Speakers (2022)

Maurizio Bär is a research associate in the Climate Friendly Hospital Havelhöhe project. After completing his medical studies, he worked clinically in child and adolescent psychiatry for several years. In addition to his regional work at Health for Future, his research focuses on accounting for and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from healthcare facilities.

Diana Bii is a postgraduate student at the University of Eldoret, Uasin Gishu, Kenya pursuing a Masters in Environmental Health. As one of the global Planetary Health Campus Ambassadors, she has been engaging the students and local communities in Planetary Health activities such as advocating for the creation of green spaces which are vital in environmental and wetland conservation and protection and managing mental health. She was a research assistant on a project on the impact of backyard farming and livestock keeping on child nutrition amid Covid-19. She loves volunteering and engaging in community service. She also enjoys hiking and camping activities since they enable her to interact freely with nature.

Felix holds a BA in Management of Social Innovation from Munich University of Applied Sciences and an MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics. He is also a trained Agile Coach, Agile Project Manager and New Work Expert. Felix has professional experience in the private sector as well as with civil society organisations. As an ESG analyst, he conducted sustainability analyses of pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. As a project manager with the German Alliance Climate Change and Health (KLUG), he coordinated the Health for Future network. He currently advises start ups and banks on sustainability issues.

Prof. Dr. Ronald Bogaschewsky holds the Chair of Business Management and Industrial Management at the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, since 2001. From 1994 to 2001 he was holder of the Chair Business Management and Production Management at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. He studied Business Management at the University of Goettingen, where he finished his Ph.D. as well as his habilitation. 1989 to 1990 he was a postdoctoral fellow at IBM Scientific Center in Santa Monica, CA. Ron was a Visiting Scientist at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, RSA, from October 1997 to March 1998. As a member of the Internationalization Committee of his Faculty at University of Wuerzburg he is actively engaged in establishing new and maintaining existing partnerships with Universities around the world.
Ron primarily works in the fields of Production and Operations Management, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, E-Procurement, Digitalization, and Public Procurement.
From 1996 to 2016 Ron was a member of the board of the non-commercial German Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (AMMPL), Germany. He heads the scientific advisory board of the AMMPL since 2005 and since 2001 he heads the Committee ‘Purchasing and Logistics’ of the Schmalenbach Society for Business Management, Germany. As a member of the US-based Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) and of other renowned scientific societies he actively participates in the worldwide network of researchers in the field of Purchasing & SCM. He acts as a referee for several international top journals and has published a large amount of articles in journals as well as several books.
Ron founded the Center for Supply Management, the legal entity with which he organized dozens of conferences and workgroups for professionals in the domains of Purchasing and Supply Management. He also co-founded ondux, a spin-off that established the major professional social media network for public administration and procurement in the D-A-CH region.

 

Fatuma Daudi is a Senior Lecturer & Chair of the Department of Environmental Monitoring Planning and Management at the School of Environmental Studies, University of Eldoret, Kenya. Dr Fatuma holds a Doctorate in Environmental Planning and Management from Moi University.  Research interests include Environmental Conservation, Natural resource Management; Climate Change; Disaster management, Sustainable Development, Transport Planning, Gender; Environment and Community participation.  Fatuma is also a Lead Expert with NEMA and a senior Environmental consultant with development partners in the Horn of Africa region.

Sophie Gepp holds an MSc Public Health and is currently in her final year of medical school. She is a research associate at the Centre for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP) and a board member of the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health (KLUG). Sophie is currently pursuing her medical doctorate in the research group on climate change and health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research. She has experience in global and planetary health policy and has been a consultant for international organisations on climate change and health. She is Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Global Health Hub Germany and is a member of the Global Health 50/50 research collective.

