Who We Are
Partners
Murray Lee
murray (at) habitatcorp.com
Murray Lee, MD, MPH, has made a career out of studying how ‘place’ affects health. He obtained a B.Sc. from McGill University, trained in medicine at the University of Calgary, and completed his residency training at Queen’s University in 1996. Dr. Lee has subsequently practiced clinical medicine from the Arctic shores of Nunavut to the high desert of New Mexico and many points in between, with a special focus on rural and remote medicine in northern Alberta and aboriginal populations in northern Canada. Combining his professional background with a life-long interest in geography and urban planning, Dr. Lee completed a Master’s Degree in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, with a special emphasis on the impact of the built environment on community health and human health behaviors. Dr. Lee is currently a Clinical Asssistant Professor at the department of Community Health Sciences and is a Master Teacher at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary.
Marla Orenstein
marla (at) habitatcorp.com
Marla Orenstein consults on population health issues for business, government and academia, with particular attention to lifestyle and environmental risk factors for chronic disease and injury. Her work focuses on examining the environmental and social drivers of health and health inequalities in various populations. Ms. Orenstein has a B.A. from McGill University and an M.Sc. in Epidemiology from the University of Edinburgh and is a member of the International Association of Impact Assessment. Recent projects include consulting for Royal Dutch Shell; the Alberta Cancer Board; the University of California, Berkeley; the Department of Health and Social Services of the Government of Nunavut; the Department of Health and Social Services of the Government of the Northwest Territories; the American Institute for Cancer Research; and the University of California, Davis.
Core Personnel
Ame-Lia Tamburrini
ame-lia (at) habitatcorp.com
Ame-Lia Tamburrini’s work centres on the social determinants of health and how physical environments affect health. Her academic and research experiences are diverse and include studies in planning and development in the circumpolar north; work focusing on socioeconomic status and obesity; study coordination for a large intervention trial of physical activity and breast cancer risk; looking at the potential health impacts of a resource development project in northern Alberta; a project exploring planning for public health disasters in Alberta; and research on the health impacts of social networks in senior populations. Ame-Lia also has experience working in India on community intervention programs aimed at helping underserved communities gain self-sufficiency. Ame-Lia holds a B.Sc. in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo and an M.Sc. in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary.
Erica Myles
erica (at) habitatcorp.com
Erica Myles is a health scientist with ten years of experience managing and coordinating projects. Ms. Myles holds a B. Sc. in Biology from Bishop’s University and a M.Sc. in Environmental and Community Health from Griffith University, Australia. Erica has a sound understanding the assessment of human health within the environmental regulatory process. She has authored health assessments for mining, pipeline and oil sands projects in Alberta, B.C and Nunavut. She has worked extensively with federal, provincial, municipal and Aboriginal governments in risk management related to environmental hazards and public health. Ms. Myles has particular expertise in risk communication and consultation with Aboriginal communities. She has supplemented her skills in risk communication with formal training in public participation and community engagement through the International Association of Public Participation.
Affiliates
Intrinsik Environmental Sciences
http://www.intrinsikscience.com/
Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc. is a recognized leader in the field of human health risk assessment, ecological risk assessment and environmental toxicology. Intrinsik's areas of expertise include multi-media exposure modeling, probabilistic risk analysis, landscape scale risk assessment, toxicity evaluations and development of toxicological benchmarks. Together, Habitat and Intrinsik provide a strong team able to tackle the full range of scientific issues related to human health. Our partnership also brings expertise in public consultation and risk communication to ensure that meaningful community involvement and understanding can develop.
Steve Pedersen
info (at) habitatcorp.com
Steve Pedersen’s work is grounded in the concepts of health inequity and prevention. Mr. Pedersen has served as the Executive Director of the Alberta Public Health Association since 2007, and has worked in a variety of community and other settings utilizing population and public health approaches to First Nations Health, homelessness, violence prevention, health inequities, food security, and other determinants of health. Mr. Pedersen completed his BSc in Health Information Science from the University of Victoria and a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Yale University and is currently studying in the Kainai Studies program at Red Crow College on the Blood Reserve in southern Alberta.
Josie Auger
josie (at) habitatcorp.com
Josie Auger is an educator and health researcher, and a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation. Ms. Auger has taught Indigenous Studies, Canadian History, and Native Health issues for the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Maskwachees Cultural College. She has conducted research and written reports for the University of Alberta, various levels of government and Aboriginal communities on diverse health issues such as diabetes, respiratory diseases, injuries, birth weight, mental heath, and sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Other health-related topics of interest include developing health policy using the determinants of health from a cultural perspective within aboriginal communities. Currently, Ms. Auger is ating as Director of the Nechi Institute in Edmonton. Apart from Western academics, Josie has been also in the "Indian School", a virtual reality where the concrete reality of the physical world meets the abstract spiritual dimension.
Max Richardson
max (at) habitatcorp.com
Max Richardson brings to Habitat a professional interest in the intersection of land use, transportation, and health. His diverse background includes working as a fire ecologist in remote deserts of the U.S. and tropical forests of Costa Rica, as a laboratory researcher studying diabetes, and as a health policy analyst in Washington, DC. Max is currently the Health Impact Assessment Project Manager with the California Department of Public Health, assessing the health impacts of cap and trade regulations being proposed under California’s Global Warming Solutions Act passed in 2006. The HIA is assessing the distribution of economic impacts, air quality changes, and consumer costs, linking these broad health determinants to a wide range of health and social outcomes. Max holds a dual Master’s degree in City & Regional Planning and Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Sinead Deery
sinead (at) habitatcorp.com
Sinead’s background spans diverse areas that include economics, philosophy and sociology. Her work in economics has principally concentrated on the broad economic and social implications of policy on society with particular focus on the dynamics of the pharmaceutical industry, and her most recent work examined the effects of generic pharmaceutical policy on citizens and business owners in Ontario. Sinead has written and researched topics concerning the development of international health strategies aimed to improve accessibility of pharmaceuticals worldwide. Sinead holds a B.A.H. in Economics and Philosophy from Queen’s University in Kingston and has recently completed her M.A. in Economics at the University of Calgary.