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Lori G. Byron, MD, practiced pediatrics for 27 years on the Crow Indian Reservation. Now retired from Indian Health Service, she continues to work as a Pediatric Hospitalist in a private hospital and work largely on environmental issues. She and her husband, Robert Byron, work through several organizations on climate advocacy. She co-leads the Citizen’s Climate Lobby Health Team with Robert. She is on the Children’s Health Advisory Committee to the EPA and the Executive Committee of the Environmental Health Council at the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is currently a Masters’ Candidate from Johns Hopkins in Energy Policy and Climate. She is an avid bicyclist, gardener, and cook.
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Dr. Robert Byron is an internist who has practiced for over two decades on the Crow Indian Reservation. A founding member of the Bighorn Valley Health Center, a federally qualified health center in eastern Montana, he is also former governor for the Montana Chapter of the American College of Physicians. Rob co-chairs the Citizens Climate Lobby Health Team and is a member of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. He is a strong advocate for addressing climate change with emphasis on the public health and environmental justice aspects.
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May passion for Mother Nature developed in my twenties living outdoors as a backcountry guide in Moab, Utah. This experienced taught me first hand that people become healthier when they have a connection to nature. For the past seven years I have worked in the local Emergency Department as a registered nurse. I earned my Bachelors of Science from Southern Utah University, and in 2015 I received my Certificate in Emergency Medicine.
I am currently in a graduate program through Montana State University studying what I am most passionate about: Bridging the gap between human health and our natural environment. I have also begun working with Health Care Without Harm an organization that offers the Nurses Climate Challenge. The Nurses Climate Challenged has given me the tools and opportunity to present to my fellow health care professionals the health effects of climate change on our community, our patients, and our loved ones. This past year has been a year of environmental success. A proposal written by myself, and a colleague that asked my local hospital, Bozeman Health Deaconess, to have a Green Team was accepted. As a co-chair to this new Green Team I am excited to see the positive changes that will be made. On my days off, and with my wonderful partner, Pete, I play outside as much as possible to savor the wonderful planet that we were given. |
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Beth Schenk is a Providence-WSU Nurse Scientist, based at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana. Beth leads nursing research efforts across the 50-hospital Providence St. Joseph Health system. She is an assistant research professor at the Washington State University College of Nursing. As a nurse scientist, her primary research interest is in the environmental impacts of healthcare and nursing practice. Dr. Schenk developed the “Nurses Environmental Awareness Tool” which has been used in multiple states and several foreign countries to assess nurses’ awareness of the environmental impacts of hospital-based healthcare. She co-developed the CHANT: Climate, Health and Nursing Tool to monitor the nursing profession’s perceptions and behaviors related to climate change and health. In her board role for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, she produces and hosts the Nurses for Healthy Environments podcast.
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Margaret (Mari) Eggers, MA, MS, PhD
Missoula, Montana | mari.eggers@montanaphc.org Mari Eggers is an environmental health research assistant professor at Montana State University Bozeman (MSU). She previously lived on the Crow Reservation, where she taught science at the Tribal College for a decade. Since 2005, Eggers has been working with Crow colleagues and others to conduct community-engaged research and mitigation to reduce exposure to waterborne contaminants in diverse water sources, improve access to safe drinking water, and understand the impacts of climate change on local water resources and hence health. Eggers teaches in and coordinates the environmental health (EH) degree program at MSU, including advising and mentoring students in diverse EH research projects. She also teaches the Introduction to Global Health course at MSU, serves on the Gallatin City-County Board of Health and its Environmental Health Committee, and is working with the Montana Institute on Ecosystems on their Climate Change and Human Health assessment for our state. Eggers has an interdisciplinary BA and an MA from Stanford University, an MS in Ecology (MSU), and a PhD and post-doc in environmental health from MSU.
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Ronni Flannery, JD
Missoula, Montana | ronni.flannery@montanaphc.org As the American Lung Association’s Healthy Air Campaign Director in Montana, Ronni directs clean air and climate change work in the state with an emphasis on Clean Air Act defense and advancing clean energy policies at the state and federal level. Ronni graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School, Cum Laude, and has provided legal services to organizational and tribal clients on a wide range of issues, including air quality regulation. She presently serves on the Missoula City-County Air Quality Advisory Council and the Montana Public Health Association’s Advocacy and Policy Committee.
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Tom Roberts
Missoula, Montana | tom.roberts@montanaphc.org Dr. Tom Roberts practiced general Internal Medicine with subspecialty interests in geriatrics and HIV medicine from 1980 through 2013. For 15 years he was President and Medical Director of the Western Montana Clinic, a 40 physician multi-specialty medical group in Missoula, ending in October of 2014. He helped found the Montana Health CO-OP and was its first Board Chair and Medical Director. He has served as a board member of the Missoula City-County Health Department and with the Executive Committee of the Montana Medical Association. Currently retired, he travels, skis, mountain bikes, and rafts. He participates on the Missoula Air Quality Advisory Council and serves as a board member of Blue Mountain Clinic.
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Nick Silverman, PhD, PE
Missoula, Montana | nick.silverman@montanaphc.org Nick Silverman is a Faculty Affiliate and Adjunct Professor at the University of Montana in Geosciences and the College of Forestry. His academic research focuses on identifying hydroclimatic trends in mountainous landscapes and the interactions between water, climate, and vegetation. Nick has a background in Physics and Engineering and is a licensed Civil and Water Resources Engineer in the State of Montana. He received a PhD in Hydroclimatology from the University of Montana in 2014 and led the climate analysis for the 2017 Montana State Climate Assessment. Currently, Nick works around Montana and the greater Pacific Northwest on projects that help land managers build adaptive capacity to solve food, water, and energy challenges related to climate change.
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Prior to moving to Montana in 2010, Dr. Smith lived and trained in the Midwest. His undergraduate degree was from Anderson University in Indiana, medical degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri and pediatric residency in Columbus, Ohio. His fellowship was a four-year dual fellowship in Pediatric Critic Care and Pulmonology through Case Western Reserve University and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. He remained there for over 20 years while conducting research in asthma with funding from the NIH, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and American Lung Association. After his 2 children graduated from college, he decided to move to enjoy Montana’s scenery and outdoor sports. His present practice is focused on Pediatric lung diseases including bronchoscopy and ICU work. He continues research on the effects of environmental smoke on children’s health through the University of Montana. He is the Director of the Montana Pediatric Clinical Trials Network under the Environmental Influences On Childhood Health Outcomes (ECHO) program funded by the NIH.
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Sarah Nicole Lorch, EMT,CNA and senior nursing student at MSU Bozeman is a Breckenridge, Colorado native who pursued Montana State for academia, the engaging and down-to-earth community of Bozeman, and the incredible access to outdoor activities such as skiing, climbing, running and backpacking. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau Nurses Honor Society and the Sunrise Movement and hopes to connect her passion for public narrative storytelling and building leadership skills with her passion of connecting environmental and human health. Sarah realizes the value of her position as a student in healthcare for inspiring other young adults to get engaged in climate activism and environmental justice. Her plan involves acting as a bridge between healthcare professionals and community members of any age and background. Within her nursing profession she has dreams of helping decrease the carbon footprint of healthcare delivery to ensure care is provided without harm. As a co-chair, she aims to discover new tools and connections for sharing her ideas and facilitating community projects.
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