Dr. Ariane Hagl , artist, psychologist and art therapist.
Since 30 years she works internationally to enable change processes in individuals, teams, companies, universities – both on local and global levels. She has developed an artistic-dialogical methodology that connects art, creativity, the body and human senses to enhance awareness and change in leadership and innovation processes. She has been teaching at the University of Munich (LMU), Copenhagen Business School and in the field of planetary health.
Her artwork (paintings and installations) has been exposed internationally. She is co operating with musicians, dancers and other artists to create performances alongside her exhibitions but also stand alone.
In the last years, she has intensely worked with young activists – (Fridays for Future, Health for Future and Students for Future)

Professor Sir Andy Haines was formerly a family doctor and Professor of Primary Health Care at UCL. He developed an interest in climate change and health in the 1990’s and was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the 2 nd and 3 rd assessment exercises and review editor for the health chapter in the 5 th assessment. He was Director (formerly Dean) of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine from 2001- October 2010. He chaired the Scientific Advisory Panel for the 2013 WHO World Health Report, the Rockefeller /Lancet Commission on Planetary Health (2014-15) and the European Academies Science Advisory Council working group on climate change and health (2018-19). He currently co-chairs the InterAcademy Partnership (140 science academies worldwide) working group on climate change and health and is also co-chairing the Lancet Pathfinder Commission on health in the zero-carbon economy. He has published many papers on topics such as the effects of environmental change on health and the health co-benefits of low carbon policies. His current research focuses on climate change mitigation, sustainable healthy food systems and complex urban systems for sustainability. He was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2022.

Dr. Martin Herrmann is the president of KLUG – German Climate and Health Alliance. The main focus of his work over the last 30 years has been initiating and implementing transformational change in global settings. He lead a global network of senior consultants, focusing on the design and implementation of complex change in multinational commercial and health organisations. In the last decade he focused on global health consulting GAVI – The Vaccine Alliance, WHO, Unicef, KfW, DAAD.
In addition, he does research in developing methodologies for organizational change and leadership education using the paradigm of complexity and Hannah Arendt´s perspective on action and power.
He is a Physician by training and teaches at the Center for International Health University of Munich and the planetary Health Academy.

 

Laura Jung is a medical doctor, global health researcher and external adviser to international organisations. She is currently specialising in infectious diseases at the Leipzig University Hospital, Germany and conducts research on antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore,  Laura holds a MSc in Public Health and engages in activism to foster health equity. As a board member of KLUG – German Climate and Health Alliance - she works on transformational planetary health education and activism.

Fatoumatta Kassama has 10 years of experience in Nursing. She is the founder and CEO of Girls’ Pride based in Gambia, an organization that provides eco-friendly and reusable sanitary pads for women and girls and teaches them the importance of using reusable sanitary pads as positive climate mitigation actions that can reduce their carbon footprint, prevent blockage of sewage systems, protect our environment and water bodies from plastic waste and humans from air pollution. Ms. Kassama is a Mandela Washington Fellow, One Young World Ambassador and Delegate Speaker, Opec Funds for International Development Scholar & young leaders award winner, Obama Foundation Leader, African Presidential Leadership Program Alumnus, World Youth Forum Delegate, Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, Youth Excellence Award winner, Friends4SDGs Ambassador, Because Accelerator Entrepreneur, Change Now summit delegate, and the former Ag president and vice president of the National Association of Gambian Nurses and Midwives. Currently, Fatoumatta is doing a fellowship program with the International Sustainability Academy.

Emmy Kerich is a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Health student at the University of Eldoret. She previously spent three years working at the University of Eldoret's Directorate of Research and Innovation, where she organised a number of conferences and workshops and took part in the annual research fund call and awarding process. She also contributed to the Research, Innovation, and Extension Bulletin and a number of conference abstract books and programme books. Emmy presently serves as the journal Editor for three journals. She also does research and has published numerous articles in the field of Environmental Health. Her research focus is on promoting equitable distribution of drinking water in the low-income countries where drinking water sources are severely impacted by climate change. From the perspective of Planetary Health, she aspires to be among those who are providing solutions to individuals afflicted by climate change through access to potable drinking water and as well as be part of this team that will work towards realization of African Vision 2063 and Kenyan Vision 2030.

