This eleventh conference will focus on Global Health on a Warming Planet, emphasizing the relationship between health and climate. The interdisciplinary conference
invites participants from different disciplines to engage in civil discourse on a
different topic each year. The format of the conference includes workshops, presentations,
and posters.
The IOC theme for 2026 is a unique opportunity for collaboration to benefit the hundreds
of students who take interdisciplinary global health courses every semester. Offering
the first officially approved interdisciplinary global health programs at the university
since 2018, the Center for African Studies is happy to co-sponsor this conference
to further understanding, research and publication in global health.
The conference series was commissioned by former President Charles J. Dougherty as
an endowed academic event. Current University President, Ken Gormley, continues to
inspire excellence in support of the Spiritan mission as the conference series develops.
The conference has three goals:
Provide a scholarly opportunity to engage established and emerging research on the
conference topic
Foster interdisciplinary discourse on each topic, such as science, health, philosophy,
religion, and policy
Enlighten public awareness and discussion of the conference topic
Conference Information
Plenary Speakers
Adelheid Onyango, PhD
Dr. Adelheid Onyango is Director of the Health Systems and Services (HSS) Cluster
at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (AFRO). In that capacity,
she oversees AFRO’s work with 47 Member States in building health systems that are
resilient to financial, political, economic and environmental shocks; systems that
can deliver high-quality, person-centered services throughout the life course to achieve
universal health coverage.
Dr. Onyango is leading the Regional Office HSS team, coordinating with WHO global
and countrybased teams in Africa, to design and implement strategies for health systems
governance, financing, health workforce capacitation and deployment. They are collaborating
with governments and development partners to define service delivery models inspired
by the primary health care approach, informed by science, and powered by digital innovation.
Dr. Onyango has worked with the WHO for over 27 years, in diverse geographic, socioeconomic,
and cultural contexts. With 16y based at the global headquarters and 11y at the Regional
Office, she is skilled in steering global, regional and national policy dialogues
and facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholder groups. Her role in the AFRO
Executive Management has placed her at the frontlines of the African Region’s strategic
realignment during a period of unprecedented leadership transitions. Since February
2025, she has accompanied sta? with empathy as they navigate change and uncertainty
while co-managing organizational restructuring and resolving conflicts.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Kenyatta University, Nairobi-Kenya,
and Master of Science and a Doctorate in nutrition from McGill University, Montreal-Canada.
Her early childhood education instilled a deep appreciation of and grounding in the
value of family. To this day she remains closely connected with the community of her
birth and childhood.
Presentation: Keepers of Nature and Providers of Care: an African Woman’s Perspective on Climate
and Health Date and Time: March 24, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Abstract: Indigenous African communities cultivated crops, pastured animals, or hunted and gathered
food in patterns that aligned with largely predictable seasonal changes. These subsistence
practices were informed by indigenous ecological science which dictated how to protect
water sources, cull animals or migrate herds, and guided the cycles of fallowing and
cultivating the land. Modernization, urbanization, population growth and climate
change have progressively altered how communities manage their habitat, with variable
consequences for health and well-being.
Human health is affected by climate change through direct or indirect exposure to
extreme weather events, heat stress, air quality, water scarcity, food insecurity,
disease vectors. Vulnerability to climate change depends on the interplay between
exposure and demographic, geographic and biological factors as well as social and
ecological conditions in which people live.
Women in Africa experience sex-specific vulnerabilities as well as those linked to
their responsibilities in caring for children, the sick and the elderly, fetching
water, and producing and cooking food for their families. As part of combating the
impacts of climate change, women and communities are taking initiatives to restore
land and recover climate-smart indigenous subsistence practices. The keynote will
showcase some of these initiatives and highlight challenges to and opportunities for
successful adaptation to climate change.
Chika Onyejiuwa, CSSp
Chika Onyejiuwa was a graduate of Biochemistry before joining the Holy Ghost Congregation
in 1989. He was concreted to the apostolate in 1997 and ordained a priest in 1998.
