I am a PhD student in the Environmental and Occupational Health program, at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health. I graduated from the University of Utah with a masters in Environmental Science (and a focus on: “sustainability”). Currently, I am attempting to better understand the health issues related to air quality in Allegheny County. Climate change impacts air quality in many ways. To name a few of interest to me: an increase in size and duration of wildfires will add more GH gases to the atmosphere, thereby will increase particulates in the air adversely affecting human health; additionally, longer warm seasons could elevate pollen and other allergens, negatively impacting sensitive groups with asthma, etc. furthermore, ultrafine particulates from traffic or VOC’s from industry in combination with oxygen react to form ozone (also harmful to human health) is of interest.  Alternative energy sources are another topic of deep interest to me. I believe climate change to be the number one health crisis facing mankind currently, and decisions we make throughout this century will likely set the course for centuries to come. I would like to bring my skills to connect with other researchers to help tackle global climate change health issues, locally and globally.