Prof. Dr. Michael Knipper is a physician, medical historian and anthropologist, trained in Germany (University of Bonn) and Spain (University of Oviedo). He did clinical work in pediatrics, tropical medicine and primary health care in Germany (1996-97, 2000-2001) and Ecuador (1997-1999). 
In his research, he is interested in the history and current dynamics related to social medicine and human rights-based approaches to health, with particular attention to traditional medicine and intercultural health with indigenous communities in Latin America (Ecuador), as well as migration and health. His focus is on the social, cultural, legal and political determinants of migrants’ health, mental health and tuberculosis. In teaching, Knipper draws attention on a historically and anthropologically grounded perspective on the social, cultural and ethical dimensions of health, with particular focus on intercultural health, internationalization and migration. He served as consultant on migration and health for WHO, IOM and Doctors of the World, and was member of the UCL-Lancet-Commission on Migration and Health (2018). Currently, he is coordinating the Latin American Regional Hub of Lancet Migration: Global collaboration to advance migration and health (www.migrationandhealth.org).
 

Professor Walter Leal is a Biologist by training. He obtained his PhD on environmental science at the University of Bradord, UK, a DSc on sustainable development at London Metropolitan University, UK and a DSc on climate change at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He also has the titles of Doctor of Technology, Doctor of Letters and Doctor of Philosophy. His main research interests are in the fields of sustainable development and climate change, also including aspects of climate change and health. Professor Leal holds the Chairs of Climate Change Management at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), and Environment and Technology at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK). He directs the newly-founded Director, Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change and Health https://www.haw-hamburg.de/en/ftz-nk/ieccch/. Apart from this contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a Review Editor (AR5) and Lead Author and Contributing Author (AR6), he is the founder and Chairman of the International Climate Change Research and Information Programme (ICCIRP), created in 2008. He has extensive experience on climate change adaptation, especially in developing countries, and created in 2008 the „Climate Management Management Series“ with Springer, which is the leading peer-reviewed book series on climate change, which also pays a special emphasis to aspects of planetary health. The Series, to which he acts as the Editor, has produced to date a comprehensive body of publications on climate change, among which mention may be made to the Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation with 3 volumes and around 150 authors, and the Handbook of Climate Change Resilience with 4 volumes and over 200 authors. Professor Walter Leal is also founding editor (also in the year 2008) of the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, an open access journal which works on the nexus between climate change mitigation and adaptation, and health.

Agnes Leina comes from Northern part of Kenya, Samburu County, inhabited mainly by the Samburu community, a sub-set of the Maasai peoples of Kenya, who are mainly pastoralists clinging strongly to their traditional way of life from of old. She is married with two children. She holds a Master’s Degree in Rural Sociology and Community Development, from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Community Development from Daystar University-Kenya. Agnes as well holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in International Development from the University of Birmingham - United Kingdom. Agnes is the Founder and Executive Director of Il’laramatak Community Concerns (ICC) whose name denotes ‘care-givers’, or pastoralist. ICC is an Indigenous People’s Organization whose main goal is to restore dignity among Indigenous people, with special emphasis on Girls and Women. ICC envisions a society of Indigenous Peoples of Kenya that is free from all forms of discrimination.

Claudia Löffler was born in Wuerzburg in 1982. In 2008, she completed her medical studies and received her doctorate from the Julius Maximilans University in Würzburg. Since 2009, she has been working at the Department for Internal Medicine II (Professor Einsele) in Wuerzburg. Since 2018 she is a senior physician in the field of hematology and oncology responsible for the care of patients in the Interdisciplinary Oncology Outpatient Center. Since 2016, Claudia Löffler has been in charge of the newly established Department for Integrative Oncology and, together with her multiprofessional team advises patients on lifestyle modification and integrative management of adverse effects. Claudia Löffler has specialized in this field and has additional qualifications in naturopathic treatment, palliative medicine and mind-body-medicine. As a nutritional physician, she is particularly committed to the topic of nutrition in cancer. Together with Bernhard Reiser and nutritionist Lisa Schiffmann, she initiated the first cooking classes for cancer patients in Wuerzburg.