He served as a pastor to the communities in the highly polluted creeks of Niger Delta
of Nigeria and formed part of the communities’ struggle for environmental justice
for 8 years. Chika Onyejiuwa did other graduate studies after ordination at the Institute
of Spiritual Leadership in the Catholic Theological Union (CTU) Chicago and Creigton
University Omaha, Nebraska. In 2014, he was called by the Congregation serve as the
Executive Secretary Africa Europe Faith & Justice Network (AEFJN) in Brussels that
has kept him on the frontline environmental advocacy. He is currently the Executive
Director of KIBANDA asbl; an NGO belonging to the European Spiritans that promotes
sustainable and integral human development.
Presentation: Global Warming: A Threat to Global Health Security Date and Time: March 25, 2026 at 6 p.m - 7:30 p.m. Abstract: Two global warming factors appears to underpin threats to global health. Industrial Food System: The global food system is grown with antimicrobials, pesticides,
herbicides, fungicides or any other “cides”. This has destroyed left us with poison
on our plates instead of food. Knowing that health is largely determined by what we
eat, we need agroecological transition and farmers’ managed seed system in food system
as a strategic solution. Soil Carbon Credits: The soil carbon trade is an unsustainable strategy for climate
mitigation for two critical reasons. (i) Achieving carbon neutrality does not reduce emissions, which is a key strategy
for reducing global warming. (ii) The idea that the sequestered carbon credits will remain permanent is a fallacy
because the natural disasters and other human activities are not factored in. The warming temperatures promote mutations of microbial strands producing the “superbugs”.
This antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to public health.
Guest Speaker
Majel Connery
Majel Connery is a composer, performer, and educator whose epic, immersive musical
experiences invite audiences to enter the mind of nature. The New York Times has called
her singing “superb” and the Wall Street Journal described her compositions as “thoroughly
Schubertian.”
Connery’s music blends electronic processing with raw vocal power, creating works
both playful and profound—part technical dazzle and part emotional healing. Her choral
work The Rivers Are Our Brothers has been toured and recorded by Grammy-winning choir
Chanticleer. Elderflora, her oratorio on the life and death of a tree, premiered at
the Seattle Symphony and continues to tour in a variety of electro-acoustic formats.
A seasoned educator, Connery holds an A.B. in music from Princeton and a Ph.D. in
musicology from the University of Chicago. She has taught at Stanford, UC Berkeley,
Princeton, Wellesley, and is currently adjunct faculty in Music at UNM Albuquerque.
In the domain of radio, Connery created music for the 5-part series “Gonads” on WNYC/Radiolab
and performed with Radiolab Live. She hosts two podcasts: A Music of Their Own (NPR/CapRadio),
and Reverberations (New Amsterdam Records).
Presentation: The Voice of Nature: Music to Make Us Care Date and Time: March 24, 2026 at 12:15 p.m - 1:30 p.m. Abstract: Composer and performer Majel Connery believes that nature has a voice, and that music
can help us hear it. This presentation explores music as a powerful practice of care—one
capable of reaching listeners emotionally and imaginatively in ways that facts and
warnings about climate change often cannot. Using examples from Connery’s works "The
Rivers Are Our Brothers" and "Elderflora," the talk demonstrates how this belief can
be translated into compositional practice, using vocal synthesis and electronic processing
to conjure the otherworldly “voices” of rivers, mountains, and trees. The presentation
argues for environmental responsibility through music, using sound, voice, and imagination
to reach listeners at the level of feeling rather than instruction.
