Ruth McDermott-Levy is a Professor and Co-Director the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health and the Environment (US Region 3 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit) at Villanova University’s Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. She researches the intersection of human health and the environment.
Ruth has published on topics that include incorporating climate change into nursing curricula, climate and health impacts for older adults and children, climate change mortality, and the health impacts of unconventional natural gas extraction in Pennsylvania.
In her current research, Ruth and colleagues are examining climate change adaptation of community-based organizations. In 2018, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Finland where she worked with Finnish nurses to link climate change to health and address mitigation and adaptation strategies. She was the 2020 Charlotte Brody Award recipient for the nurse who exemplifies environmental nursing leadership, and the editor-in-chief of Environmental Health in Nursing, 2nd ed.
Ruth recognizes the healing impact of nature. She knows that climate change is our greatest public health threat AND our greatest public health opportunity.