Rebeca Montejano is a nutritionist, MD in Human Nutrition and PhD candidate in Nutrition with main emphasis in Nutrition Epidemiology. During her promotion, she measured the EAT-Lancet dietary recommendations in a German cohort. Currently she is working on a transformation project "Green Hospital Food" at the University Hospital of Essen. Together with her colleague Dr. Hüninnghaus, the goal is to achieve that the University Hospital of Essen will comply with the EAT-Lancet dietary recommendations and therefore to achieve a healthy and sustainable diet and practices at the University Hospital of Essen.

Given Moonga is completing his PhD in International Health- Medical Research at the Ludwig- Maximilians-Universität, Centre for International Health (CIH-LMU)  München Germany. His holds a Masters of Epidemiology from the University of Zambia.

He is a research fellow at the Institute and Clinic for Occupational-, Social- and Environmental Medicine, LMU University Hospital, Munich, Germany. Currently he is working on topics of Planetary Health, Climate change and Nutrition, eHealth (Digitalization of health care), Spatial Epidemiology, especially modelling of exposure pathways. He has special interest in developing analytical methodologies to address inequalities, especially in nutrition. Given is also a lecturer/Researcher in the department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at the University of Zambia and a founding member of the Planetary Health Eastern Africa Hub | PHEAH.

Sam Myers is a Principal Research Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health and is the founding Director of the Planetary Health Alliance (www.planetaryhealthalliance.org).

Sam’s research explores the human health impacts of global environmental change. His projects currently include exploring the human nutritional consequences of rising concentrations of CO₂ in the atmosphere, falling populations of pollinating insects, and changes in global fisheries in response to ocean warming. He is interested in policy interventions to improve human health while stabilizing Earth’s natural systems. As the Director of the Planetary Health Alliance, Sam oversees a multi-institutional effort (over 320 organizations in over 60 countries) focused on understanding and quantifying the human health impacts of global environmental change and translating that understanding into action globally. For his research, Dr. Myers 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. He is the co-editor with Howard Frumkin of Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves published in August 2020.

Nathalie Nidens is a medical doctor from Germany and holds an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She currently works as a research associate at the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health (KLUG) where her work focuses on heat and adaptation measures in the health care and social sector. In the past, she supported integrating Planetary Health into university curricula with the Planetary Health Eastern Africa Hub (PHEAH).

Elias C. Nyanza, PhD, a population and public health specialist working on Planetary Health in Tanzania. Specifically, I seek to reduce harmful environmental exposures that affect marginalized populations through research and community-based interventions.

Lydia is a Nurse, currently rounding up her masters program in Health science at the Hamburg university of Applied Sciences. She is actively involved in women and child advocacy and undertaken several charity projects promoting the rights of children in Africa and empowering women in different walks of life. She also works in the capacity of a project coordinator at a NGO- God bless the child e.V in Hamburg Germany.

Melvine is an Environmental Health scientist and founder of Planetary Health Eastern Africa Hub.She has worked closely with KLUG- German Alliance Climate Change and Health in Climate Change and Health/Planetary Health Leadership online course-Transformational and transdisciplinary.She attained a BSc in Environmental Biology and Health and MSc in Environmental Health at the University of Eldoret. Since 2020-2022, Melvine Otieno has served as a Next Generation Network Fellow of the Planetary Health Alliance, working to inspire, activate and convene the next generation of Planetary Health Campus Ambassadors from around the world, as well as conduct outreach to facilitate local and international collaborations. She is an Associate team member of Women Leaders for Planetary Health (WLPH) where she advocates for gender equality for sound environment and public health solutions. She is also an active member of inVIVO Planetary Health, Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health (SEGH), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Africa Network for Internationalization of Higher Education (ANIE), International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade (GIZ), Climate and Health Africa Network for Collaboration and Engagement (CHANCE Network) and Global Health Hub Germany. As an Early Career Researcher, Melvine has worked on several internationally funded projects as Research Assistant for Newton Utafiti fund on Aquaculture (2018-2019) and BGS-UoE-MU research on dynamics of Environmental Geochemistry and Health in the Lake Victoria Basin (2020-2022) and recently as a Co-Investigator on the GCRF QR Time Urgency Grant, to investigate the role of wet markets and backyard livestock in supporting nutrition of preschool-aged children in Kenya: challenges from COVID-19 influenced closure. At University of Eldoret, she is the project coordinator of ‘Strengthening One Health and Planetary Health in Eastern Africa’ (SOPHEA) project, funded by DAAD in partnership with Würzburg University and Catholic University for Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS) in Tanzania.Presently, she collaborates with local, regional and international partners and she aspires to continuously participates with both the local and global community in building Planetary Health and One Health concepts to find solutions to environmental health challenges and imbalances. 

