THE ENERGY AND RESOURCES GROUP PRESENTS: SPEAKER: Diana Hernandez Associate Professor Sociomedical Sciences Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health DATE: February 17, 2021 TIME: 4:00-5:30 PM LOCATION: Zoom MEETING ID: 928 6080 3787 PASSCODE: 317655 NOTE: Participants who are not eligible for a UC Berkeley-provided Zoom account can use a Zoom account provided by their institution, can create a free, consumer Zoom account (at https://zoom.us/freesignup/), or can dial in via the phone. DESCRIPTION:  One in three households in the US are energy insecure. There are acute and chronic forms of energy insecurity which stem from persistent poverty and climate-related impacts. The implications of acute and chronic energy insecurity result in direct and indirect adverse health consequences. This presentation will provide a conceptual and empirical overview of the energy, poverty, and health nexus in the context of climate change, highlighting policy and practical opportunities to promote energy justice. BIOGRAPHY: Diana Hernandez (PhD) focuses her work on the social and environmental determinants of health by querying the impacts of policy and place-based interventions on the health and socioeconomic well-being of vulnerable populations. Her community-oriented research examines the intersections between the built environment (housing and neighborhoods), poverty/equity and health with a particular emphasis on energy insecurity. Much of her research is conducted in her native South Bronx neighborhood, where she also lives and invests in social impact real estate. Dr. Hernandez is currently a Principal or Co-Investigator on several projects related to structural interventions in low-income housing (i.e. energy efficiency upgrades, cleaner burning fuel source conversions, smoke-free housing compliance, new finance and capital improvement models in public housing and post-Sandy resilience among public housing residents) or otherwise related to alleviating the consequences of poverty on health (i.e. attrition study of the Nurse Family Partnership Program and qualitative evaluation of the Medical Legal Partnership model). Her work is currently funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the JPB Foundation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, among others. Her research has been published in leading journals including the American Journal of Public Health, Energy Policy, Public Health Reports and Energy Research and Social Sciences. Professor Hernandez teaches Qualitative Research Methods at the graduate level and has also taught undergraduate courses on Health Disparities and Cultural Competence. She has advised numerous master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. In addition, she actively engages in a variety translational research activities through consulting, board service and social entrepreneurship.