Hyacinth Burrowes is pursuing her Master of Public Health at the New York University School of Global Public Health with a concentration in Environmental Public Health Sciences. As a William N. Rom Climate Fellow partnered with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she is currently exploring research on the health effects of climate change. As part of the fellowship program, Hyacinth attended the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt and works to support UNDP in various public health assessment projects.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Hyacinth volunteers her time as a Vice State Lead Ambassador for the American Cancer Society and works as a Mental Health Consultant for Manhattan Community Board 3. She also serves as the Outreach Committee Chair for the USF Black Alumni Society.
To learn more about Hyacinth, we spoke with the master’s student about the intersection of public health and climate change, mental health, and emergency preparedness. Read our Q&A with Hyacinth below!
Interviewed by Meryl Phair.
Q: Could you tell us about what projects you are working on at NYU?
A: I’m in the Applied Global Public Health Initiative (AGPHI) lab with Dr. Chris Dickey, where I’ll be working as the co-director next year. I’m also on the Health and Wellness Committee for the GPH Student Governing Council (SGC) and work on the Evidence to Global Impact Lab (E2GI). With E2GI, I’m doing a project on tobacco policy in New York and with the AGPHI lab, a project on climate change and public health. We’re working on how climate change impacts adolescent and youth sexual reproductive health.
Q: In what ways does climate change impact sexual/reproductive health?
A: It’s a complex subject, but there are two main points. When your community is impacted by an extreme weather event, the temporary communities that are put up generally create more risk for gender-based violence. Being displaced as you migrate also creates more susceptibility.
The second point is access to health care. When migrating you don’t have access to contraceptives, or you don’t have access to sexual health education. This is especially important for young people, who are just missing out on health information and access.
Q: As a field, public health is interdisciplinary, and you’re involved in projects that cover a range of topic areas. What has sparked your interest in the intersecting fields like climate change and public health?
A: I think growing up in the Washington DC area sparked my interest in public health initially because there were a lot of public health emergency preparedness events during the time such as the anthrax event, 911, and the DC sniper. It really showed me the vulnerabilities and resilience of the community I grew up in.
I was also really into plants. I love plants! Growing up, I loved doing any kind of environmental science project, and in college during my undergraduate research, I loved the environmental labs. My school offered an interdisciplinary degree, and you could choose two concentrations. I wasn’t too sure how in reality, environmental science and public health would overlap, but at that point, I knew I had to do it because those are the two things I love. When I saw the manifestation of the health effects of climate change it all came together. That’s who I am and what I’m passionate about.
Q: What has your experience as a William N. Rom Climate Fellow been like?
A: The fellowship is in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program so we’re doing work with them in specific areas. One is analyzing the extent to which gendered health is considered, specifically their energy projects. The bulk of their energy projects are on clean cooking because there are a lot of people across the globe that don’t have access to clean cooking which puts them at risk of household air pollution and health impacts.
Solar For Health is a big electric energy project they’re working on in various countries trying to improve solar energy, specifically in health facilities in rural communities. It’s hard because a lot of the climate change space is compartmentalized in ways, but it all overlaps. They’re asking: what isn’t being considered and how can we better support these countries? As fellows, we develop analytical frameworks in order to analyze these energy projects and produce an internal report.
We have also analyzed the process for including health in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the UNDP Climate Promise countries. As part of the fellowship, we attended this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Egypt and observed how well health was integrated into these climate conversations. It was definitely interesting to note who was there (country-wise) and who was promoting the inclusion of health.
Q: Are there any areas in the public health climate change space that you think are especially critical to address or issues within that space you’re especially drawn to?
A: Sometimes it’s hard when you’re in so many webinars and conferences. You start to wonder what the global agenda is versus what I personally think should be the top priority. For example, with loss and damages (a fund for developing countries to address climate change), I’m a Liberian American so I’m seeing how climate change is affecting them right now in coastal communities with sea level rise and they don’t have the resources to be able to address that. But is that the area of work I’m necessarily going to go into? Some of the economics of it are just dense. Within climate though, I think I gravitate towards air pollution and respiratory disease.
Q: Especially working in a field like climate change, how do you handle the stress and pressures that come with the work?
A: That has been questionable as of late. I think making time and not budging on it is important! It’s so easy to say this is due today, and this is due tomorrow, so these are the priorities. Mental health is something you live with every day, so it’s a priority all the time. I enjoy yoga, and I love to relax with five minutes to 10 minutes a day of Duolingo. I know you’re probably going to say that’s more work, but it really does feel like escaping.
Q: What languages are you learning?
A: French and Japanese!
Q: What’s next for you after NYU?
A: Research-based, whether in academics or industry. I hope to get more experience in researching the health effects of climate change. I would love to get my PhD, but I’m probably going to do more research first, to get experience before furthering my education.