Get Insights from Jessica Castner on March 20
At the Duke University School of Nursing Spring Research Symposium, Jessica Castner will offer remarks on the critical intersection of climate change, health, and nurse-led models of care, highlighting innovative solutions for today’s most pressing climate challenges.
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Jessica Castner, Ph.D., RN-BC, a distinguished expert on nursing and health policy, has embarked on a yearlong term as Duke University’s third Climate Leader in Residence (CLIR). The CLIR program brings top thought leaders to Duke to share insights and expertise, sparking discussion and action to advance climate solutions.
In addition to being a tenured professor at the University at Albany, Castner is president of Castner Incorporated, a woman-owned small business focused on leveraging nursing and public health expertise to drive health research and analytics, scientific dissemination, and organizational leadership. As the National Academy of Medicine’s 2021-2022 Distinguished Nurse Scholar in Residence, Castner helped develop federal health policies related to climate change, disasters, environmental health, clinician wellbeing, and artificial intelligence applications.
“Nurses, physicians, and other care providers bear frontline witness to the human suffering, disease, and injuries resulting from climate-related disasters and exposures,” noted Castner, whose residency will be based at the Duke University School of Nursing. “Healthcare is facing unprecedented opportunities to optimize our resilience to climate-related disasters while reducing the sector's emissions that contribute to climate change. I am looking forward to collaborating with leaders across the health system and university to accelerate Duke’s leadership on climate and health.”
Castner will work alongside health system and university leaders to systematically assess and refine Duke’s climate and health strategy. Over the course of the year, Castner plans to develop a report on sustainability and climate action in academic-health systems for publication, create a train-the-trainer guide to boost faculty competence in climate-related research, and identify climate-related health policy targets and recommended actions.
Throughout the year, Castner will share insights with School of Nursing students and other Duke community members through mentorship and speaking engagements, and will represent Duke's climate agenda to external stakeholders.
Valerie Sabol, Jessica Castner, and Eleanor Stevenson
During the residency, Castner (center) will work closely with Sabol (left) and Eleanor Stevenson, Ph.D., RN (right), interim vice dean for global and community health affairs at the Duke University School of Nursing, among other collaborators.
Valerie Sabol, Ph.D., RN, director of planetary health at the School of Nursing, nominated and will host Castner as a resident. “Through the Duke Climate Commitment, we have the opportunity to develop an innovative model for climate action that will benefit our local community as well as people across the globe,” Sabol explained. “Dr. Castner’s deep expertise, track record of high-impact initiatives, and robust professional network will be powerful assets as Duke pursues this critical charge.”
Castner is a fellow in both the Academy of Emergency Nursing and the American Academy of Nursing. A board-certified emergency nurse (CEN) and Certified Asthma Educator (AE-C), Castner’s career has focused on the environmental and contextual drivers of emergency health outcomes and care. Castner’s research emphasizes healthy environments and the environmental determinants of health, particularly as these factors relate to emergency department use and care.
Castner’s research has received generous support from prestigious institutions, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute on Aging, National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Castner’s recent accolades include the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Thoracic Society's Terrorism and Inhalation Disaster Section, 2021 Pioneer Award from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's College of Nursing, the 2015-2017 Rockefeller University Heilbrunn Family Center for Research Nursing Nurse Scholar, the 2017 Marquette University College of Nursing Young Alumni of the Year, and the 2017 Nursing Outlook Excellence in Research Award.
Castner holds a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an M.S.N. with a public health nursing concentration from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a B.S.N. from Marquette University. Castner has also completed a certificate in executive healthcare leadership at Cornell University.
“We are proud that Duke’s newest Climate Leader in Residence is a distinguished nurse, nominated by our very own School of Nursing,” said Michael Relf, Ph.D., RN, interim dean of the Duke University School of Nursing. “This recognition not only highlights the vital role nurses play in addressing climate change but also aligns seamlessly with our mission to advance health equity. By integrating climate leadership with nursing expertise, we are committed to fostering innovative solutions that improve health outcomes for all communities."
About Duke’s Climate Leaders in Residence Program
Launched in 2024, the CLIR program leverages the leaders’ experience, expertise and networks as they collaborate with Duke faculty and staff on pragmatic climate research and initiatives that could lead to significant change in the near future. They also enrich Duke students’ learning through mentorship, teaching and other activities.
The CLIR program advances the aims of the Duke Climate Commitment, which unites the university’s education, research, operations and public service missions to address climate challenges. The program is funded this year by the Presidential Climate Action and Innovation Fund, an endowment established by the Nicholas Family in support of the Duke Climate Commitment. The Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability oversees the CLIR program.