Kathryn Fiorella, PhD, MPH

Name goes here

Department of Public & Ecosystem Health

Assistant Professor

Research Page

One Health @ Cornell


Department of Public & Ecosystem Health
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
Ithaca, NY 14853

Email: kf326@cornell.edu

Office Location: S2-004 Schurman Hall

Research Interest

Planetary Health/One Health, Fisheries, Livelihoods, HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, Environmental change

Education

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2015
Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management

Masters of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 2013
Epidemiology, Certificate in Public Health Nutrition

A.B., Princeton University, cum laude, 2006
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Certificate in Environmental Studies

Biography/Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, Master of Public Health, Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell University, 2018-present

Lecturer, Program in Public Health, Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell University, 2017-2018

Postdoctoral Fellow, Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University, 2015-2017

Adjunct Postdoctoral Fellow, Earth Institute, Columbia University, 2015-2017

Immersion Fellow, Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), 2015-2016

Professional Appointments

UN World Food Programme, Program Associate, Kampala, Uganda, 2008

The Food Project, Community Outreach Fellow, Lynn, Massachusetts, 2006-2008

Selected Publications

For more publications see Dr. Fiorella's Google Scholar page.

  • Okronipa, HO, Bageant, ER, Baez, Jazmin, Onyango, HO, Aura, CM, Fiorella, KJ. 2023. COVID-19 Impacts on Small-scale Fisheries in 2020-2021: The Case of Lake Victoria, Kenya. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 6.
  • Wang, Q, Byrd, K, Thilsted, SH, Navin, C, Kim, M, Fiorella, KJ. 2023. Nutrient composition and microbial food safety of a locally-processed fish product in Cambodia. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management. 25(3): 73-81.
  • Ziegler, CS, Roegner, AF, Aura, CM, Fiorella, KJ. 2022. Social Constructions of Health-Environment Risks: A Comparison of Fishing Community and Expert Perceptions of Cyanobacterial Blooms. Society & Natural Resources. 1-22.
  • Fiorella, KJ. 2022. Understanding interactions between wild fisheries and aquaculture is essential to sustainable and equitable aquaculture development. Fisheries Management and Ecology. 1-5.
  • Fiorella, KJ, Bageant, ER, Schwartz, N, Thilsted, SH, Barrett, CB. 2021. Fishers’ response to temperature change reveals the importance of incorporating human behavior in climate change analysis. Science Advances. 7(18): eabc7425.
  • Heilpern, SA, Fiorella, KJ, Cañas, C, Flecker, AS, Moya, L, Naeem, S, Suresh, SA, Uriarte, M, DeFries, R. 2021. Substitution of inland fisheries with aquaculture and chicken undermines human nutrition. Nature Food. 2: 192-197.
  • Fiorella, KJ, Bageant ER, Mojica, L, Obuya, J, Olela, P, Ochieng, J, Otuo, P, Onyango, HO, Aura, C, Okronipa, H. 2021. Small-scale fishing households facing COVID-19: the case of Lake Victoria, Kenya. Fisheries Research. 237: 105856.
  • Fiorella, KJ, Okronipa, H, Baker, K, Heilpern, S. 2021. Contemporary Aquaculture: Effects on nutrient availability. Current Opinions in Biotechnology. 70: 83-90.  
  • Gaynor, KM, Brashares, JS, Gregory, GH, Kurz, DJ, Seto, KL, Withey, LS, Fiorella, KJ. 2020. Anticipating the complex impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on wildlife. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 18(10).
  • Fiorella, KJ, Coffin-Schmitt, J, Gaynor, KM, Gregory, GH, Rasolofoson, R, Seto, KL. 2020. Feedbacks from human health to household reliance on natural resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Planetary Health. 4: e441-e442.
  • Byrd, K, Thilsted, SH, Fiorella, KJ. 2020. Fish Nutrient Composition: A review of global data from poorly assessed inland and marine species. Public Health Nutrition. 1-11.
  • Fiorella, KJ, Bageant, E, Kim, M, Vichet, S, Try, V, Baran, E, Kura, Y, Brooks, A, Barrett, C, Thilsted, S. 2019. Analyzing drivers of fish biomass and biodiversity within community fish refuges in Cambodia. Ecology and Society. 24(3).
  • Fiorella, KJ, Milner, EM, Salmen, CS, Hickey, MD, Omollo, DO, Mattah, B, Adhiambo, A, Bukusi, EB, Fernald, LCH, Brashares, JS. 2017. Human Health Alters the Sustainability of Fishing Practices in East Africa. PNAS. 114(16): 4171-4176
  • Fiorella, KJ, Milner, EM, DO, Bukusi, E, Fernald, LCH. 2017. Quantity and species of fish consumed shape breast milk essential fatty acid concentrations among women living around Lake Victoria, Kenya. Public Health Nutrition. 21(4): 777-784.
  • Fiorella, KJ, Chen, R, Milner, EM, Fernald, LCH. 2016. Agricultural Interventions for Improved Nutrition: A Review of Environmental and Livelihood Dimensions. Global Food Security. 8: 39-47.
  • Fiorella, KJ, Camlin, CS, Salmen, CR, Omondi, R, Hickey, MD, Omollo, DO, Milner, EM, Bukusi, EA, Fernald, LCH, Brashares, JS. 2015. Transactional Fish-for-Sex Relationships Amid Declining Fish Access in Kenya. World Development. 74: 323-332.
  • Fiorella, KJ, Hickey, MD, Salmen, CR, Nagata, JM, Mattah, B, Magerenge, R, Cohen, CR, Bukusi, EA, Brashares, JS, Fernald, LCH. 2014. Fishing for Food? Analyzing links between fishing livelihoods and food security around Lake Victoria, Kenya. Food Security. 6(6): 851-860.
  • Brashares, JS, Abrahms, B, Fiorella, KJ, Golden, CD, Marsh, RA, McCauley, DJ, Nunez, T, Seto, K, Withey, L. 2014. Wildlife Decline and Social Conflict. 2014. Science. 345(6195): 376-378.

