Finding Momentum and Community at the APHA Annual Meeting

Climate for Health's Katherine Catalano and Amanda Li standing with Gill Capper of APHA's Center for Climate, Health and Equity and their joint training on the BRACE Framework

What a week in San Antonio! This year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting was packed with inspiring conversations, powerful examples of local leadership, and plenty of reminders of what’s possible when we bring people together around climate and health.

One highlight was hosting a training alongside my colleague Amanda Li and the APHA Center for Climate, Health and Equity’s Gill Capper on the updated CDC BRACE framework. We brought together an incredibly engaged group of public health professionals who shared examples of the climate-health challenges facing their communities and began mapping out how they can put the framework into action. It was a wonderful reminder that the expertise and energy to advance climate resilience already exist across our public health workforce.

I also had the opportunity to moderate the Future of Public Health Symposium, Climate, Resilience, and Mental Well-Being: Preparing Public Health for a Changing Planet. Researchers Dr. Nancy Andrade and Dr. Jose-Benito Rosales Chavez helped paint a picture of a more ambitious, equitable, and climate-responsive public health system: one where communities lead, sectors work across traditional boundaries to multisolve, and we address both the causes and consequences of climate change to build a healthier future.

We were equally energized by the work happening across our partner network. At the Science and Community Action Network‘s panel, Sowing the Seeds: Farmworker Health and Our Future, local Southeast Texas organizers and farmworker advocates shared powerful firsthand perspectives on extreme heat and the urgent need for stronger worker health protections alongside climate resilience policies.

We also enjoyed several sessions celebrating APHA State Affiliates advancing climate solutions in their communities, including affiliates who recently piloted the Extreme Heat & Health: Strategies for Prevention and Action training group model, co-developed by ecoAmerica’s Climate for Health and APHA’s Center for Climate, Health and Equity. These conversations offered an opportunity to share lessons learned and help affiliates prepare for the next opportunity to participate in another pilot for our joint BRACE training.

And there was even more! We supported the APHA Intersectional Council’s Climate Change and Health Topical Group roundtable, Climate and Health Across Generations and Geographies: A New Framing for Immediate Action. Amanda co-moderated a table on climate communication, trust, and countering disinformation, contributing to a packed session full of actionable ideas for engaging public health colleagues and advancing equitable climate solutions.

In between, we celebrated Environment Section Rebecca Head Award recipient LaTricea Adams of Young, Gifted & Green and the launch of their new Mid South Environmental Justice Center, welcomed Dr. Natasha DeJarnett into her new role as president of Physicians for Social Responsibility as the organization celebrates its 65th anniversary, and enjoyed an election-night watch party with fellow APHA members.

We left San Antonio with full calendars, new connections, and, most importantly, a renewed sense of hope. Across communities, organizations, and disciplines, people are finding ways to move this work forward. The challenges are real, but so is the momentum. A healthier, more equitable, climate-resilient future is something we can build together, and after this week, we’re more energized than ever to get to work.