the NUANCE // a community health podcast.

Artist Shelley Bruce is a 4th generation, Black Los Angelino, sharing her service work with a focus on the arts, healing and activism. With two Bachelors in Ethnic Studies and Fine Art, for nearly 20 years, Shelley has performed poetry at hundreds of shows, directed nonprofit organizations, and organized social justice programs throughout Southern California. She has most notably traveled to Washington DC, New York, Ghana, London, Barcelona, and across Southern California sharing her artistic expression. Her first book of poetry titled On Blooming (2018) first poetry album Heaven Here (2021), and newest poetry EP “MVP.iii” (2024) reflect some of her published bodies of work. Shelley is also the founder of grassroots movements Day of Healing and BIPOC cultural production company The Heart Dept. Her central focus is to create wellbeing for all people through compassion-centered, sustainable movements.theheartdept.cowww.instagram.com/artistshelleybruce

Jeff Share’s research and practice focuses on preparing educators to teach critical media literacy and environmental justice. He was an award-winning photojournalist and bilingual elementary school teacher. Since 2007 he has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the School of Education and Information Studies. Jeff has written several books including: Media Literacy is Elementary: Teaching Youth to Critically Read and Create Media, Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference, The Critical Media Literacy Guide: Engaging Media and Transforming Education, and For the Love of Nature: Ecowriting the World. Jeff is a Fulbright and Language Specialist who has provided professional development to educators in the US, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. His personal website:  https://jshare.wixsite.com/jeffshare

Patricia Plude, D.Min. is a teacher, musician, organizer, and pastor. She is an educational consultant for Radical Listening with Health In Harmony, a certified leader of Interplay, and a leader with Faith in Action, a network of congregations and community leaders organizing to uphold the dignity of all people in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more than forty years she has taught people across the lifespan, including elementary-age children, students of higher education, and seasoned teachers looking to enrich their pedagogy. Pat lives in San Francisco with her husband, where they raised two beloved children, now young adults.Link to their website and book, "The Art of Radical Listening: Revealing Collective Wisdom for Change."  https://radicallistening.org/#page-top

Gem Montes is a Policy Analyst and Advocate at the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice (PCEJ) in the Inland Empire. Upon realizing that the City of Colton, which experiences some of the worst air in the nation, has little to no public access air monitoring information, she partnered with PCEJ to create a Community-Based Participatory Research project called The Air I Breathe. Gem is a leader in grassroot advocacy. In 2022, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Riverside’s School of Public Policy. While there, she received a fellowship with the University of California’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative as an Engagement Fellow. Immediately afterwards, she received a fellowship with the California Climate Action Corps as a Heat Rezilient Fellow at Pauma Tribal Farms. Notably, she has accrued multiple certifications in tribal subjects. Gem’s broad range of education and experience has allowed her to successfully navigate complex relationships and establish trust with government agencies, tribal affiliates, environmental organizations and community members. Her passion and commitment to finding solutions for the injustices imposed upon frontline communities results in work that is second to none. At an age when most are retiring, she remains eager to learn and continues to be a force to be reckoned with.

Dr. Wendy Johnson is a family physician, writer, photographer and community activist whose career includes stints scaling up HIV treatment in Mozambique, overseeing a large urban public health department and, most recently, directing a community clinic in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work has been published in McSweeney’s, The Nation, and newspapers in Cleveland, Seattle and Santa Fe. She spends most of her spare time cultivating and rewilding her acre and a half homestead, and writing about health justice and the intersection of human and environmental wellbeing. To learn more about Dr. Johnson and a link to her new book, Kinship Medicine: Cultivating Interdependence to Heal the Earth and Ourselves: https://wendyjohnsonmd.com

