Jessica LeClair, PhD, MPH, RN

Biography

PhD, University of Wisconsin in: Nursing; Supporting Areas of Emphasis: Culture, History, and the Environment, 2023
MPH, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2017
BS, University of Wisconsin – Madison in: Nursing, 2005
BA, Oberlin College in: English, Minor in Environmental Studies, 1999

The overarching goal of Dr. LeClair’s research program is to improve the health status of communities most burdened by the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Dr. LeClair’s research program aims to identify and facilitate effective public health practices that advance planetary health in these communities. Dr. LeClair utilizes mixed methods to study collaborative planetary health strategies implemented by public health nurses and their community partners. She holds affiliated appointments at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the School of Medicine and Public Health, and the Center for Climatic Research.

Research focus areas

Health Equity and Social Justice

• Partnering with community-based organizations in developing research design and goals.
• Understanding the impacts of structural violence on the health of racialized and low-income communities on the frontlines of climate change and fencelines of industrial pollution.
• Incorporating multispecies justice in community-based research.

Health Systems: Data Science, Design, and Implementation Science

• Understanding the facilitators and barriers to public health practitioner promotion of planetary health.
• Developing innovative public health interventions that promote planetary health in frontline and fenceline communities.