Ian Reilly

Ian Reilly

MPH Candidate, Research Assistant
Yale School of Public Health
Ian Reilly (he/him) is a graduate from the University of Vermont and is currently a second-year Master of Public Health candidate at Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) studying Health Policy with a concentration in Climate Change and Health. Growing up in rural Vermont, Ian developed an appreciation for the natural world at a young age, with some of his favorite hobbies being camping, hiking, and trail running. This appreciation led him to serving as a Student Associate Yale Center on Climate Change and Health (YCCCH) in my first semester at YSPH. Ian’s first semester at YSPH is also when he became deeply interested in environmental justice. During the course “Social Justice and Health Equity”, Ian was made aware of how the government has historically targeted low-income and BIPOC communities for hazardous waste dumping and environmentally polluting facilities – a practice that continues to this day. 
 
Ian’s first opportunity to tackle environmental justice issues was during his summer internship with the CT Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3) Equity and Environmental Justice Working Group. As a student intern, Ian worked to develop equity-centered planning guidelines for CT communities to build resilience against the impacts of climate change. In October 2021, Ian joined the Yale Center for Environmental Justice as a Research Assistant and continued his work on these guidelines with a small team. Each of them shared the same goal of amplifying historically marginalized voices. They hope to make these guidelines, titled Centering Equity in Climate Change Resilience Planning: A Guide for Connecticut Municipalities, available through the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection website. Ian is grateful for the opportunities that he has been presented through YSPH and YCEJ, and plans to continue his career in the intersection of climate change and human health, advocating for environmental justice and health equity. 

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