Our Team
Sam Myers
Faculty Director
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Contact: ph_alliance@jhu.edu
Sam Myers is the Faculty Director of both the Planetary Health Alliance and the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health, and a Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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Contact: ph_alliance@jhu.edu
Marie Studer
Executive Director
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Contact: marie.studer@jhu.edu
Marie Studer, PhD is the Executive Director of the Planetary Health Alliance. Her career has focused on public accessibility and understanding of science through government and public policy positions, to scientific and education leadership for international citizen science projects, to engaging formal and informal educators and youth in biodiversity learning using hands-on and online resources and tools.
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Contact: marie.studer@jhu.edu
Jessica Kronstadt
Program Director
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Contact: Jessica.Kronstadt@jhu.edu
Jessica Kronstadt is the Program Director at the Planetary Health Alliance. In this role, she oversees the Planetary Health Alliance’s interconnected programs, ranging from community building and partnerships to education and mainstreaming Planetary Health to the global community.
Contact: Jessica.Kronstadt@jhu.edu
Carlos Faerron
Senior Advisor, Programs
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Contact: cfaerron@cisgcr.org
Dr. Carlos A. Faerron Guzmán is a global health professional with a deep-rooted passion for education and a commitment to promoting health equity, addressing complexity, and emphasizing the importance of values in shaping a better world. Dr. Faerron serves as Associate Director of the Planetary Health Alliance.
Contact: cfaerron@cisgcr.org
Jelena Malogajski
Education Director
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Contact: jelena.malogajski@jhu.edu
Dr. Jelena Malogajski is the Education Director with the Planetary Health Alliance. Her role involves actively contributing to the momentum of expanding and integrating Planetary Health curriculum into international medical, nursing, and public health education systems through the Planetary Health Expand initiative.
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Contact: jelena.malogajski@jhu.edu
Nicky Christensen
Communications Manager
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Contact: nicky.christensen@jhu.edu
Nicky Christensen is the Communications Manager with the Planetary Health Alliance. Her work is focused on generating awareness and mainstreaming insights and frameworks into public, policy, and private sectors. Her team disseminates groundbreaking research and curates fundamental resources with the active Planetary Health community.
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Contact: nicky.christensen@jhu.edu
Chris Marshall
Senior Administrative Manager of The Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health
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Contact: Chris.marshall@jhu.edu
Chris is the Senior Administrative Manager of The Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health (JHIPH), which involves oversight of finance and human resource functions for the Institute and Planetary Health Alliance (PHA).
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Contact: Chris.marshall@jhu.edu
Tulsi Modi
Climate Change and Mental Health Project Senior Manager
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Contact: tulsi.modi@jhu.edu
Tulsi is the Climate Change and Mental Health Project Senior Manager who is currently focusing her efforts on Connecting Climate Minds as the Regional Program Manager for North America and Europe. Tulsi started at Planetary Health Alliance in 2022 as an intern while completing her Masters in Public Health at the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California.
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Contact: tulsi.modi@jhu.edu
Ursula Gately
Community Building and Outreach Coordinator
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Contact: ursula.gately@jhu.edu
Ursula Gately is the Community Building and Outreach Coordinator at the Planetary Health Alliance. Before joining the PHA, she completed her studies at Georgetown University, where she earned a degree in Biology of Global Health.
Contact: ursula.gately@jhu.edu
Hannah Turley
Partnership Coordinator
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Contact: hannah.turley@jhu.edu
Hannah Turley is the Partnership Coordinator with the Planetary Health Alliance. Her role focuses on collaborating with the Regional Hubs and building connections within the Planetary Health movement.
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Contact: hannah.turley@jhu.edu
Tamara Hayden
Senior Administrative Coordinator
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Contact: tamara.hayden@jhu.edu
Tamara Hayden is the Senior Administrative Coordinator with the Planetary Health Alliance. Her role consists of acting as the principal contact for PHA’s inquiries, supporting the internal PHA (Planetary Health Alliance) staff, and supporting PHA’s Program Director with financial and grants management tasks.
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Contact: tamara.hayden@jhu.edu
Sakura Chen
Communications Intern
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Contact: schen272@jhu.edu
Sakura Chen is the Communications Intern at the Planetary Health Alliance, primarily focusing on disseminating health-related scientific and research articles to a specific audience through various digital platforms and editing the PHA monthly newsletter.