1. Jaelyn Swogger. A Warming Planet Leading to a Weakened Defense: How Climate Change Fuels Autoimmune
Disease Burden
2. Ashley Smith. How Climate Change Impacts People with Disabilities
3. Mireya Maymi. Clean Water Action Project: PA
4. Dresden Bouman. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
5. Ellie Knuth. Bike PGH
6. Ross Summer. Artificial Nature: A Degrading Theseus’ Ship
7. Eugene Tseytlin. Ethical Accountability of Healthcare AI in a Changing World
8. Emma Gelston. How Do Our Physical and Social Environments Effect the Quality of Our Relationships?
9. Aigerim Aliakparova. Sustainable Healthcare Communication: The Ethical Contribution of Principlism to
Interpretation Services in Patient-Centered Care
11:00-11:50 AM SESSION
1. Allison Zeiss. Modern Implications of Deep Ecology
2. Kevin Abel. Climate Change and the Spread of Malaria
3. Paige Fairchild. Global Health on a Warming Planet: Reducing Emissions of Air Pollutants
5. Arii Metz. Health Ethics on Warming World: Examination of Humans, Animals, and Climate-related
Diseases
6. Lindsay Post. Intergenerational Ethics in a Warming World: Protecting Future Generations’ Right
to Health
7. C.J. Herson. The Global Impact of Climate Change on Diabetes
8. Brian Atchison. A Proposal on Nature and Poverty
9. Margaret Kelly. Water Pollution and Human Health
12:00-12:50 PM SESSION
1. Caden Frank. Climate Change and Global Health Ethics
2. Cassier Speer, Gretchen Hastings, Lindsay Kivlan, Braden King, and Alex Posada. The role Governments and Institutions have during times of Public Health Crisis
3. Ethan Sensenig, Matt Vrzic, Sose Farina, and David Bentz. Mass Surveillance
4. Angelina Ohlinger. Chevron-Texaco and the Systematic Endangerment Off Environment, Health, and Community
5. Benjamin Irwin. Ethical Governance in AI-Driven Supply Chains
6. A.I. Fischer. Biodiverse Lawns
1:00-2:00 PM SESSION
1. Sarah Planic. Care and the Climate: How the Integration of AI in Occupational Therapy affects our
Environment
2. AJ Gerace. Religion and Ecology: Faith-Based Pathways to Sustainability
3. Alaya Rosario. Ecology: Shifting Away from the Anthropocentric Solution
4. Connor McDonough. Fixing Nature with Fake Reefs: Human Effects on Restoration
5. Nicole Powell. “Where Are You Going, Lord?” The Quo Vadis Tradition and the Connection Between Suffering
and Social Justice
6. Mallory Wilkie. Environmental Sustainability of Universal Healthcare
7. Jaysa Capone. A Growing Crisis: Climate Change as the Driving Force Behind Mental Health Decline
8. Braxton Lowe. The Harmful Effects of Major AI Data Center Campuses
9. Ann Sculimbrene. Fossil Fuel Entrenchment and Renewable Policy Retrenchment: Why the United States
is Unable to Effectively Act on Climate Change
2:00-2:50 PM SESSION
1. Araf Rahman. Future AI vs Human? The Hidden Cost of AI (Online)
2. Anne Connelly. Climate Change as a Bioethical Problem: Justice, Harm, and Global Responsibility in
Health Care
3. Anthony McFadden. Combating Throwaway Culture
4. Kenza Khalil. “A Basic and Universal Human Right”: Water, Health, and Stewardship in Laudato Si’
5. Anya Shilobod. Human Dignity on a Warming Planet: Heat Mortality and Integral Ecology
6. Drake Davis. Warming Temperatures and the Global Spread of Infectious Diseases
3:00-3:50 PM SESSION
1. Emmanuel Asamoah-Bekoe. Climate Change and Human Infertility (Online)
2. Francois Eale. Understanding Genetics and Rethinking the Catholic Doctrine of Human Dignity (Online)
3. Caroline Belt. Data Centers: The Ultimate Consumers
4. Lauren Kenst. Healing the Human Body While Protecting Creation: Gene Editing for Parkinson’s Disease
5. Isabelle Toler. Framing Disability in Health Ethics Discourse on Climate Change
6. Ezeora Joachim. Ethical Imperative to Safeguard Human Dignity and Right to Health on a Warming Planet
7. EQ117, Our Planet's Keeper. Are We Our Planet’s Keeper: A Course Based on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals
