Catherine Pirkle speaks on the Panel on Childhood at the Public Health Resonance Culturally & Regionally Relevant Physical Activity Across the Globe Webinar program.
Bio
Trained in both life-course and environmental epidemiology, I have worked for two decades in the field of women’s health. I have extensively researched pivotal reproductive health milestones across the life-course—age at first birth, lifetime childbirths, age and type of menopause—and their associations with the disablement process, especially mobility disability. My research in women’s health has involved numerous multi-country collaborations across the globe and in particular low-income and rural communities.
In the field of environmental epidemiology, I am particularly passionate about examining how marine environments affect human health, both positively and negatively. I specialize in the study of marine contaminants in fish and seafood as related to food security and nutrition. I’m particularly interested in examining how overfishing, pollution, and climate change impact the health of coastal and island peoples. My work in this field has spanned from the Canadian Arctic to Oceania. In June 2023, I became the Scientific Director of the Red Hill Registry which is tracking the long-term health effects associated with the June 2021 jet fuel spill at Red Hill in Hawaiʻi. The jet fuel is estimated to have contaminated the drinking water of over 90,000 people.
I love outdoor activities including hiking, kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. I also regularly practice Pilates and take spin classes. However, nothing is more enjoyable than taking a walk on the beach with my daughter.
Public Health Resonance Project 