
Julie A. Gonzalez
Dr. Julie A. González is an Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity. She specializes in the intersection of climate change, environmental hazards, population health, and structural inequality. Her research addresses how climate-driven risks such as infectious diseases, urban decay, and displacement emerge within systems that marginalize vulnerable communities.
Holding a Ph.D. in Applied Demography from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Dr. González applies advanced statistical modeling and spatial analysis to explain where and why climate hazards disproportionately impact certain populations. She uses R and GIS as core tools to identify spatial patterns of vulnerability, transforming complex demographic and environmental data into insights that inform public health strategies and policy responses.
Dr. González serves as a trusted expert for Spanish-language media and public platforms, translating climate-demographic research into accessible, community-centered narratives. She engages with national outlets such as Telemundo to highlight the intersection of climate change, health disparities, and systemic inequality, ensuring that marginalized voices and critical data inform public discourse. Through media collaboration, she advances climate justice conversations beyond academia, connecting evidence-based insights to the lived realities of vulnerable communities and policy action.
Her work extends beyond academic research through active collaboration with policymakers, advocacy groups, and media outlets to ensure that climate justice and population health are prioritized in adaptation and resilience efforts.
Current Projects
- Piloting a study on climate shock responses through data collected from individuals affected by the LA Wildfires.
- Collaborating with NASA Langley to utilize satellite data for analyzing the health impacts of air pollution.
- Leading a systems-based study of climate-sensitive infectious diseases in U.S. coastal communities, examining how sea surface temperature, precipitation, and demographic vulnerability interact to produce spatial disparities in health risk.