Abel, Kevin. Climate Change and the Spread of Malaria
Aliakparova, Aigerim. Sustainable Healthcare Communication: The Ethical Contribution
of Principlism to Interpretation Services in Patient-Centered Care
Asamoah-Bekoe, Emmanuel Kofi. Climate Change and Human Infertility
Atchison, Brian. A Proposal on Nature and Poverty
Bearden, Layla. How AI Technologies Can Affect Global Health
Belt, Caroline. Data Centers: The Ultimate Consumers
Binion, Edmari. Pittsburgh Parks: Promoting Health on a Warming Planet
Bittel, Kayla. UN Sustainable Goal 13: Climate Action
Bottino, Gianna. Care for our Common Home- Laudato Si’ and Climate Change
Bouman, Dresden. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Bourque, Madison. Artificial Intelligence and Its Effects on Global Health
Brooks, Matthew. Hilltop Urban Farm's Role in Global Health on a Warming Planet
Calligan, Chad. Drug Discovery & Personalization: Affects on a Global Scale
Capone, Jaysa. A Growing Crisis: Climate Change as the Driving Force Behind Mental
Health Decline
Carlisle, Ken'marea. Extreme Heat: The Growing Health Crisis of a Warming Planet
Cartagena, Luis X. Marrero. Evaluating the Transformative Impacts of AI on Global
Health: Benefits, Risks, Limitations, and Ethical Considerations
Clark, Avery. Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh
Connelly, Anne. Climate Change as a Bioethical Problem: Justice, Harm, and Global
Responsibility in Health Care
Cutillo, Zoë. When Everyone Knows You: Confidentiality in Rural Practice
Davis, Drake. Warming Temperatures and the Global Spread of Infectious Diseases
Dawson, Jordan. Abolish Factory Farming: A Singerian Imperative
DeCaro, Capri. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Impacts on Global Health Today
Denke, Kayla. Evaluating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Global Health: Opportunities,
Risks, and Ethical Challenges
Dittrich, Ryan. How AI Technologies Can Affect Global Health
Dosenbach, Emily. Sustainable Development Goals for Climate Change
Eale, Francois X. Understanding Genetics and Rethinking the Catholic Doctrine of Human
Dignity
EQ117 Class. Are We Our Planet’s Keeper: A Course Based on the U.N. Sustainable Development
Goals
Fairchild, Paige. Global Health on a Warming Planet: Reducing Emissions of Air Pollutants
Fischer, AJ. Biodiverse Lawns
Flatow, Brendan. The Circular Economy as Climate Action
Foglia, Nora Grace. Friends of the Riverfront
Frank, Caden. Climate Change and Global Health Ethics
Gelston, Emma. How Do Our Physical and Social Environments Effect the Quality of Our
Relationships?
Gerace, AJ. Religion and Ecology: Faith-Based Pathways to Sustainability
Gomez, Isabelle. Stewardship for Our Common Home: Climate Action
Griffin, Kylie. Local People Saving Local Land
Griffin, Madeline. Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania
Grisafi, Mia. Artificial Intelligence and Global Health: Opportunities, Risks, and
Ethical Considerations
Gunn, Aaron M. Urban Equity as Climate Resilience
Gurung, Susma. Climate Change and the Spread of Disease in Nigeria
Harper, Dallas. Protecting Nature and Health: How Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Responds to a Warming Planet
Herson, C.J. The Global Impact of Climate Change on Diabetes
Hogan, Autumn. The Inflation Crisis: Ulta Beauty
Irwin, Benjamin. Ethical Governance in AI-Driven Supply Chains
Joachim, Ezeora. Ethical Imperative to Safeguard Human Dignity and Right to Health
on a Warming Planet
Jones, Hailey. Growing Health in a Changing Climate
Kelly, Margaret. Water Pollution and Human Health
Kenst, Lauren. Healing the Human Body While Protecting Creation: Gene Editing for
Parkinson’s Disease
Kerr, Kallyn. How AI Technologies Can Affect Global Health
Khalil, Kenza. “A Basic and Universal Human Right”: Water, Health, and Stewardship
in Laudato Si’
Knuth, Ellie. Bike PGH
Lane, Sarah. How AI Technologies Can Affect Public Health
Liu, Yifan. Can AI Make Rehabilitation More Accessible Globally?
