Welcome to Aclima, Dr. Crystal Upperman!
New Senior Scientist to Advance Aclima Technology in Support of Health and Environmental Justice
Crystal Upperman, Ph.D., MPA, has joined Aclima as the new Senior Scientist to oversee the company’s efforts to integrate public health information and informed risk characterization into Aclima’s products. Her work will expand our capabilities to support customers’ environmental health, climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, and bring equity into decision making. Dr. Upperman brings more than a decade of leadership in climate change and health, most recently at the World Resources Institute, where she played a key role in the Global Commission on Adaptation, which culminated in the landmark call to “build back better,” a call to action that promotes global adaptation and other climate resiliency measures.
“We are extremely pleased and excited to welcome Dr. Upperman to our team,” said Melissa Lunden, Ph.D., Chief Scientist of Aclima. “Expanding the application of Aclima’s platform in new markets requires a concerted effort to bring along various institutions. Dr. Upperman brings the vision, leadership, and innovation needed to advance our products to the next level.”
At the World Resources Institute, Dr. Upperman served as the Senior Research Associate with the Global Commission on Adaptation — an initiative led by Bill Gates, Ban Ki-moon, and Kristalina Georgieva where she spearheaded research efforts to make the case for accelerated adaptation action and increased political support for building climate adaptation priorities.
Previously, Dr. Upperman was the Climate Adaptation Technical Lead for AECOM, the world’s premier infrastructure firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges. In the role at AECOM, she led business development for climate adaptation and environmental impact assessment pursuits in the Southeast US, Latin America, and the Caribbean regions for AECOM.
“I am thrilled to be joining Aclima, and to contribute to the company’s vision of protecting vulnerable communities, reducing exposure to air pollution, and making the unseen seen,” said Dr. Upperman. “I look forward to working with senior leadership and Aclima’s impressive team of experts. I’m enthusiastic about developing creative solutions and building innovative products for customers and community partners to bring forth additional use of hyperlocal air pollution data to spur greater action to reduce pollution exposure and improve climate resilience.”
Before joining AECOM in 2016, Dr. Upperman led the Climate and Health Program at the Maryland Department of Health and worked closely with the CDC’s BRACE program. She also spent three years at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s Ambient Air Quality Program, where she was responsible for analyzing the state’s vast coverage of stationary monitoring air quality data. She has also worked in R&D for BASF on environmental technologies to reduce air pollution emissions from vehicles.
“Dr. Upperman’s firsthand experience working complex exposure topics related to vulnerable communities coupled with her extensive research portfolio gives her a rare, close-up perspective on applied exposure assessment and risk characterization,” concluded Dr. Lunden.
