The Climate & Worker Health Targeted Research Training (TRT) program supports future leaders in the field of climate and workforce health by receiving high-quality education and research training in addressing the short- and long-term impacts of climate change on occupational health. The program emphasizes populations experiencing disparities in exposure and adaptation measures including rural, migrant and precariously employed, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), Latino/a, and aging workforces.
The Climate & Worker Health TRT is a program run across two institutions: the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University. The Mountain & Plains Education and Research Center (MAP ERC) financially supports qualified students in the program. The MAP ERC is one of 18 National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) Education and Research Centers in the country.
Students supported by the center collaborate with trainees in ergonomics, occupational and environmental medicine, industrial hygiene, health physics programs, Total Worker Health® on interdisciplinary research, scholarly projects, and in-depth field assessments at local industry sites. Trainees in this program will join a forward-thinking faculty and student cohort to address one of the most urgent challenges we face today in public health.
Dr. James is an engineer and epidemiologist specializing in environmental and climate systems health effects of metals in the San Luis Valley and other areas of the Mountain West. She heads a large R01 study on the impact of drought on arsenic exposure and cardiometabolic outcomes in a rural aging population, alongside projects focusing on cadmium exposure, chronic kidney disease, and maternal arsenic exposure and adverse birth outcomes. Dr. James leads the MEMCARE Community Engagement Core, implementing interventions to reduce metal exposure in pediatric populations. With extensive experience in community-based human studies and a network she is actively involved in transdisciplinary research on the health effects of environmental heavy metal exposures, climate health and resilience. Currently spearheading multiple community-engaged research endeavors, including a NIH funded project on drought's impact on metals in drinking water and its cardiovascular consequences, her work emphasizes sustainable community engagement for climate health research and equity in rural and urban communities through initiatives like the Mountain West ACE-CH Hub.
Current doctoral students in any year of their program from the following fields:
PG Year | Stipend 2023-2024 |
1 | $2,196 |
2 | $2,196 |
*NRSA will publish new stipend amounts for the upcoming year in June 2023.