Llewellyn, Katie. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Impacts on Global Health
LoBosco, Elisa. Caring for our Planet
Lowe, Braxton. The Harmful Effects of Major AI Data Center Campuses
Lusnak, Carly. Integral Ecology and Global Health: Catholic Response to Climate Change
Macaluso, Katie. Allegheny Watershed Network
Martinez, Leo. Clean Water for All
Maymi, Mireya. Clean Water Action Project: PA
McDonagh, Connor. Fixing Nature with Fake Reefs: Human Effects on Restoration
McFadden, Anthony. Combating Throwaway Culture
Mears, Preston. AI Data Centers and Environmental Racism
Metz, Arii. Health Ethics on Warming World: Examination of Humans, Animals, and Climate-related
Diseases
Mezza, Emmanuel. The BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010) and Its Impact on Climate
Change
Mulenga, Christina. Historic Real Estate Laws and The Divergence from Natural Law
Nayyar, Neil. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Improving Care while Managing
Ethical Risks
O’Connor, Madeline. Crumbl Cookies
Oberdick, Abigail. PepsiCo, Inc. - Annual Dividend
Ohlinger, Angelina. Chevron-Texaco and the Systematic Endangerment Off Environment,
Health, and Community
Oliver, Cameron. 350 Pittsburgh
Planic, Sarah. Care and the Climate: How the Integration of AI in Occupational Therapy
affects our Environment
Plouffe, Nick. Stewardship for creation
Porter, Raegan. Health Ecology, Health Community
Post, Lindsay. Effects of AI on the Environment
Post, Lindsay. Intergenerational Ethics in a Warming World: Protecting Future Generations’
Right to Health
Powell, Nicole. “Where Are You Going, Lord?” The Quo Vadis Tradition and the Connection
Between Suffering and Social Justice
Pugh, Chase. Environmental Impact of Acidic Mine Drainage from Abandoned Mine Sites
Rahman, Araf. Future AI vs Human? The Hidden Cost of AI
Reynolds, Olivia. Integrity of Creation: Stewardship and SGD 14 “Life Below Water”
Robertson, Olivia. 412 Justice
Rosario, Alaya. Ecology: Shifting Away from the Anthropocentric Solution
Rosario, Darwin H. Márquez. Dispensing Innovation: How can AI Reshape Global Health
Salinas, Alejandra. PlantScape PGH
Sculimbrene, Ann. Fossil Fuel Entrenchment and Renewable Policy Retrenchment: Why
the United States is Unable to Effectively Act on Climate Change
Sensenig, Ethan, Matt Vrzic, Sose Farina, and David Bentz. Mass Surveillance
Shilobod, Anya. Human Dignity on a Warming Planet: Heat Mortality and Integral Ecology
Smith, Ashley. How Climate Change Impacts People with Disabilities
Smith, Leah. The Impact of AI Technology on Global Health
Speer, Cassie, Gretchen Hastings, Lindsay Kivlan, Braden King, and Alex Posada. The
role Governments and Institutions have during times of Public Health Crisis
Sumner, Ross. Artificial Nature: A Degrading Theseus’ Ship
Swogger, Jaelyn. A Warming Planet Leading to a Weakened Defense: How Climate Change
Fuels Autoimmune Disease Burden
Szpala, Zachery. Global Health Affects as AI Technology Advances
Tamang, Hrithika. What It Means to Be Human Before God
Taylor, Jermaine. How AI Technologies can Affect Global Health
Thacker, Taylor. Using Technology For Better Health: AI In Global Healthcare
Tobias, Kylie. Single-Use Syringes Creating Waste
Toler, Isabelle. Framing Disability in Health Ethics Discourse on Climate Change
Tseytlin, Eugene. Ethical Accountability of Healthcare AI in a Changing World
