The NYSCHECK Summer Academy views advocacy as the vehicle for using our collective voice, knowledge, expertise, and passion to improve environmental health outcomes for every child in New York State. The overarching goal of the advocacy projects is to gain experience working as a team and integrating public health concepts into the design of public health interventions and advocacy strategies that address a specific aspect of climate and health.  Students explore upstream public health interventions that have the potential to improve children’s health at the population level.

In 2024, student-led advocacy projects focused on the health impacts of climate change-related extreme heat. Under the mentorship of NYSCHECK Environmental Health Scholars, students worked in small groups to apply principles of environmental health and climate risk communication to effective advocacy. Projects culminated in an educational presentation for New York State legislators that defined region-specific impacts of extreme heat on vulnerable populations and proposed evidence-based adaptation and mitigation strategies aimed at improving the health of communities.

Environmental Health Scholar Mentors:
Olivia Malvasi, MPH (Syracuse)
Kelly Galloway, MPH (Albany)
Vidi Jokhakar, LMSW, MPH (Long Island)
Rebekah Prasad, NP, MSPH (Rochester)

Advocacy Group 1 – Western NY – Finger Lakes – Rochester

Faculty Facilitator: Dr. Sandy Jee, Finger Lakes Children’s Environmental Health Center
Scholar Facilitator: Rebekah Prasad, Finger Lakes Children’s Environmental Health Center

Participants:

Rahee Amin – URMC – Wofford College
Laura Esteban – Westchester – High School
Myrah Galhotra – LI – High School
Penelope Lee – Syracuse – Syracuse University
Samuel Moschides – Westchester – High School
Claire Parks – LI – High School
Jasmine Shek – New York City – Binghamton University
Juliette Thibodeau – Westchester Other (post bacc) Guadeloupe
Ryan Yuen – High School
Hana Zhang – URMC – University of Rochester

Advocacy Group 2 – Central New York

Faculty Facilitator: Dr. Amy Brown, MD MBe FAAP, Children’s Environmental Health Center of the Hudson Valley
Scholar’s Facilitator: Olivia Malvasi, MPH, Syracuse/Upstate Children’s Environmental Health Center

Participants:

Sophie Augustine – URMC – High School
Audrey DeBritz – Albany – Albany Medical College
Claire Dowell Syracuse – Medical School – SUNY Upstate Medical University
Erika Hernandez Veliz – LI – High School
Mildred Hernandez Veliz – LI – High School
Grace Kibler – Buffalo – Medical School – Buffalo
Mahnoor Naeem – Westchester – New York Medical College
Olivia Remhild – New York City – College of the Holy Cross

Advocacy Group 3 – Hudson Valley

Faculty Facilitator: Dr. Amy Brown, MD MBe FAAP, Children’s Environmental Health Center of the Hudson Valley
Scholar’s Facilitator: Kelly Galloway MPH

Participants:

Amanda Arvelo – Westchester – Johns Hopkins University
Spencer Hammond – Westchester – High School
Shahryar Navaid – Buffalo – SUNY University at Buffalo
Loretta Norwalk – URMC – High School
Emma Polinsky – LI – High School
Caroline Pulliam – New York City – High School
Sherry Simkovic – Westchester – New York Medical College
Erin Stalder – Albany – Graduate (Masters) – University of Albany

Advocacy Group 4 – NYC and Long Island

Faculty Facilitator: Dr. Sarah Evans, Phd, MPH, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Scholar’s Facilitator: Vaidehi Jokhakar, MPH, MSW

Participants:

Sunita Devpal- New York City – Graduate (Masters) – Mount Sinai (summer intern)
Romaissae El Gamani – Westchester – Connecticut College
Sanuri Hennayake – Westchester – New York Medical College
Niaya Jackson – Buffalo – Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Alice Jiang – LI – High School
Aliza Makovsky – Westchester – NYMC
Ava Rubinstein – New York City – The Dalton School
Alison Torres Mogrovejo – URMC – University of Rochester
Gloria Zhao – Westchester – New York Medical College (MD 2027)
Tiffany Zhou – LI – High School