Sonoma County, CA

Barbara is a Professor Emeritus at University of San Francisco where she teaches in the DNP and MPH Programs. She is a founder of the national Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, past Board member and co-Chair of the national Food and Agriculture Forum. Barbara is also the author of many environmental health and nursing articles and fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Policy Committee Co-chair

San Diego, CA

Vanessa is a retired school nurse. She is passionate about pesticide reform and a just transition from fossil fuels to electrification for improved air quality. She is also a member of the Sierra Club, Climate Health Now, Clean Earth 4 Kids, and Vote4Climate & Health.

San Francisco, CA

Karen is a Clinical Professor Emerita at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing and dedicated Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the community for many years. She has presented and published on a wide range of child health policy topics and environmental health issues. She is a founding member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), has served on the Steering Committee and the Policy and Advocacy Committee, and joins the California Leadership committee to focus on advocating for children and advancing environmental health policy within the state.

Santa Cruz, CA

Erika Alfaro Lemus is a public health nurse for Health and Family Services with San Mateo County, where she works as a nurse case manager for California Children’s Services. Ms. Alfaro Lemus has a broad range of nursing experience, from pediatric cardiac ICU to utilization review and community health. She has been working in the nursing field since the age of 18. She is also involved with her local Bay Area National Association of Hispanic Nurses, is a proud Spanish Bilingual SF Toastmasters past president and is passionate about health and nature.

Santa Cruz, CA

Katie is a public health nurse with a heart for community and environmental justice. A graduate of the Master of Public Health programat the University of California Berkeley, she studies the overlap between environmental issues and healthy communities. She has experience in maternal and child health, home visitation, and community health, as well as community organizing at the non-profit and neighborhood level.

Sebastopol, CA

Experienced clinical Family Nurse Practitioner in Sebastopol, CA. Joined the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and is on the Leadership Committee. Passionate about working to reduce pollution in our oceans, the air and soil. Working to raise awareness and make policy changes in our State.

Bakersfield, CA

Karin is a community health nursing educator and a public health nurse with international and local
community health experience. She teaches community health nursing at California State
University, Bakersfield and is retired from Kern County Public Health. She has seen first-hand
how air pollution and other environmental threats affect the residents of Kern County. A
former chair and co-chair of the Asthma Coalition of Kern County, she has been encouraged to
see the community coalitions work together for healthier communities in the Central Valley.

Sacramento, CA

Logan is an Environmental Scientist and moved to Sacramento from Colorado with a passion for environmental protection, environmental health, and sustainability. He holds a master’s in Toxicology, bachelor’s in Psychology, and worked as a Certified Nurse Assistant Team Lead in Colorado. In the past, Logan has volunteered as an Emergency Medical Technician, in an Urgent Care, in an Emergency Room, for political campaigns with a focus on environmentalism, and with the Larimer County Food Bank in Colorado. On weekends, you might find Logan wandering forests or attempting to befriend neighborhood cats.

Oakdale, CA

Mechelle is a Family Nurse Practitioner and Professor at California State University Stanislaus State in the Central Valley. She earned her PhD at UC Merced and is involved in health policy, pediatric health, health disparities, and decreasing the environmental impacts to health where we live, work, and play.

Marin County, CA

Meg is an experienced PACU/Pre-op nurse, with a passion for lifestyle medicine, and plant-forward dietary interventions to combat the global chronic disease crisis. She is the co-founder and Wellness Director of Navitas Organics, Co-creator of Futurewell Summit, and Co-chair of ANHE’s Food and Agriculture Forum. Meg joins the CNEHJ Leadership Council to focus efforts on addressing environmental health issues and policies within the state.

Sacramento, CA

Joleen Lonigan received her bachelor of science in nursing from Dominican College of San Rafael in 1999 and her master of science in nursing degree from Holy Names University in Oakland, California in 2004. She is currently enrolled in a DNP Nurse Executive program at Old Dominion University.

She is a member of the American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, American College of Healthcare Executives and California Association of Healthcare Leaders. Joleen is an active member on CAHL Clinical Leaders Committee since 2017 Joleen is a Sacramento native who started her new graduate nurse career at UC Davis Medical Center in Pediatrics. She has worked in her local community and is interested in igniting health care leaders around climate change.

Marin County, CA

Erin Carrera is a registered nurse and a public health advocate. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public health nursing and a master’s degree in sustainable business. Erin currently works in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit at UCSF where she is also a dedicated union representative. She served as the Chief Nurse Representative for the California Nurses Association at UCSF from 2010 to 2019. As a long time member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) she collaborates with local and state grassroots organizations to lobby for clean water, air and energy in California and beyond.

Davis, CA

Sarah is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at California State University, Chico. Her professional background is in community and public health nursing, and she is passionate about equitable access to drinking water and climate justice. She was an inaugural ANHE Environmental Health Nurse Fellow (2019-2020).

Fresno, CA

I am a nurse practitioner at the VA hospital in Fresno, California and I work on the hematology-oncology unit. I am also involved in a steering committee that advocates for environmental protection and justice in the south central district in Fresno. The ongoing project steered by the committee is on land use and how heavy industries can potentially impact the physical, social and mental health of the populations who live in the south central area of Fresno county.

San Diego, CA

Charge nurse level III at Kaiser Urgent Care, Unit-Based Team’s Health and Safety Champion, and a member at the Kaiser San Diego Green Team, where he plays an important leadership role in sustainable health care practices. In addition, Dante also runs biO2america.com, a plant-based food and beverage company with large-scale environmental green projects, such as planting more than 40,000 trees.