Contact: schen272@jhu.edu
Leeya Pressburger
Connecting Climate Minds Intern
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Leeya Pressburger is the Connecting Climate Minds intern for the Planetary Health Alliance. She is an interdisciplinary researcher passionate about sustainable development and bringing climate change to the forefront of other global challenges like public health and food security.
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Yseult Gibert
Education Intern
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Contact: ygibert1@jhu.edu
Yseult Gibert is the Education Intern at the Planetary Health Alliance. Her role encompasses contributing to the development of educational materials, establishing and maintaining a comprehensive global inventory of Planetary Health education initiatives, and assisting in collecting, mapping, and analyzing Planetary Health syllabi.
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Contact: ygibert1@jhu.edu
Cindy Xie
Constellation Project Intern
Cindy Xie (she/her) is the Constellation Project Intern at the Planetary Health Alliance. She is currently an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in Urban Studies and Planning (with a focus on Environmental Policy and Planning) and minoring in Biology and Anthropology.
Agan Leonard
Next Gen Fellow
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Agan Leonard is an Environmental Health Scientist. He holds his first degree in Environmental Biology and Health and a Master's Candidate of environmental Health at the University of Eldoret. He is a Graduate Assistant at the Department of Environmental Sciences since 2020 with professional interest in Environmental Health, Planetary Health, and Environmental Toxicology.
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Ben Delbaere
Next Gen Fellow
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Ben Delbaere (he/him) joined the Planetary Health Alliance as Next Generation Network Fellow. He has experience in the nursing field and obtained his Master of Science in Nursing and Midwifery at Ghent University, Belgium. As Next Gen Fellow his ambition is to build functional networks that are inclusive and welcoming for young people across the globe seeking Planetary Health guidance and opportunities.
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Emmanuel Benyeogor
Global Outreach Fellow
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Emmanuel Benyeogor is a Nigerian Epidemiologist with a profound expertise in information technology and data science, currently serves as a 2024 Global Outreach Fellow at the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA). In this role he would support the coordination and expansion of the Planetary Health community globally in collaboration with the PHA team, Alliance members, and existing regional hubs to strategically develop and strengthen partnerships across geographies.
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Jennifer Rasmussen
Education Fellow
Jennifer has been a registered nurse for nearly ten years, working primarily in community health and home care in the greater Boston area. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in May 2022, receiving a Master of Public Health in Global Health. During her final semester, Jennifer completed her practicum with the World Wildlife Fund where she worked with the Director of Forests and Health on projects related to the interconnection between forests, conservation, and human health.
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Jennifer has been a registered nurse for nearly ten years, working primarily in community health and home care in the greater Boston area. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in May 2022, receiving a Master of Public Health in Global Health. During her final semester, Jennifer completed her practicum with the World Wildlife Fund where she worked with the Director of Forests and Health on projects related to the interconnection between forests, conservation, and human health.
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Joshitha Sankam
Global Outreach Fellow
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Dr. Joshitha Sankam is an experienced Public Health Professional specializing in Planetary Health and Health Vulnerability & Adaptation to Climate Change. Currently, she is a Consultant in Climate Change and Health at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science. She envisions a future where planetary health and well-being are prioritized, fostering harmony among all Earth's inhabitants and the delicate balance of our planet.
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Matthew Carvalho
Policy Fellow
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Matthew Carvalho is a researcher at Georgetown University specializing in Planetary Health law and diplomacy. Originally from southeast Massachusetts, Matthew has worked multiple jobs in the global health governance fields, including work for the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Capitol Hill, and the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
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Tatiana Camargo
Education Fellow
Tatiana is a biologist and Associate Professor, researching and teaching about science education in different contexts (in schools, for community action, and health care) and for different public audiences (children, women farmers, indigenous populations and quilombos) aiming to promote scientific literacy as a key tool for exercising full citizenship.
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Melvine Anyango Otieno
Next Gen Fellow Emeritus
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Melvine Anyango Otieno is a 2019 Planetary Health Campus Ambassador and a PHA Next Generation Fellow Emeritus, who worked to inspire, activate and convene the next generation of Planetary Health campus ambassadors from around the world, as well as conducted outreach to facilitate local and international collaborations through her leadership in growing the Planetary Health Eastern Africa regional hub.
