Elena Grossman

Elena Grossman is a Senior Research Specialist at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health and has been working in the area of climate change, health, and equity for over 10 years. She is currently the Program Director of the Climate and Health Institute that is intended to prepare future public health professionals to better address the public health impacts from climate change that disproportionately impact environmental justice communities and increase knowledge and awareness among civic leaders, public health professionals, and community members on climate change, its public health impacts, and its disproportionate impact on environmental justice communities. She is also part of the UIC Community Research on Climate and Urban Science (CROCUS) team. CROCUS will use community input to identify questions and specific areas of urban climate change to study, ensuring that research results directly benefit residents, particularly in disinvested communities. Researchers will also work with organizations and students to collect on-the-ground data and develop climate models relevant at the urban scale. Ms. Grossman will play a key role with the community engagement component. In addition, she serves as the Deputy Director of the Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Well-being and a Project Coordinator for Region 5 Pediatric Environmental Health Service Unit. She served as the Program Director for the Building Resilience Against Climate Effects in Illinois (BRACE-Illinois) Project, which was a partnership between the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Public Health to help prepare Illinois for the health effects from climate change. Ms. Grossman was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, received my BA from Franklin and Marshall College, and my MPH from University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.