Sam Myers
Founding Director
Sam is interested in policy interventions to improve human health while stabilizing Earth’s natural systems. As Director of the new Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health and the Planetary Health Alliance, he oversees multi-institutional efforts (over 380 organizations in over 65 countries) focused on understanding and quantifying the human health impacts of global environmental change and translating that understanding into action globally. He is the co-editor with Howard Frumkin of Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves, which was voted one of the 25 Best Books of All Time by American Journal of Health Promotion in 2021. He has authored over 100 peer reviewed articles and book chapters.
Prior to joining Johns Hopkins University, Sam was a Principal Research Scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His projects include exploring the human nutritional consequences of rising concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, falling populations of pollinating insects, changes in global fisheries in response to ocean warming, and impacts of climate shocks and market responses on food security in Africa. For his research, Sam was the inaugural recipient of the Arrell Global Food Innovation Award in 2018 and Prince Albert II of Monaco prize for research at the interface of health and environment in 2015.
Founding Director
Sam is interested in policy interventions to improve human health while stabilizing Earth’s natural systems. As Director of the new Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health and the Planetary Health Alliance, he oversees multi-institutional efforts (over 380 organizations in over 65 countries) focused on understanding and quantifying the human health impacts of global environmental change and translating that understanding into action globally. He is the co-editor with Howard Frumkin of Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves, which was voted one of the 25 Best Books of All Time by American Journal of Health Promotion in 2021. He has authored over 100 peer reviewed articles and book chapters.
Prior to joining Johns Hopkins University, Sam was a Principal Research Scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His projects include exploring the human nutritional consequences of rising concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, falling populations of pollinating insects, changes in global fisheries in response to ocean warming, and impacts of climate shocks and market responses on food security in Africa. For his research, Sam was the inaugural recipient of the Arrell Global Food Innovation Award in 2018 and Prince Albert II of Monaco prize for research at the interface of health and environment in 2015.