Agan Leonard is a postgraduate student, taking masters in environmental health at the University of Eldoret and also a graduate assistant at the Department of Environmental Biology and Health, University of Eldoret. At the department he is focused on research and projects undertaken by undergraduate students.He became a campus ambassador in 2020, and got engaged in different student led activities at the University of Eldoret, and by extension to other universities covered within the Eastern Africa region. This he achieved since his appointment as communication and community outreach person for the Planetary Heath Eastern Africa Hub., he has together with other team members from the youths engaged in wetlands and power of wetlands campaign advocated for the inclusion of wetlands in the NDCs. Leonard’s research interest includes environmental health, environmental toxicology, Biodiversity, climate change, and population health.He has done different research involving water health and sanitation, child health and nutrition, exposure and health implications at the gold mining sites and invivo toxicity of toxic elements, climate change and environmental technologies.He is focused in the current global health challenges and the local efforts that can lead to successful solutions.Leonard recently joined the editorial board to African Environmental Review journal where he has keenly contributed to standard publications of environmental related research papers.

Dr. Jörg Schmid, MD, is a resident in general medicine and a research associate for nutrition and planetary health at the German Climate Change and Health Alliance (KLUG). His work focuses on the impact of nutrition and food production on planetary health, the consequences of global environmental change such as climate change on human health, and on physician's possible action in the socio-ecological transformation towards a more sustainable society and economy. He teaches on nutrition and planetary health at Fulda University of Applied Sciences in the Public Health program.

Dr. med. Eva-Maria Schwienhorst-Stich is a medical doctor with previous clinical experience in pediatrics and "tropical medicine"/infectious diseases for several years. She has obtained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Public Health (DTMPH) from Charité and a Masters in International Health (MScIH) from Heidelberg University. She has worked for several years as a global health consultant for the German Leprosy and TB Relief Association (DAHW/GLRA) based in the headquarters in Germany with field visits to various countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. She has been teaching on global health topics at various universities and ran a summer school on tropical medicine and global health at Medmissio in Würzburg for several years. She has been head of the medical skills lab at Würzburg University medical faculty for the past three years and is about to finish her Masters in Medical Education (MME). After having learned about the dramatic extent and the urgency regarding the triple planetary crisis - climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution - her current focus is advancing planetary health education and action locally, nationally and internationally, the latter through the SOPHEA project. Apart from being a "scientivist", she is a mother of three daughters and deeply concerned about how our actions today determine the future living conditions on our planet earth. 

Michaela completed a Bachelor of Science in Organic Agriculture at the University of Kassel. During her studies she helped to build up the seminar programme and manage the agriculture at her family´s farm Lindenhof Hemmersheim. In her bachelor thesis she examined possibilities of communication media and learning events to raise soil awareness. After her studies she worked on the farm, planted an agroforestry system and built up a permaculture garden. 2021 she moved to Freising for her Master studies in Climate Change Management at the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf. In this international study programme she learns practice-oriented solutions in climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture, peatlands, forests and renewable energies. In the last years Michaela extended her knowledge about agroforestry. She is participant of the first comprehensive advanced training programme for agroforestry consultants in Germany and part of the German-wide network of agroforestry planners and practitioners (DeFAF e.V.).