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Sandeep Maharaj
Global Outreach Fellow Emeritus
Sandeep serves as a lecturer in the School of Pharmacy at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, and administratively, he serves as the Associate Dean for Distance Education and Planning and Director of the Entrepreneurship and Business Transformation Office for the Faculty of Medical Science at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.
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Chiara Cadeddu
Chiara Cadeddu is a Medical Doctor with a specialization in Public Health and a PhD in Basic Biomedical Sciences and Public Health. She is currently an Associate Professor and the Theme Chair of Planetary Health at the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands).
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Nicole de Paula
Dr. Nicole de Paula is the Senior SDGs Expert at the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, leading the work on Thought Leadership and science-policy interface. She was the inaugural Klaus Töpfer Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany, and founder of the social enterprise Women Leaders for Planetary Health (WLPH). In 2021, she published the book “Breaking the Silos for Planetary Health: A Roadmap for a Resilient Post-Pandemic World”.
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Mandeep Dhaliwal
Dr. Mandeep Dhaliwal is the Director of UNDP’s HIV, Health and Development Group and a strong advocate for planetary health and stronger synergies between the climate and health movements. Dr. Dhaliwal brings to the organization over 20 years of experience working on HIV, health, human rights and evidence-based policy and programming in low-and middle-income countries.
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Howard Frumkin
Howard Frumkin is Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health, where he served as Dean from 2010-2016, and Senior Vice President of Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that protects land and creates parks and greenspaces for generations to come.
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Michael John Gorman
Michael John Gorman works at the interface between science, arts and environment. As Director Designate of the MIT Museum in Cambridge Massachussets he will lead this institution in its prominent new location in life sciences hub Kendall Square starting in July 2024. He is currently Founding Director of BIOTOPIA a new museum of life sciences and environment in development in Munich, and University Professor (Chair) in Life Sciences in Society at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich.
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Courtney Howard
Dr Courtney Howard is an Emergency Physician in Yellowknives Dene Territory in Canada’s subarctic, a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Calgary, and a Community Research Fellow in Planetary Health at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.
Jane Madgwick
Jane is an ecologist and author with 30 years of experience of working internationally on the science, policy and practice of wetlands and water management. She became the first Executive Director of the Global Commons Alliance in May 2023. Previously Jane worked for Wetlands International, as well as WWF International and WWF Australia. As CEO of Wetlands International for 19 years, she led network of 20 offices operating mostly in the global south.
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Edward Maibach
Edward Maibach, MPH, PhD is a George Mason University Distinguished University Professor and Director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication. His research illuminates public engagement in climate change and strategies for enhancing it. Dr. Maibach is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and he serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Climate and Health Alliance. In 2020, with Anthony Leiserowitz, he won the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication.
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Luca Martinalli
Luca Martinalli is a final year medical student at the University of Pavia, member of Ghislieri College. First Planetary Health Campus Ambassador from an Italian university in 2022, he was reappointed for a second term in 2023. In this role, he dedicated his efforts to enhancing Planetary Health literacy within medical curricula in Italy and abroad, lunching Planetary Health NextGen, a global initiative aimed at identifying and empowering the next generation of leaders in Planetary Health.
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Bristol Moonga Ntebeka
Bristol Moonga Ntebeka served as Planetary Health Campus Ambassador in 2022, and then became a Planetary Health Alliance Next Generation Steering Committee Representative. He is dedicated to inspiring the youth, promoting awareness about Planetary Health, and contributing to the implementation of innovative ideas in the Planetary Health sphere. He is passionate to collaborate with and provide support for the Planetary Health campus ambassadors from anywhere in the world. He holds a BSc in Biology from the Copperbelt University in Zambia, and a Masters of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Zambia.
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Alexandra Phelan
Dr Alexandra L. Phelan is Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She/they works on Planetary Health Law: examining the interlinkages between global environmental change, human health, and international law and governance.
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Teddie Potter
Dr. Potter is deeply committed to climate change and planetary health education. Dr. Potter is the inaugural director of the Center for Planetary Health and Environmental Justice at the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota and a Fellow in the Institute on the Environment at the University. She is a member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel.
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Susan Prescott
Prof. Susan L. Prescott MD, PhD, is a pediatrician, immunologist, artist, and award-winning author, internationally recognised for her cutting-edge research into the early environmental determinants of health and disease. Her work promotes awareness of the interconnections between personal and planetary health in a way that inspires creative, integrated, and wise approaches, grounded in reciprocity, for social and ecological justice and flourishing futures.
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Nicole Redvers
Dr. Nicole Redvers, ND, MPH, is a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation (Northwest Territories, Canada) and has worked with Indigenous patients, scholars, and communities around the globe her entire career. She is an Associate Professor, Western Research Chair, and Director of Indigenous Planetary Health at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University.
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Joshitha Sankam
Dr. Joshitha Sankam is an experienced Public Health Professional specializing in Planetary Health and Health Vulnerability & Adaptation to Climate Change. Currently, she is a Consultant in Climate Change and Health at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science. In this capacity, she conducts impactful training programs and workshops for health professionals on the intricate connections between climate change and health.
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Raquel Santiago
Raquel Santiago is a Nutricionist and Gastronome, and a Associate Professor at the Federal University of Goiás. She is a member of Planetary Health (PH) Brazil, IEA/USP, where she participated as Co-coordinator of the Brazilian Planetary Health Ambassadors Program.
Antonio Saraiva
António M Saraiva has been involved in transdisciplinary research for more than 30 years, bridging computing engineering, agriculture, biodiversity, environment and health. He has created and led pioneer research groups in Brazil on agricultural automation, on biodiversity and computing, and on planetary health.
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Arfa Shan
Arfa Shan stands out as a distinguished medical student at Fatima Jinnah Medical University in Lahore, Pakistan, with a prestigious distinction in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Her fervent commitment to planetary health is evident through her current role as a Planetary Health Campus Ambassador for 2024, building upon her impactful tenure in 2023.
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Simon Ticehurst
Simon is Advocacy and Movements lead with the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll). Before joining WEAll, Simon was Oxfam International’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean (2015-2022). A Latin American specialist, Simon has lived in Latin America since 1986 and is based in Mexico. He has worked in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.
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Sione Tu'itahi
Sione is the Executive Director of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand. At the global level, he is the President of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), and the founder and Co-Chair of the IUHPE Global Working Group on Waiora Planetary Health and Human Wellbeing.
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SanYuMay Tun
Dr SanYuMay Tun has an international presence in bringing Education for Sustainable Healthcare and Planetary Health into core health professions education. She has a background in medicine as a former family physician, in environmental science and policy, and in medical education.
Andres Valenciano
Andres is currently Director for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Office in Washington D.C.
Previously he was the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, responsible for Costa Rican foreign trade policies, export promotion, and attraction of foreign investment, as well as the official representation towards the WTO. In this role, he led the last stages of Costa Rica’s accession process to become the 38th member country of the OECD and he became the first official representant of the country towards the organization.
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Chiho Wantanabe
Chiho Watanabe is Professor of Interfaculty Initiative in Planetary Health at Nagasaki University. He is also Emeritus Professor at The University of Tokyo. Before assuming his current position in 2021 he acted as the President of the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) (2017-2021).
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Ethan Brown
Ethan Brown is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Meat, a company dedicated to building meat directly from plants. Ethan gained an appreciation for agriculture and the natural world from his father, a professor, conservationist, and hobby farmer. This interest shaped the direction of his career, where he sought to make a contribution to climate change through the clean energy sector.
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Linda Cabot
Linda Cabot is an artist, ocean advocate, and community philanthropist who utilizes her creativity, strategic planning skills, and resources to support organizations in the art, education, and environmental space. She founded Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs in 2010 to inspire and support the next generation of ocean caretakers.
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Sarah Finnie
Sarah Finnie is the Founding Director of The 51 Percent Project, a climate communication initiative at Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy. She holds faculty appointments at Boston University’s College of Communication and at the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience & Environmental Health.
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Joe Gatto
Joseph Gatto is the Founder and Managing Partner of Orient Point Partners, a strategic and financial advisory services firm, based in Greenwich, CT. Prior to Orient Point, Mr. Gatto held other senior leadership roles in investment banking: Partner at Perella, Weinberg from 2012 to 2018, Chairman of Investment Banking and Co-Head of Corporate Finance at Barclays Capital from 2008 to 2011 and Vice Chairman and Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance at Lehman Brothers from 2005-2008.