Dr. Emily Schutzenhofer, MD MPH is a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellow at the University of Washington, in Seattle, WA.  She will be joining as junior faculty in July 2024.  She is dedicated to promoting global mental health through action including climate advocacy.  She joined the Early Career Network early in her residency and rapidly grew into leadership as Co-Chair.  She developed and continues to lead the ECN Speakers Bureau and CPA/APA Social Media Team. She is an effective and talented speaker and has presented numerous times on the topic of Climate Change and Mental Health for organizations nationwide, including at the APA Annual Meeting. Dr. John Sullenbarger is an associate of Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine's department of psychiatry where he is focusing on residency and medical student education regarding climate change effects on mental health. He has been active with the Climate Psychiatry Alliance since 2020, delivering lectures to various audiences and co-authoring a chapter on climate change in the American Association of Community Psychiatry's textbook amongst other activities. He has ties in both Oregon and Ohio, and enjoys reconnecting with Nature in his spare time.

Wendy Miranda is a Wilmington community member. She has lived in Wilmington most of her life and has experienced the impacts of oil drilling near her neighborhood. She is currently a Policy Associate at Esperanza Community Housing where she supports policy work through advocacy and outreach in multiple coalition spaces in a wide range of issues such as affordable housing, environmental justice, equitable development, and immigrant rights; including the STAND LA coalition. She is passionate about serving frontline communities to create healthier and equitable communities. Wendy holds a double Master's degree in Urban Planning and Public Health. Prior to joining Esperanza, Wendy worked on environmental justice, tenant rights, and transit justice in the Harbor and South Los Angeles area.

Stefan Wheat, MD is an emergency physician and faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Washington, practicing at both Harborview Medical Center and UWMC—Northwest Hospital emergency departments. With the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE) at the University of Washington, Dr. Wheat works to understand the scope of the health threats posed by climate change, promote healthcare system adaptation and emergency preparedness, and inform policies to keep people safe in a rapidly changing world. He completed a fellowship in Climate & Health Science Policy at the University of Colorado where he worked as a Physician-Fellow at the Department of Health and Human Services in their Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) and as an Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education.His work has included founding ClimateRx, a seamless tool designed to help health professionals to connect with patients and colleagues on how we can respond to the health risks of climate change, and the development of Climate Resources for Health Education (CRHE), a global health professional-led initiative that aims to provide free, publicly accessible, evidence-based resources to accelerate the incorporation of climate change and planetary health information into educational curricula.Link to ClimateRx:https://www.climaterx.org/Funded Climate and Health Research opportunity for WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) region researchers and community partners:https://deohs.washington.edu/change/implementation-and-evaluation-fellowship-climate-change-and-healthClimate Change and Health Bootcamp (intensive 3-day certificate based course hosted by Columbia University (open to all health professionals):https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/academics/non-degree-special-programs/professional-non-degree-programs/skills-health-research-professionals-sharp-training/trainings/climate-change-health

Shaneeta Johnson, MD, is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Director of Minimally Invasive, Robotic, and Bariatric Surgery, and Program Director, General Surgery Residency Program at Morehouse School of Medicine and Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also a Senior Fellow of Global Health Equity in the Satcher Health Leadership Institute. She is an experienced surgeon, clinician, educator, philanthropist, and researcher. Shaneeta received her education and surgical training at Johns Hopkins University, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Howard University Hospital, The Cleveland Clinic and Brandeis. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons, and the International College of Surgeons. She is board certified in both General Surgery and Obesity Medicine. She has been appointed to leadership positions within state, national, and international organizations and committees.Shaneeta is passionate about furthering health equity and eliminating disparities. She has been involved and/or spearheaded national and international initiatives to improve health equity. She is a sought-after speaker whose expertise has afforded her invitations to speak both nationally and internationally. She is a recipient of the NMA Emerging Leader Trailblazer Award, American College of Surgeons Claude Organ Traveling Fellowship, Atlanta Business Chronicle 40 under 40 award, 2020 Women who Mean Business Award, and the 2019 Outstanding Atlanta award. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, running, and water sports.

Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother, grandmother, activist, artist, writer, ceremonial leader, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace, and her paintings are created as tools for individual, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations, Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation, in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human.For context, this podcast episode was recorded on 1/22/2025