Visiting Professor Jonathan Patz: Lecture for Health Students

The School of Public Health and the UQ chapter of Doctors for the Environment are excited to host climate change and health expert, Professor Jonathan Patz, for this lecture for health students.

Title: Why Health Professionals can turn the climate crisis into a golden opportunity

Climate change is real and happening, but is solvable. Last year's COP28 held a first-ever Health Day, in recognition that the Climate Crisis is indeed a Health Emergency. The door is wide open for health professionals to engage in solutions, from adaptation to mitigating the root cause of the climate crisis –burning fossil fuels. As a result, air quality will improve, cities will be designed more for people than for motor vehicles, and more sustainable and plant-based foods will be grown. An economy less dependent on fossil fuels can support healthier living. Come along to gain knowledge but also hope for a health-supportive climate future.

Host: This event is co-hosted by the School of Public Health at The University of Queensland and Doctors for the Environment (UQ chapter). The UQ chapter of the Doctors for the Environment will also be chairing the lecture.

Invitees: Open to all interested medical and public health students, and anyone else with an interest in addressing climate change.

Cost: Free but registration is essential.

Our guest speaker

Professor Jonathan Patz, M.D., MPH, (@jonathanpatz) was inaugural director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before stepping down in May 2022 to concentrate fully on his work in climate and health. He is the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and the John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment, with appointments in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Department of Population Health Sciences.

For 15 years, Professor Patz served as a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or IPCC) - the organization that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. He has co-­chaired the health expert panel of the U.S. National Assessment on Climate Change, a report mandated by the U.S. Congress. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Professor Patz established the ‘Climate Solutions for Health Lab’ at the University of Wisconsin and is committed to connecting colleagues from across campus and communities around the world to improve health for all. He continually strives to integrate his research into teaching for students and communication to policy makers and the general public. Professor Patz has written more than 200 scientific papers, with more than 100 peer-reviewed, a textbook addressing the health effects of global environmental change and co‐edited the five­‐volume Encyclopedia of Environmental Health (2011). He most recently co-edited “Climate Change and Public Health” (2024, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition).