Scientists around the world have been studying the connections between human health and environmental sustainability for more than 20 years.
Colorado State University has taken the next step in addressing these major challenges with a formal partnership between its School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) and the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) at CSU. The focus of the partnership between the schools will be on Global Environmental Change and Public Health.
“This is an exciting new collaboration that will build on the existing graduate degree program in the Colorado School of Public Health at CSU and SoGES faculty interests in research that addresses the world’s major sustainability challenges,” said Diana Wall, CSU University Distinguished Professor and director of SoGES. “The science is developing rapidly, with increasing evidence that climate change and biodiversity loss are closely linked to human health and well being.”
Both schools recognize the need to marshal expertise from multiple disciplines across campus in the development of new curriculum and research opportunities.
“This is an opportunity for the public health students and the SoGES students to explore topics that cross disciplinary boundaries, and an opportunity for further understanding the significant overlap between issues of concern for human and environmental sustainability,” said Lorann Stallones, director of the graduate degree program in public health at CSU. “This partnership will help train students to address pressing issues for the present and the future using innovative approaches which can be developed as part of this unique collaboration.”
Public Health Symposium
Another area where the two schools will cooperate is in presenting conferences, lectures, and other events that will bring together researchers in both sustainability and public health to share their latest findings. The first Public Health Symposium to be hosted by SoGES and the Colorado School of Public Health at CSU is scheduled for April 15 on the CSU campus, around the topic of emerging disease and anti-microbial resistance.
“This is an important partnership that brings together some of the most important work being done by Colorado State University faculty and researchers,” said Rick Miranda, executive vice president and provost of CSU. “Research on the health issues facing communities and the state is strengthened by this cross-disciplinary focus allowing education and research studies to touch many Coloradans as well as people around the world.”
About the schools
The Colorado School of Public Health at CSU is part of the inter-institutional ColoradoSPH that includes three state campuses: the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado.
The School of Global Environmental Sustainability serves as a hub to connect CSU’s community of scholars and practitioners interested in applying interdisciplinary perspectives to large-scale environmental, economic, and social questions not easily addressed through traditional approaches.