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John Hayes
Most recently, John Hayes was Chief Marketing Officer of American Express. He has overseen American Express’ marketing efforts worldwide, shaping the Company’s products, strategy, sales and operations for the past 21 years. As a member of Amex’s officers group, John has been at the center of developing the company’s strategic direction, overseeing the management of its businesses and geographies, developing new products, as well as working with the board on key corporate decisions and initiatives.
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Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
Environmental activist and member of Chad’s pastoralist Mbororo community, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim began advocating for Indigenous rights and environmental protection at age 16, founding the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) to introduce new income revenue activities for women and collaborative tools such as 3D participatory mapping to build sustainable ecosystems management and reduction of nature-based resource conflicts. Her vision is to grow support for both traditional knowledge and science to improve resilience to climate change especially for rural communities.
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Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood
Dr. Mahmood is a medical professional with more than two decades experience managing crises in health, disasters and conflict settings. She is currently Professor and Director of the newly established Sunway Centre for Planetary Health in Malaysia. She is also the Pro-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia. She had been the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia on Public Health from April 2020- September 2021.
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Jeff Seabright
Jeff Seabright is Co-Founder of IMAGINE, a for-benefit business and foundation dedicated to unlocking the power of business to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
From 2014-2019, Jeff served as Chief Sustainability Officer of Unilever where he was responsible for driving transformational change in priority areas of Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan.
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Achim Steiner
Achim Steiner became UNDP Administrator on 19 June 2017 and will serve for a term of four years. The United Nations General Assembly confirmed his nomination on 19 April 2017, following his nomination by Secretary-General António Guterres. Mr. Steiner is also the Vice-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, which unites 40 entities of the UN system that work to support sustainable development.
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Tim Wirth
Senator Wirth began his political career as a White House Fellow under President Lyndon Johnson and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education in the Nixon Administration. Prior to entering politics he was in private business, but in 1970, he returned to his home state of Colorado and successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974. For eight consecutive years was selected as one of the 25 most effective Members of Congress. Senator Wirth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 where he focused on environmental issues, particularly global climate change and population stabilization.
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Tracy Wolstencroft
Tracy R. Wolstencroft’s career spans a wide range of leadership positions in global business, nonprofit, and non-governmental organizations: Partner of Goldman Sachs, President and CEO of Heidrick & Struggles, President and CEO of the National Geographic Society, and Co-Chairman of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
As a longstanding Partner of Goldman Sachs, Wolstencroft managed a broad range of the firm’s investment banking business around the world including in the United States, Latin America and Asia (where he lived and had primary responsibility in China, Japan and Singapore). During a three-decade career (1985-2013), he was a member of the firm-wide partnership committee, the investment banking operating committee, and was chairman of global relationship management. Subsequently, as an adviser to the firm he chaired Goldman’s global clean technology business.
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Ruth DeFries
Ruth DeFries is a professor of ecology and sustainable development at Columbia University in New York. She uses images from satellites and field surveys to examine how the world’s demands for food and other resources are changing land use throughout the tropics. Her research quantifies how these land use changes affect climate, biodiversity and other ecosystem services, as well as human development.
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Andy Haines
Andy Haines was Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) for nearly 10 years until October 2010 and continues to work at LSHTM as Professor of Public Health and Primary Care. He was previously a Professor of Primary Health Care and Director of the Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences at UCL and formerly Director of Research & Development at the National Health Service (NHS) Executive, North Thames.
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Russ Hauser
Dr. Russ Hauser’s research interests are in the fields of reproductive, perinatal and pediatric epidemiology. His research focuses on the impact of environmental chemicals on fertility, pregnancy outcomes and children’s health. He is currently conducting a NIH funded study on the effects of chemicals classified as endocrine disruptors on male and female reproductive health endpoints.
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Natalia Linou (Linos)
Natalia Linou (Linos) the new Executive Director of the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. Formerly a policy specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she has worked in international development for the last decade, mostly with the United Nations in Beirut, Lebanon and at headquarters in New York.
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Richard S. Ostfeld
Richard Ostfeld is Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, a not-for-profit research institution in Millbrook, New York, dedicated to providing the science behind environmental solutions. His research focuses on ecological determinants of human risk of exposure to infectious diseases, emphasizing Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
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Daniel Schrag
Daniel P. Schrag is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, and Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Schrag studies climate and climate change over the broadest range of Earth history. He is particularly interested in how information on climate change from the geologic past can lead to better understanding of anthropogenic climate change in the future.
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