Kacey Ernst

Kacey Ernst is Professor and Chair of the Department Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Arizona, College of Public Health. She has worked in the area of climate change and health for approximately 15 years. Her experience ranges from climate change education to developing an understanding of how weather and climate influence vectorborne disease transmission. Most recently, she was an author on the Climate and Health Chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment and led the COVID-19 Focus Box. She has experience leading cross-disciplinary research teams as a principal investigator on grants from NIH, NSF, and Gates Foundation and as the co-director of research incubator, the Bridging Biodiversity and Conservation Science Initiative (BBCS). She has co-directed the BBCS which brings together a wide variety of disciplines to tackle questions related to how the changing climate and other anthropogenic changes are altering biodiversity and how this influences public health and food security. Her personal research area focuses on developing an understanding of the underlying ecological and social determinants of vectorborne disease transmission. She has experience engaging decision-makers and communities to produce prevention and control strategies; including early warning systems, to improve resilience to public health threats as the climate continues to change.