faculty profile

Carol Ziegler DNP, NP-C, RD

Professor
Co-Founder, Climate, Health and Energy Equity Lab

Bio

Dr. Ziegler joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2013 while practicing full time as an FNP at an urban family practice clinic. She is co-founder of the Climate, Health and Energy Equity Lab (CHEEL) at the W'Ondry, and teaches in the FNP and DNP programs, with secondary appointments in Arts and Sciences and at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health. She is dually certified as a family nurse practitioner and an advanced-practice holistic nurse.

In 2022 after 16 years practicing as an FNP at Meharry Family Clinic and serving as an instructor with Meharry Medical College, Dr. Ziegler started Thrive Community Healing Cooperative to provide home-based, holistic, primary care and health coaching to families. She combines this work with her work in the Climate, Health and Energy Equity lab to identify and mitigate local health impacts related to climate change, educate healthcare providers and community members about climate change and climate solutions, decrease the contribution of the healthcare sector to carbon emissions, and promote climate justice and health sovereignty for at-risk communities.

Education

DNP, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
MSN, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (FNP)
MS, Nutrition, University of Tennessee
BS, University of Tennessee

Certifications

Family Nurse Practitioner - American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Advanced Practice Holistic Nurse - American Holistic Nurses Association

Current Research/Scholarly Interests

Climate Justice and Health Equity
Cooperative Entrepreneurship
Health and carbon offset co-benefit strategies
Implementing planetary health in nursing education

Current Projects

Designing platforms to direct carbon offsets for health, housing, food, and transportation benefits in historically exploited communities: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/thewondry/programs/social-innovation/climate-health-and-energy-equity-lab...
Vanderbilt Liaison for the Nurses Climate Challenge: https://nursesclimatechallenge.org/
Chair for the American Nurses Association Planetary and Global Health Innovation Committee, 2022

Representative Publications

Journals

Ziegler, C., Reeves, G. (2020). Female Genital Mutilation in Primary Care: Caring and advocating for our patients. Advances in Family Practice Nursing, 2, 115-124.

McClure N., Ziegler C., Christenbery T. (2020). Enhancement of the Community Health Nursing Student Experience: An Interdisciplinary Global Health Immersion Project. Nurse Educator, 45(2), E15-E16.

Ziegler C., Morelli V, Fawibe O. (2019). Climate Change and Underserved Communities. Physician Assistant Clinics, 4(1), 203-216.

Ziegler C., Morelli V, Fawibe O. (2017). Climate Change and Underserved Communities. Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, 44(1), 171-184.

Morelli V, Ziegler C., Fawibe O. (2017). Environmental Justice and Underserved Communities. Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, 44(1), 155-170.

Ziegler, C., Lauderdale, J. (2016). Nandi Traditional Healers: Sentinels in an Underserved Environment. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 23(4), 144-150.

WHITE PAPERS
Lancet Countdown on Climate and Health Working Group. The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels, The Lancet, 400 (10363),1619-1654, (Lead for the South Regional One-Pager). Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673622015409?via%3Dihub

Representative Presentations

Refereed
Ziegler, C. (2021, November 4). Global Causes, Local Impacts; Climate Change and the Primary Care Clinician. 2021 International Council of Nursing Congress, virtual.

Ziegler, C. (2020, March). Climate Change as a Scaffold for Interprofessional Learning in Nursing Education. Annual Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Education Research Conference, Abstract accepted for oral presentation. Conference cancelled due to Covid-19.

Ziegler, C. LeClair, J. (2019, May 7). Creating a Nurses Climate Action Plan. Invited Speaker, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments Annual Summit on Environmental Health, Nashville Tennessee.

Ziegler, C. (2018, September 16). Climate Change and the role of Nurses: Teaching Policy Advocacy in Global Health. National League for Nursing Education Summit, San Diego, CA,.

Non-refereed
Ziegler, C. (2022, August 16). Creation of the Climate, Health and Energy Equity Lab. Invited Speaker, Nurses Climate Challenge/Healthcare Without Harm, Community of Practice quarterly meeting, virtual.

Ziegler, C. (2022, July 14). Planetary Health, Policy and Social Justice: Development of an Interprofessional Course. Invited Speaker, Student Health Coalition Annual Conference, virtual.

Ziegler, C. (2022, April 26). Climate Change and Children's Health, Invited Speaker, Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light, Faith Climate Action Week, Nashville, Tennessee.

Workshops/Continuing Education
Anthamatten, A., Ziegler, C., Smith, R. (2022, August 5). Case-Based Teaching Strategies for Nursing Students. Virtual Presentation to the Nurse faculty at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.

Smith, R., Anthamatten, A., Ziegler, C. (2022, May 6). Teaching Skills for Nursing Students. Virtual Presentation to the Nurse faculty at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.

Ziegler, C. (2021, January 7). Interprofessional Collaboration: Nursing as a hub for Integrative and Innovative Community Projects. Virtual Presentation to the faculty at Aga Khan University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Media
https://nursing.vanderbilt.edu/news/interdisciplinary-partnership-leads-to-vanderbilt-climate-energy...

Featured on Nurses for Healthy Environments Podcast, "NHE 5-13 Dr. Carol Ziegler: Climate injustice: How low income families live green lifestyles without getting the credit" Recorded Nov 17, 2022. https://envirn.org/podcast/nhe-5-12-dr-carol-ziegler-climate-injustice-how-low-income-families-live-...

2022: Featured on NPR's This is Nashville November 15, 2022, "The power of solar energy in Middle Tennessee." https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1083459707/this-is-nashville

2022: Featured guest on News Channel 5 with Nick Beyer, August 15, 2022. Climate change and infectious Diseases.

2022: Featured Guest on Cumberland River Compact, River Talks Podcast. "HOT IN HERE: NASHVILLE'S URBAN HEAT ISLAND, IMPACTS, AND MITIGATION EFFORTS." Aired July 26th, 2022, Accessed at: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2022/07/26/urban-heat-nashville/

2018: Featured on Nurses for Healthy Environments Podcast, "Season 2 Episode 19 From Kenya to Tennessee: Environmental Justice Matters." https://envirn.org/podcast/from-kenya-to-tennessee-environmental-justice-matters/

Professional Organizations

American Holistic Nurses Association
Alliance of Nurses for Health Environments
Clinicians for Planetary Health
American Nurses Association
Tennessee Nurses Association
American Association of Nurse Practitioners

Honors/Awards

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty, 2022, 2019
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Award for Recognition of Achievement in Social Justice, 2021
Featured in Vanderbilt Nurse, A climate of caring; new course studies intersection of nursing, health, justice and climate change. Spring 2019