Aminata Kilungo

Dr. Aminata Kilungo is an educator, researcher, and mentor and a Teaching Professor in the Rob and Melani Walton School of Conservation Futures at Arizona State University. With more than 18 years of experience at the intersection of climate change, water security, public health, and global health, her work examines how environmental change affects the health and well-being of vulnerable populations.

Dr. Kilungo’s research and community-engaged work focuses on the connections among climate change, water security, and human health. She partners with underserved communities in Arizona, along the Arizona-Sonora border region, and in rural and urban Tanzania to understand how changes in water access, quality, and availability affect health and well-being. Guided by a One Health approach, she brings together environmental, public, and global health perspectives to develop practical strategies that strengthen community resilience and sustainability.

As an educator and mentor, Dr. Kilungo has developed innovative academic programs and certificates in One Health and Global Health and created experiential learning opportunities that connect students with real-world environmental and health challenges. She is committed to preparing the next generation of interdisciplinary leaders through mentorship, field-based learning, and community-engaged education.

Prior to joining Arizona State University, Dr. Kilungo served as an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director for the Community, Environment, and Policy Program in the College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. She has also contributed to environmental and public health policy through seven years of service on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Advisory Committee and through her current role as Co-Chair of the Climate Change and Health Thematic Group for RINGO, a constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

During her doctoral training, Dr. Kilungo received the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship for Minorities in STEM and Engineering and a National Science Foundation Fellowship. She is also the author of a forthcoming book with Springer Nature on climate and health adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa, centered on four interconnected pillars: water security, resilient health systems, social protection, and One Health.

Through her scholarship, teaching, mentorship, and policy engagement, Dr. Kilungo works to advance equitable, sustainable solutions that strengthen health and resilience in communities facing a changing climate