Lisa M. Thompson, PhD, MS, RN, FNP, FAAN is an environmental health scientist and an Associate Professor at Emory University, with appointments in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Rollins School of Public 
Health. Her research focuses on reducing household air pollutants from solid fuel cookstoves in low-resource countries. Household air pollution is known to contribute to adverse perinatal outcomes (low birth weight, preterm birth, child stunting and impaired cognitive development). She has received funding from USAID, Grand Challenges Canada, and NIH to design behavioral change interventions to address this common source of exposure. She is a co-Investigator on the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial, the largest multi-country randomized controlled trial on household air pollution, collaborating with over fifty environmental scientists, physicians, epidemiologists and implementation scientists globally. Her recently-funded R01 is a cluster randomized village-level intervention trial using implementation research to reduce plastic burning in household fires in rural Guatemala where the HAPIN trial was conducted. Dr. Thompson is the co-Chair of the Research Working Group for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments.
Resources:
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Biomass for Cooking and Effects on Birth Weight (TF Clasen, HH Chang, LM Thompson, MA Kirby… 2022)
- We need to talk about your gas stove, your health and climate change (NPR, 2021)
- Measuring and reducing plastics in the healthcare sector (HCWH Europe, 2021)
- Big oil sold the world on a plastics recycling myth. It may be too late to undo the damage (Time, 2022)
- Confronting the plasticine: Promise in a world wrapped in plastic (Handley, 2022)
- Plastic Free Emory! (2022)
- Ecolectivos – Guatemala (2022)
About the Nurses’ Climate Challenge Series: The School of Nursing Commitment
Brought to you by the Nurses for Healthy Environments Podcast, this special 2022 Nurses Climate Challenge series elevates nursing faculty leading their institutions in bringing climate and health to nursing students and beyond. Listen in as Nurses Climate Challenge founder Shanda Demorest, registered nurse and outdoor enthusiast, interviews nursing faculty inspiring others to take climate action. Co-sponsored by ANHE and Health Care Without Harm, the Nurses Climate Challenge is a national campaign with the goal of empowering nurses to educate 50,000 health professionals about the health impacts of climate change by the end of 2022.
Shanda Demorest, Guest Host of the School of Nursing Commitment Podcast Series
Dr. Shanda Demorest, DNP, RN, PHN (she/her/hers) is a Sustainability Strategy Manager with Practice Greenhealth, where she works with hospitals and health systems to reduce their environmental impact. A cardiovascular nurse with horticultural training by background, Dr. Demorest earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership from the University of Minnesota.
About the Nurses for Healthy Environments Podcast
Since 2017, Beth and other hosts have interviewed dozens of nurses across the globe, all of whom are working at the intersection of health and environment. Practicing clinical nurses, faculty and educators, policy makers and elected officials, leaders of non-profits, students, and more have shared their work, commitments and perspectives.
There are two primary goals of the podcast. First, to spread the word about the fabulous work of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments – so we’re glad you found us! Second, to highlight and share the amazing and leading work nurses around the world are doing to help protect our natural world in order to support health and healing.
Again and again, nurses are spearheading social change, climate action,environmental justice, and improving health for vulnerable populations, while using their valuable clinical skills, teaching, and caring. Nurses’ work can seem overlooked or taken for granted, and we are here to tell their important stories. We hope you enjoy meeting the nurses in the Nurses for Healthy Environments podcast!
Beth Schenk, Nurses for Healthy Environments Podcast Host
Elizabeth Schenk, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a leader of environmental stewardship in healthcare, where she has been working to reduce pollution from healthcare for 3 decades. Schenk is the executive director of environmental stewardship for Providence, one of the largest 
non-profit health systems in the United States. She led the development of CHANT: the Climate and Health Tool to understand perceptions, behaviors and motivations of health professionals regarding climate and health. She developed the WE ACT PLEASE framework for environmental stewardship, identifying key focus areas of Waste, Energy/water, Agriculture/food, Chemicals, and Transportation. Schenk serves on the national board of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and on the boards of Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate and Climate Smart Missoula. She lives in Missoula, Montana.
