Board of Directors
Daniel Smith
Daniel J. Smith, PhD, RN, CNE is a doctorally prepared nurse and the Weingarten Endowed Assistant Professors at Villanova University’s M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. During my PhD Studies, I was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar, Cohort 5. My overarching research interest lies at the intersection of understanding the effects of climate change on the health outcomes of disenfranchised populations and how we can build climate resilience and adaptation skills in communities & health systems. In addition to my scholarship, I have worked clinical with multiple refugee and immigrant populations in the primary care setting. I am excited to be the co-chair of ANHE’s climate change committee and hope to bring my skills to advance the mission of the committee and the organization.
Aaron Salinas
Aaron Salinas, DNP, APRN,FNP-BC,PMHNP-BC, NRP is an Assistant Professor and the BSN Program Coordinator at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg Texas. He has been in Academia for 7 years. In addition to his role with the School of Nursing . Dr. Salinas is a Nurse Practitioner with Board Certifications as a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. He is part of the UT Health Rio Grande Valley Team and sees patients at the University Health Center and does consultation work with a local psychiatrist and a pediatrician in the Rio Grande Valley. He is involved in many organizations at the local, state and national level where he serves on many of the organizations as a board member.
Nelson Tuazon
Nelson Tuazon, DNP, DBA, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, CPPS, CPHQ, CPXP, FNAP, FACHE, FAAN has a successful track record in nursing practice, academia, and executive leadership. Dr. Tuazon’s involvement in professional associations and boards has influenced nursing practice, nursing education, and public policy. He was the inaugural Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of the Philippine Nurses Association of America (now the Journal of Nursing Practice Applications and Reviews of Research). He serves as a peer reviewer of the Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice. As founder of the San Antonio Nursing Consortium and Board Member of the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce, he actively participates in public awareness campaigns, including the Stop-the-Bleed Program and humanitarian projects related to climate change in the Philippines. He serves as adjunct faculty at Excelsior University and UT Health San Antonio. His interests in the Environmental Health Nurse Fellowship focus on integrating environmental health and environmental justice into nursing practice, curriculum, public education, and health policy. Dr Tuazon is also Vice President & Associate Chief Nursing Officer at University Health in San Antonio, Texas.
Adelita G. Cantu
Adeita G. Cantu, PhD, RN is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio School of Nursing. Dr. Cantu has extensive experience as a public health nurse working in the community through collaboration to ensure equitable health, particularly in minority, low income communities. Dr. Cantu’s environmental justice work involves teaching the next generation of health care professionals about climate change as a public health issue, as well as teaching low income youth about climate change and working with local policy makers to understand climate change and its inequitable burden to vulnerable, low income communities.
Teddie Potter
Teddie M. Potter, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP is deeply committed to climate change and planetary health education. Dr. Potter is the inaugural director of the Center for Planetary Health and Environmental Justice at the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota and a Fellow in the Institute on the Environment at the University. She is a member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, and the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA). She also chairs Clinicians for Planetary Health (C4PH) for the PHA. She serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the US Health Sector; the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM); and the Climate Crossroads committee of NASEM. Her most recent work is founding with the International Council of Nurses, Nursing for Planetary Health, a global nursing movement.
Michael Irwin Collins
Michael Irwin Collins, RN is am originally from Kansas. After graduating high school in 1970 he spent seven years in the US Army as a Combat Field Medic. Following separation from the Army he pursued training for License Practical Nurse and then immediately an Associate Degree in Nursing. A year after becoming a profession nurse he relocated to Las Vegas NV in1984 where he resides to this day. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in nursing science from UNLV in 2004. He retired from the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in 2020 after thirty-three years. While employed at UMCSN he joined Service Employees International Union in1989 while working with people living with HIV Disease and in the 1990’s became a community activist fighting to support and protect his HIV patients. From 2000 to 2003 he worked at the UNLV Student Health Center. He returned to hospital care in 2003 until my retirement he worked as charge nurse on a renal transplant unit. At the same time became increasing his activism with SEIU Local 1107 and eventually joining the local’s executive board. During the Obama administration the international union established the SEIU Nurse Alliance which he joined and advocated for several national healthcare priorities facing nurse professionals. One of the SEIU Nurse Alliance priority during my tenor was the protection of the Affordable Care Act. In 2017 he was arrested at the US Hart Office Building while advocating against attempts to get rid of the ACA.
The SEIU Nurse Alliance collaborated with numerous organizations including the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. He participated in collaborative trainings and opportunities to lobby for climate justice. In 2019 while advocating for climate justice he was arrested one more time at the US Senate Hart Office Building during a Fire Drill Friday’s action.
In February of 2023 he participated in visits to congressional offices to encourage congressional support of OSHA regulation with the. Climate Action Champaign. In May of 2024 it was his honor to be the recipient of the Charlotte Brody Award at the 2024 Clean Med Conference. Given the threats to the health of our planet posed by those currently in power he is looking forward to addressing those challenges with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments.
Bruce Adelson
Bruce L. Adelson, Esq., is CEO of Federal Compliance Consulting LLC. He is a former U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) Senior Trial Attorney.
Bruce is an Instructor of Family Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Law at University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he teaches implicit bias in health care, civil rights, cultural awareness, and organizational culture. He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Cornell, and Auburn Universities, The Johns Hopkins University, University of Baltimore School of Law, and University of Michigan School of Law. He is the ADA and Title VI Consultant to the Idaho Supreme Court and the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts.
Bruce holds a BA in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University and a JD from The University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is the author of 13 books, including the award-winning Brushing Back Jim Crow – The Integration of Minor League Baseball in the American South (University of Virginia Press).
Valerie K. Sabol
Valerie K. Sabol, PhD, MBA, ACNP-BC, GNP-BC, CHSE, CNE, ANEF, FAANP, FAAN is a clinical professor and the inaugural Director of Planetary Health at the Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON). With over 25 years of clinical experience, she is board-certified as both an Adult Acute Care and Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. A passionate advocate for climate and sustainability in healthcare, Dr. Sabol is at the forefront of integrating planetary health into nursing education, research, and practice. She serves as Duke University’s Education Co-Chair for Climate Change and Sustainability, leading efforts to integrate these concepts into curricula across all Duke Schools. She co-leads Moral Movements in Medicine, an interprofessional humanities course exploring ethics and social responsibility in healthcare. She is also the co-developer of a Coursera course called Climate Change and Health for Healthcare Professionals. Recognized for her leadership in this space, she was selected for the 2024 Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists (EHRI-NCS), an NIH-funded mentorship program advancing environmental health research in nursing. A past GAPNA President, her research and clinical interests focus on how climate change, nutrition, physical activity, and obesity impact aging, mobility, and mental health. She has worked across critical care, outpatient, and telehealth settings, and currently provides clinical care to our aging Veterans at the Durham VA Medical Center.
Doriam Camacho Rodriguez
Dr. Doriam Camacho, PhD, MBA, RN, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. She led and represented ANHE Latin America before the Climate and Health Network of Latin America and the Caribbean. For 13 years, she has been working on incorporating environmental issues into the Nursing curriculum, a pioneering effort that has allowed her to participate in academic discussion spaces in various countries. Her research interests revolve around promoting children’s environmental health and the prevention of climate-sensitive diseases through citizen science and transdisciplinary research. In 2022, Dr. Camacho’s tireless efforts were recognized by the Sigma Theta Thau International Latin America and Caribbean Region. She was honored as one of the “100 Bold Nurses in Latin America and the Caribbean Promoting Excellence in Nursing” for her significant contributions to Nursing, Climate Change, and the Environment.