Our Team

Sam Myers

Director

Sam Myers is the founding Director of the Planetary Health Alliance and a Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health where he directs a cross-university initiative on Planetary Health in addition to his role with the PHA.

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Contact: ph_alliance@jhu.edu

Carlos Faerron

Associate Director

Dr. Carlos A. Faerron Guzmán is a global health professional with a deep-rooted passion for education and a commitment to promoting health equity, addressing complexity, and emphasizing the importance of values in shaping a better world. Dr. Faerron serves as Associate Director of the Planetary Health Alliance.

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Contact: cfaerron@cisgcr.org

Marie Studer

Executive Director

Marie Studer, PhD is the Executive Director of the Planetary Health Alliance. Her career has focused on public accessibility and understanding of science through government and public policy positions, to scientific and education leadership for international citizen science projects, to engaging formal and informal educators and youth in biodiversity learning using hands-on and online resources and tools.

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Contact: marie.studer@jhu.edu 

Jelena Malogajski

Education Director

Dr. Jelena Malogajski is the Education Director with the Planetary Health Alliance. Her role involves actively contributing to the momentum of expanding and integrating Planetary Health curriculum into international medical, nursing, and public health education systems through the Planetary Health Expand initiative.

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Contact: jelena.malogajski@jhu.edu

Nicky Christensen

Communications Manager

Nicky Christensen is the Communications Manager with the Planetary Health Alliance. Her work is focused on generating awareness and mainstreaming insights and frameworks into public, policy, and private sectors. Her team disseminates groundbreaking research and curates fundamental resources with the active Planetary Health community.

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Contact: nicky.christensen@jhu.edu

Tulsi Modi

Climate Change and Mental Health Project Senior Manager

Tulsi is the Climate Change and Mental Health Project Senior Manager who is currently focusing her efforts on Connecting Climate Minds as the Regional Program Manager for North America and Europe. Tulsi started at Planetary Health Alliance in 2022 as an intern while completing her Masters in Public Health at the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California.   

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Contact: tulsi.modi@jhu.edu

Ursula Gately

Community Building and Outreach Coordinator

Ursula Gately is the Community Building and Outreach Coordinator at the Planetary Health Alliance. Before joining the PHA, she completed her studies at Georgetown University, where she earned a degree in Biology of Global Health.

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Contact: ursula.gately@jhu.edu

Hannah Turley

Partnership Coordinator

Hannah Turley is the Partnership Coordinator with the Planetary Health Alliance. Her role focuses on collaborating with the Regional Hubs and building connections within the Planetary Health movement.

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Contact: hannah.turley@jhu.edu

Cindy Xie

Constellation Project Intern

Cindy Xie (she/her) is the Constellation Project Intern at the Planetary Health Alliance. She is currently an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in Urban Studies and Planning (with a focus on Environmental Policy and Planning) and minoring in Biology and Anthropology.

Leeya Pressburger

Connecting Climate Minds Intern

Leeya Pressburger is the Connecting Climate Minds intern for the Planetary Health Alliance. She is an interdisciplinary researcher passionate about sustainable development and bringing climate change to the forefront of other global challenges like public health and food security.

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Chunni (Dorothy) Song

Communications Intern

Chunni (Dorothy) Song is the Communications Intern at the Planetary Health Alliance. She is a first-year graduate student studying international relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), focusing on climate change, renewable energy, and sustainable development.

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Fellows

Melvine Anyango

Next Gen Fellow

Melvine Anyango Otieno is a 2019 Planetary Health Campus Ambassador turned PHA Next Generation Fellow, 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 through her leadership in growing the Planetary Health Eastern Africa regional hub. She attained a BSc in Environmental Biology and Health and currently pursuing MSc in Environmental health at the University of Eldoret.

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Tatiana Camargo

Education Fellow

Tatiana is a biologist and Associate Professor, researching and teaching about science education in different contexts (in schools, for community action, and health care) and for different public audiences (children, women farmers, indigenous populations and quilombos) aiming to promote scientific literacy as a key tool for exercising full citizenship.


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Sandeep Maharaj

Global Outreach Fellow

As the PHA's Global Outreach Fellow, Sandeep works to support and strengthen the emerging network of Planetary Health Regional Hubs around the world, mainly through convening and cross-fertilizing current hubs and facilitating the creation of new hubs where desired. At an academic level, Sandeep serves as a lecturer in the School of Pharmacy at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, and administratively, he serves as both the Associate Dean for Distance Education and Planning and the Director of the Entrepreneurship and Business Transformation Office for the Faculty of Medical Science at UWI's St. Augustine Campus.

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Jennifer Rasmussen

Education Fellow

Jennifer has been a registered nurse for nearly ten years, working primarily in community health and home care in the greater Boston area. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in May 2022, receiving a Master of Public Health in Global Health. During her final semester, Jennifer completed her practicum with the World Wildlife Fund where she worked with the Director of Forests and Health on projects related to the interconnection between forests, conservation, and human health.

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Joshitha Sankam

Global Outreach Fellow

Dr. Joshitha Sankam is an experienced Public Health Professional specializing in Planetary Health and Health Vulnerability & Adaptation to Climate Change. Currently, she is a Consultant in Climate Change and Health at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science. She envisions a future where planetary health and well-being are prioritized, fostering harmony among all Earth's inhabitants and the delicate balance of our planet.

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Matthew Carvalho

Policy Fellow (on leave)

Matthew Carvalho is a researcher at Georgetown University specializing in Planetary Health law and diplomacy. Originally from southeast Massachusetts, Matthew has worked multiple jobs in the global health governance fields, including work for the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Capitol Hill, and the United States Department of Health and Human Services.  

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Steering Committee

Bristol Moonga Ntebeka

Bristol Moonga Ntebeka served as Planetary Health Campus Ambassador in 2022, and then became a Planetary Health Alliance Next Generation Steering Committee Representative. He is dedicated to inspiring the youth, promoting awareness about Planetary Health, and contributing to the implementation of innovative ideas in the Planetary Health sphere. He is passionate to collaborate with and provide support for the Planetary Health campus ambassadors from anywhere in the world. He holds a BSc in Biology from the Copperbelt University in Zambia, and a Masters of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Zambia.
 
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Francine Laden

Dr. Francine Laden is Professor of Environmental Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and the Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Dr. Laden received her ScD in Epidemiology and MS in Environmental Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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Advisory Board

Ethan Brown

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, 
Beyond Meat

Ethan Brown is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Meat, a company dedicated to building meat directly from plants.

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Committee Emeritus

Planetary Health Alliance

The Planetary Health Alliance is a consortium of over 340 universities, government entities, research institutes, and other partners around the world committed to understanding and addressing global environmental change and its health impacts.
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