This interactive Viewpoint session was an extension of our collaborative podcast series titled, An Inter-Institutional Action on Climate Change, where thought leaders in social institutions engaged in dialogue to discover transformative learning opportunities to address climate change.
In this session, Lana Voracek, a Neonatal Intensive Care Registered Nurse, shared her perspective on climate change as a health issue and health concern for patients. Nafis Rahman shared her deep passion for public health and her commitment to addressing the complex connections between climate change and human well-being. Together, Lana Voracek and Nafis Rahman discussed their unique perspectives and approaches to climate justice within the public health industry.
This event was hosted in collaboration with the Edith Lando Virtual Learning Centre.
Panel (click/tap on name to see bio):
Nafis Rahman is a Master’s student in the Public Health (MPH) program at the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) in the Faculty of Medicine, UBC. Her academic journey began with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from Faridpur Medical College, Bangladesh followed by an MPH with a major in Epidemiology from the American International University Bangladesh. Her career has been enriched with diverse experiences, including roles at renowned organizations like the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (Jhpiego) and the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Research, Bangladesh (IEDCR). Her pursuit of a second Master of Public Health is driven by a profound commitment to address the global impact of climate change on health. She has had the opportunity to work on the Nutrition in City Ecosystem (NICE) project, where she visited the rural areas of Kenya and Bangladesh and witnessed firsthand how climate change is affecting their food production system, further deepening her understanding of the pressing challenges in public health.
Lana is originally from the traditional territory of the Attiwonderonk and the Haundenosaunee peoples in Ontario. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University, and worked as a Registered Nurse caring for ill and preterm infants in Neonatal Intensive Care units (NICUs) in the Greater Toronto Area before starting her Master of Public Health at UBC. Her passion for climate change as a health issue, and her concern for the futures of her patients, is what drew her to the field of public health. Throughout her two years of graduate studies, Lana has engaged with climate work in many ways, including working as a Teaching Assistant for the Health Impacts of Climate Change course at UBC’s School of Nursing, and starting a podcast called Pulse of Change, which will be launching soon. Lana is grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional, unceded, ancestral territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.