Professor Dr. August Stich is an MD and specialist in general, internal and tropical medicine. In 1992 he qualified as Master of Science at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and worked afterwards in Würzburg, Liverpool and Heidelberg. In the years between 1988 and 2004 he had various assignments to tropical countries as medical doctor, health coordinator, advisor or research fellow, among others Zimbabwe, Somalia, Cambodia, Angola and Tanzania. His research work had a special focus on human African trypanosomiasis, malaria, HIV, clinical tropical medicine and migrant health. Since 2004 he is the head of the Department of Tropical Medicine in the Medical Mission Hospital in Würzburg. Since 2008 he is also the chairman of the Medical Mission Institute, since 2009 member of the extended board of the German Society of Tropical Medicine and Global Health and since 2022 member of the Supervisory Board of the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association. In 2012 he was appointed Professor of Tropical Medicine at the University of Würzburg, in 2015 he was awarded the Albert Kölliker Price of excellent teaching. He currently lives with his family near Würzburg.

Dr. Michael Thiel is a remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) specialist at the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg. His research focuses on the application of remote sensing and GIS methods in the context of human-land-interactions and adaptation to climate variability in Africa. Amongst others, he deals with agricultural practices, settlement and urban development and the encroachment of human activities into nature conservation areas. His regional focus is on West Africa, since he is cooperating with the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) for 10 years now. In this cooperation, he currently supports the capacity development program of WASCAL to increase and strengthen its partner network in Germany. Michael Thiel further lectures diverse topics of remote sensing and GIS at various universities in Ghana, Nigeria, and Mali.

Annkathrin von der Haar is a medical assistant by training and holds an B.A. in Public Health from the University of Bremen. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Public Health at the BSPH in Berlin and works at the German Climate Change and Health Alliance (KLUG) in the newly founded Centre for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP). She is also active in the coordination board of the German Network of Young Professionals in Public Health (NÖG).

„Climate change is a psychological crisis, whatever else it is.“ (Poulsen, 2018)
Psychologists for Future is a network of psychologists and psychotherapists who use their expertise to address the climate crisis and promote a sustainable future. This includes promoting awareness of the climate crisis, dealing with it emotionally and taking constructive action to deal with it, as well as supporting climate activists and groups. 
We are Luisa von Seggern and Friederike Holtmann, members of the Würzburg section. Luisa von Seggern has studied in Würzburg and is now working as a psychologist in the field of child and youth welfare services. She has written her bachelor- and master thesis in the area of environmental psychology (environmental education in schools and climate adaptation in agriculture) and is a member of Psychologists for Future since 2018. 
Friederike Holtmann is about to finish her master's degree in psychology this year and a relatively new member of the association. She has former working experience in the global health sector with the GIZ GmbH as well as in conducting communication workshops for medical students.

Katharina Wabnitz is a medical doctor from Germany. During her studies, she developed a strong interest for global health and completed several internships in countries such as France, Spain, Mexico, Morocco, Egypt, and Tanzania. After graduating from medical school, she completed the Austrian Foundation training for medical doctors in Graz, Austria and went on to study Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Since 2020, she has been working as a Researcher at the Pettenkofer School of Public Health at the University of Munich and with The Lancet-Chatham Commission on Improving Population Health post COVID-19. In April 2022, she joined the newly founded Think Tank Centre for Planetary Health Policy (Berlin, Germany). The growing interdisciplinary team aim to provide science-based policy advice to foster the societal transformation towards planetary health, starting from the health sector. Katharina specifically focusses on the transformative potential of health promotion and prevention as well as on questions of planetary health governance. She is also concerned with the health opportunities and effects of the transformation of various areas of society, in particular the economic turnaround. Other areas she is active in alongside her work are planetary health education and the role of values and norms to achieve planetary health.

Dr. Gertrude Were is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Family & Consumer Sciences at University of Eldoret, Kenya where she has been Chair of the Department for 6 years and has a teaching experience spanning 27 years. After attaining her Doctorate Degree from Moi University in 2010, she has undertaken various research in the area of nutrition and has been a principal investigator in many research projects. Dr. Were has mentored several students at both M. Sc and Ph. D levels and has examined many research theses. She has published scientific papers in international peer reviewed journals and has co-authored three books. She is currently a technical reviewer for the Africa Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND) and a reviewer for the Journal of Nutrition & Dietetics. Dr. Were is a member of the Planetary Health Alliance, East Africa Hub and a registered nutritionist with the Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians Institute (KNDI). She is also an external examiner of two universities in Kenya.