Board of Directors 

Carl Cooley, MD

Carl Cooley, MD is a retired Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. After 12 years as a primary care pediatrician in Newport, Carl joined the faculty at Dartmouth and directed the Center for Clinical Genetics and Child Development and the Hood Center for Children and Families for 10 years before becoming the Chief Medical Officer for the Crotched Mountain Foundation. He co-founded the Center for Medical Home Improvement and GotTransition supporting quality improvement science to transform primary care practices. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed his pediatric training at the University of Michigan. Carl serves on the City of Concord’s Energy and Environment Advisory Committee. He and his wife, Seddon Savage, live in Concord where they have solarized their home, heat with air-source heat pumps, and drive an all-electric car. Carl enjoys wildlife photography, birding, beekeeping, biking, and the outdoors and maintains an occasional blog called Why Birds.

Marilyn Daley, DNP, APRN, AACC, HF-CERT

Dr. Daley is a practicing nurse practitioner at Catholic Medical Center within the New England Heart Institute specializing in Heart Failure management. She has been employed by Catholic Medical Center since 1983, first as a critical care nurse,  in 1998 becoming a nurse practitioner then advancing her education with a  Doctoral Degree in 2010.  In her healthcare role she’s sees the impact of poor air quality and how the warming climate complicates patients health conditions.
She and her family are outdoor enthusiasts and understand the importance of climate activism to combat global warming, climate change and its impacts. Marilyn and her son traveled to Minneapolis to participate in former vice president Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project and became climate leaders. With this understanding of the climate crisis the Daley home has become fully solar, geothermal and transportation is in a fully electric car.

Robert Dewey, MD, Vice Chair

Bob Dewey is a retired Interventional Cardiologist who practiced for 30 years at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH. While caring for complex cardiac patients, he witnessed how extreme heat and poor air quality would complicate these patients’ care. Bob has been a community volunteer and is past president and a long-standing board member of the NH affiliate of the American Heart Association. As an outdoor enthusiast, he has had a special interest in maintaining green space and protecting our local forests. Bob and his family have spent a great deal of time hiking in the white mountains, and he is eager to help preserve this legacy for his grandchildren.

Robert Feder, MD

Bob, who chairs the Behavioral Health Working Group for NHHWCA, recently retired from a 40 year career as a psychiatrist in New Hampshire. He majored in psychology at the University of Michigan, went to medical school at the University of Washington, and completed his psychiatry residency at Yale. He is active in a number of climate groups, including the Climate Psychiatry Alliance, 350NH and No Coal No Gas. He is also the American Psychiatric Association representative to the Steering Group for the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. In addition to working for greener energy, Bob enjoys singing, playing guitar, hiking, skiing, and boogie-boarding.

Paul Friedrichs, MD, Chair, Board of Directors

Paul Friedrichs MD is a family doctor, poet, and lover of the earth. He lives with his family in Exeter, NH. He is drawn to climate action in order to pass along a vibrant, healthy and sustainable earth to future generations, and out of respect for all life here on earth. His proudest moments include the birth of his three children, being named New Hampshire Family Physician of the Year, and winning Yale University’s award for best essay on the history of art.

Deborah Gerson, MD, Secretary

Dr. Gerson is a pathologist practicing at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH. She received a B.S. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Gerson completed her pathology residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, FL, and her fellowship in surgical pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. She practiced pathology for several years in Florida where she learned first-hand the health dangers caused by hurricanes and extreme heat. She has also taught pathology to medical students at the University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand for two years. Dr. Gerson has seen the health effects of global warming in her New Hampshire practice with the increase in tick-borne diseases such as babesiosis and Lyme disease. Dr. Gerson lives in Bedford, New Hampshire with her husband, two daughters, and three dogs. She has a passion for promoting action on the climate crisis to protect her family, her community, and the global population from the health impacts of climate change. Dr. Gerson serves on the board of directors and co-chairs the Education Working Group for the NH Health Care Workers for Climate Action.

