working Group

Initiatives:

  • Actively listen to community issues on health equity/climate justice and social determinants of health

  • Partner with the NAACP-Manchester, the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and other community organizations on issues related to climate justice, environmental justice, and Social Determinants of Health

  • Design collaborative health equity/climate justice projects with communities across the state of NH

  • Participate in the Environmental Justice Roundtable, meetings with state partners to collectively discuss environmental justice activities in NH and to build toward greater Environmental Justice in the state and region.

Co-Chairs:

Bob Dewey

Cynthia Nichols

Communications & Education Working Group

Initiatives:

  • Oversee www.nhclimatehealth.org

  • Lead the Speakers Bureau

  • Develop strategies for community outreach and marketing

  • Plan and develop content for the bi-monthly newsletter, the NH CHAT

  • Create an interdisciplinary program of interactive webinars with state and national experts

  • Publish Op-Eds and Letters to the Editors in media around the state

Co-Chairs:

Policy & Advocacy Working Group

Initiatives:

  • Track, monitor and communicate with NH Healthy Climate participants regarding active legislation in NH relating to climate and health

  • Contribute evidence-based information from expert healthcare voices at public hearings for proposed legislation relating to climate and health

  • Advocate for climate solutions to improve health for all