Impact of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment 

Presented by Paula Schenck, MPH, UConn Health, Farmington, CT

This session will discuss how environment affects human health and how uncertainty around climate change and health is addressed in the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s 2016 report. Indoor exposures and health consequences will be emphasized including mold and bioaerosols exposures from expected severe wet weather, increasing heat, and mental stress.

About Paula Schenck:

After a 20+ year career as an environmental consultant that included serving as vice president for a private sector environmental firm, Paula Schenck entered the public health arena with interest in how human disease could be ameliorated and/or possibly prevented by addressing the environment.  With others at UCONN Health she established the Center for Indoor Environments and Health to focus specific strengths within UCONN on this objective. She developed multiple initiatives directed at improving indoor environments in schools and offices and has provided technical support and evaluation on healthy homes efforts. Paula provided a series of mold and moisture trainings at cities around the country and as course director developed a web-based course for clinicians. She was principal investigator of “Recovery from catastrophic weather: mold exposure and health-related training”, a CDC/NIOSH funded grant designed to improve agency, medical, construction worker and the public’s knowledge and actions to address consequences of mold exposure on health.   Relevant publications and presentations include a 2012 book chapter on effective health risk communication concerning excessive indoor moisture or mold, and a presentation in 2015 on mold and a poster in 2014 “Preventing Respiratory disease associated with severe weather response” presented at the New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine/NECOEM annual meetings. She co-authored an article published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine on “Traditional and environmentally preferable cleaning product exposure and health symptoms in custodians” in 2015.  She recently retired from UCONN, but continues to provide guidance on environmental and/or workplace interventions as part of patient treatment for the UCONN Occupational Medicine clinic and  to teach Environmental Health at the UCONN Storrs campus.