Kansas City, Missouri
General Sessions Opening Keynote Address: Monday, August 3 Public Health in Crisis: What It Means to You
The 2026 AEC opened with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem by NEHA’s Kristen Ruby-Cisneros, followed by President Larry Ramdin’s introduction of keynote speaker Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Using humor, personal stories, and a baseball analogy of “balls and strikes,” Dr. Osterholm explored challenges facing the workforce and encouraged attendees to think creatively about the field’s future. He praised NEHA’s Pillars of Governmental Environ- mental Public Health report as a roadmap for reimagining our programs and emphasized that innovation, rather than simply restoring past practices, is essential to the profession’s future. Closing with the inspirational refrain “Rise Again” from Stan Rogers’ song, The Mary Ellen Carter , he challenged the field to embrace change and new possibilities. Plenary Address: Tuesday, August 4 Keeping Food Safety in Play: Lessons Learned From the FIFA World Cup 2026 Lisa Berger, principal consultant at Berger Food Safety Consulting, opened her plenary address with an overview of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Drawing on her experience as lead food safety consultant for the FIFA Fan Fest and Boston-area stadium events, she shared practical insights into food safety challenges at large-scale events. She emphasized the differences between routine and temporary event inspections, highlighting the importance of collaboration, time management, and risk-based inspections in preventing foodborne illness. Berger discussed challenges posed by extreme weather, utilities, water management, pest control, equipment, and staffing. She concluded with examples of innovative vendor solutions and emphasized that thorough planning and preparation are essential to safe, successful events. Plenary Address: Wednesday, August 5 The State of Smoke: Review of Established and Evolving Evidence on the Health Effects of Air Pollution From Landscape Fires Dr. Sarah Henderson engaged the audience through interactive polling while exploring the grow- ing impacts of wildfire smoke. Opening with an acknowledgment of Indigenous peoples and the Coast Salish saying, “Nuts a maht,” meaning “We are one,” she emphasized our connection to the environment. She illustrated how increasingly intense wildfires are reversing decades of air quality improvements. She explained the complex composition of wildfire smoke and its wide - spread health effects. Dr. Henderson also emphasized the significant health and economic costs of wildfire smoke and identified indoor air quality improvements as the most effective protective measures. She concluded by advocating for smoke-ready buildings, equitable access to protective measures, routine air quality monitoring, and use of freely available resources. Closing Keynote Address: Thursday, August 6 An Overview of the Gulf South Vector Educational Center for Training, Outreach, and Resources (VECTOR) Collaborative In the conference’s final session, Dr. Claudia Riegel, director of the City of New Orleans Mos - quito, Termite, and Rodent Control Board, shared her work in vector control and community- based rodent surveillance. She highlighted challenges identified through a national environ - mental scan and the findings of a rodent working group. She then introduced the Gulf South VECTOR project that uses a One Health approach to address vectorborne diseases by recog- nizing the interconnected health of people, animals, and ecosystems. Centered on three pil- lars—train, evaluate, and partner—the project provides training and free resources while using participant feedback and data to identify gaps and improve programs. Dr. Riegel closed with a powerful reminder that the future of our profession depends on not only what we can accom- plish alone but also what we can achieve together..
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November 2026 • Journal of Environmental Health • Journal of Environmental Health
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