Judith Joy, PhD, RN

Judith Joy is an experienced nurse leader and healthcare advocate. Committed to optimizing health through involvement in professional and volunteer activities her recent attention has been drawn to work on climate action. During the pandemic Dr. Joy acted as the statewide volunteer coordinator of a group that made daily calls to congregate care facilities. It was clear that climate had fostered both the development and spread of Covid and other diseases (Lyme). Also, in volunteering to vaccinate she became aware of the impact of air quality on the health of seniors with chronic disease. Climate and ecology concerns are not a recent interest. An avid gardener, she has composted for years. Changes in weather patterns have made gardening challenging, with erratic temperature and rain. She has noted with alarm changes in water supply that made garden watering difficult. As a lifelong outdoors person she has seen changes in the northern forests from acid rain. More recently, invasions of previously rare insect species have impacted the health of many trees including our sugar maples. Trees we depend upon for our clear air and support our economy. Many will recognize the picture as the summit of Welch (and Dicky), one of the most popular hikes in NH, she did in October, 2021. Dr. Joy is currently the President of the Board of Directors for the Northeast Multistate Division, a business collaborative of state nursing associations. She is a past president of the New Hampshire Nurses along with other elected and appointed positions. Recently retired, she was Associate Professor of Nursing and Public Health at Colby-Sawyer College in NH. Before working as an educator she specialized in information systems, consulting with hospitals and clinics to improve health care using computers including an installation at the White House. Dr. Joy graduated with her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in Higher Education Leadership. She attended the University of New York at Buffalo for a master’s degree in critical care nursing and a baccalaureate in Psychology.

Kaitlynn Liset, MS, RN, CNL

Kaitlynn Liset is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire, Department of Nursing and an active clinical nurse based in acute care community hospital settings. Having earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Conservation Studies prior to her career in nursing, her interests in climate and health have afforded the opportunity to transform passion and profession into advocacy through education. Currently she is Chair of the NH Nurses Association Commission on Planetary Health and a 2022 – 2023 Environmental Health Nurse Fellow with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. Current projects are centered on educating and engaging with healthcare professionals, health and human services students, senior elected officials, and the public regarding climate change, health equity and climate solutions.

Cynthia Nichols, MS, BSN, RN

Cynthia Nichols is an RN Care Manager working in the Dartmouth Health system acute care and critical access hospitals. Prior to becoming a nurse, Cynthia had an MS in Conservation Biology and has a deep passion for and understanding of how natural ecosystems support animals and the planet.  Seeing how people’s health is also directly connected to a healthy planet and impacted by things like air pollution, extreme heat or cold, changing ecosystems, and extreme weather, Cynthia recognized that she could bring both passions together and recently attained a certificate in Climate Resilience. Her hope is to use this background to help mitigate climate impacts and contribute to more resilient, equitable, and environmentally friendly communities. With those goals in mind, she is also working with the New Hampshire Nurses Association Planetary Health Commission and the Dartmouth Health Alliance for Climate and Health. 

Thomas M. Sherman, MD

Tom Sherman is a retired gastroenterologist first elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2012. He then served from 2018-2022 as the New Hampshire State Senate’s only physician, working hard to address many of the challenges of the Granite State with a particular focus on healthcare and public health. As Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, he introduced legislation that recognized the strong link between environmental pollution and human health. In leadership and as a member of more than 15 councils, commissions and committees, including serving as chair of the Ad Hoc Emissions Commission, he continued his efforts to fully address pollution, environmental contamination, and the impacts of climate change. He has been recognized as a Top Doctor by New Hampshire Magazine and as Legislator of the Year by three organizations, NH ARCH (Association of Residential Care Homes), NAMI-NH (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and New Futures. 

Paula Smith, MBA, EdD

Dr. Smith has been responsible for overseeing activities of the Southern New Hampshire Area Health Education Center since its inception in 1998. In this role she is responsible for program development, financial management and overseeing staff who work to increase access to quality health care in southern NH. For more than twenty years, Dr. Smith has been instrumental in developing programs that enhance workforce diversity, communication access and cultural effectiveness. Paula is committed to delivering continuing education to healthcare workers and promotes interprofessional education opportunities for health professions students and practicing professionals. Through work with the Seacoast Public Health Network, Paula and her team have promoted education on the impact of climate and health, and continue to build relationships to further this priority.

Joan Widmer, MS, MSBA, RN, Treasurer, Executive Director

Ms. Widmer has a unique and varied professional background. Prior to becoming a nurse, she had a successful career in multiple corporate accounting and finance roles, including the roles of Chief Financial Officer, VP of Finance & Accounting and Corporate Controller. Ms. Widmer was responsible for the day-to-day financial and accounting management, including the preparation of financial statements, business plans, strategic plans and monitoring performance against these plans. In 2004, Ms. Widmer elected to pursue a second career in nursing. She holds a BA from University of California, San Diego and a MSBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She completed her nursing training at Rivier University and received a MS in Nursing from the University of New Hampshire. Ms. Widmer practiced clinically at Catholic Medical Center for 12 years and has served as Adjunct Clinical Faculty for UNH. She served as the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Nurses Association for four years and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of this non-profit professional organization for NH nurses. Ms. Widmer is currently serving as the Treasure for the American Nurses Association and working as the Executive Director of NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action.

Dr. Abdul M. Zafar

Dr. Abdul M. Zafar is a radiologist in Lebanon, New Hampshire and is affiliated with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He received his medical degree from Aga Khan Medical College and has been in practice between 11-20 years.