Presentations

  • SESYNC Community Research Seminar, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), 2020
  • Public Health Scholars Workshop, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), 2020

  • WorldFish (Penang, Malaysia), ‘Fish for Thought’ Seminar, 2019

  • Planetary Health: Environmental Change is Impacting Human Health and the Environment. TCAM Faculty Pitch. Cornell University. (2019)

  • Declining Fish Catch and Human Health Around Lake Victoria, Kenya. Mosquito Net Fishing Symposium. Syracuse University. (2019)

  • Social-ecological Drivers of Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia. North American Congress for Conservation Biology. U. Toronto, Canada. (2018)

  • Improving Fish Biomass and Biodiversity within a Dynamic Social-Ecological System: Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia. SESYNC. Annapolis, Maryland. (2018)

  • Fish Catch and Fisher Adaptations in Cambodia’s Rice Field Fisheries: Implications for Climate Change. Planetary Health Annual Meeting. University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. (2018)

  • Improving Fish Biomass and Biodiversity within a Dynamic Social-Ecological System: Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia. International Sustainable Agriculture Intensification and Nutrition Conference, Phnom Penh, Cambodia [presented by Yumiko Kura]. (2018)

  • Improving Fish Biomass and Biodiversity within a Dynamic Social-Ecological System: Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia. Tropical Biology and Conservation Symposium. Cornell University. (2017)

  • Quantity and species of fish consumed shape breast milk essential fatty acids. Global Workshop: Nutrition-sensitive fish agri-food systems. Siem Reap, Cambodia. (2017)

  • Linking Human and Environmental Health: The Effects of Fisher Illness on Fishery Sustainability. Atkinson Sustainability Project Pitch Competition. Cornell University. (2017)

  • Evaluation of a Social Network Intervention to Improve Nutrition. International Congress of Nutrition. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

  • Integrating fishery, livestock and cropping systems. Farm to Plate Conference. Cornell University. [Session Presenter and Organizer] (2017)

  • Biodiversity Benefits in Cambodian Rice Field Fisheries. Maternal & Child Nutrition. Cornell University (2016)

  • Human Illness and Environmental Sustainability around Lake Victoria, Kenya. International Marine Conservation Congress. St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. (2016)

Cornell Campus Seminars

  • International Program-College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (IP-CALS) (2019)
  • Department of Nutritional Sciences (2019)
  • Department of Natural Resources (2019)
  • Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences (2017)
  • Department of Natural Resources (2016)
  • Program in International Nutrition (2015)

Awards and Honors

  • 2015-2017, Cornell Atkinson Center Postdoctoral Fellowship, Cornell University

  • 2014, NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement, Geography & Spatial Science

  • 2014, Philomathia Fellow, University of California, Berkeley

  • 2011, Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), Dholuo2011, Meaningful Modeling of Epidemiological Data Fellow

  • 2009-2012, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

Research Funding

  • 2020, Assessing Self Procured and Locally Sourced Food Adaptations in Response to COVID19 in Upstate New York
  • 2020-2021, Cornell Atkinson Center, COVID19 Rapid Response Fund, "Assessing the Impacts of COVID19 on Food Security and Food Consumption Among Kenyan Households"
  • 2019-2021, Cornell Atkinson Center, Atkinson Venture Fund, "Spoiling Fish as Food: Harmful Algal Blooms in Lake Victoria"
  • 2019-2020, Engaged Cornell Academic Venture Fund Supplemental Award, "Spoiling Fish as Food: Harmful Algal Blooms in Lake Victoria"
  • 2019-2020, Einaudi Center Seed Grant, "Human Behavioral Responses to Harmful Algal Blooms around Africa’s Lake Victoria"
  • 2019-2020, National Geographic Explorer Grant, "The Value of Biodiversity in Cambodian Flood Plain Fisheries"
  • 2018-2019, Catalyzing New Research Partnerships, CRDF Global, "Cornell-WorldFish Research Partnership: Biodiversity Conservation in Small Scale Fisheries"
  • 2018-2019, Engaged Cornell, "Curriculum Development Grant: Food Systems for Health"
  • 2018-2019, Conservation, Food & Health Foundation, "Analyzing Benefits of Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia"

Professional/Academic Affiliations

  • Cornell Atkinson Center
  • Center for Health Equity
  • Cornell Center for Social Sciences
  • Graduate Fields: Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Natural Resources, Global Development