A team of healthcare professionals from NH Healthy Climate, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, and Dartmouth Health, has been recognized as one of ten finalists for the ecoAmerica’s 2025 American Climate Leadership Awards.
The award celebrates individuals and organizations across the U.S. that demonstrate outstanding leadership in climate advocacy and action. The finalists competed for a share of over $200,000 in awards, highlighting significant contributions to climate health initiatives.
The collaborative effort, known as the Climate Informed Pediatric Care (CIPC) Program, aims to address the escalating health impacts of climate change on children—one of the most vulnerable populations. This initiative builds on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recognition of climate change as a critical health issue, emphasizing the importance of proactive clinical responses.
“The CIPC project addresses the growing health impacts of climate change on children, who are particularly vulnerable to its effects and builds on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ early leadership in recognizing climate change as a critical health issue,” says Carl Cooley, MD, developmental and behavioral pediatrician, clinical professor of pediatrics at Geisel, and board member of NH Healthy Climate.
According to Robert McLellan, MD, MPH, emeritus professor of medicine, community and family medicine, and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel, the CIPC team developed and implemented a Climate Informed Care Toolkit to provide clinicians at Dartmouth Health’s pediatric practices with actionable resources to integrate climate-related health discussions into routine care. Topics covered included heat, extreme weather, mosquitos/ticks, air quality, and mental health. The team also created clinic-specific materials, such as posters and children’s activity workbooks, to facilitate these conversations with families.
“Strong collaboration amongst all of our participants was integral to our success,” says McLellan, also noting that contributions from Cooley, Sarah Crockett, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine and The Dartmouth Institute at Geisel, and Cheryl Anderson, MD, a pediatrician at Dartmouth Health, were key to bringing the project forward. “We also needed to get senior leadership engaged in the Department of Pediatrics, and that’s where Keith Loud played an important role. He was very supportive in allowing us to carry out this project, across Geisel, Dartmouth Health’s primary pediatric clinics, and into the community.”
The project was made possible by a seed grant from Dartmouth’s Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society. “Supporting innovative initiatives like the CIPC demonstrates our commitment to addressing urgent energy and climate challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration,” says Geoffrey G. Parker, faculty director of the Irving Institute. “By integrating climate awareness into healthcare, we can better protect our communities, especially our children, from the impacts of a changing environment,” says Geoffrey G. Parker.
About the NH Healthy Climate
We are students, trainees, early, mid and late-career professionals, and retirees, from a wide variety of healthcare settings, both clinical and nonclinical. We work in independent practices, community hospitals, academic centers, laboratories, professional associations, nonprofits, local and state government, schools, long-term care facilities, and home care. We are from rural and urban NH communities. We are concerned by the impact of climate on individual and population health and see a hopeful way forward through education and advocacy in support of climate solutions. Visit us at: www.nhhealthyclimate.org.
About the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Founded in 1797, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth strives to improve the lives of the communities it serves through excellence in learning, discovery, and healing. The Geisel School of Medicine is renowned for its leadership in medical education, healthcare policy and delivery science, biomedical research, global health, and in creating innovations that improve lives worldwide. As one of America’s leading medical schools, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine is committed to training new generations of diverse leaders who will help solve our most vexing challenges in healthcare.
