Leso Munala, PhD, MSW

Dr. Munala is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Her research examines violence against women and children across the lifespan, with a focus on how individual, family, social, and structural factors shape experiences of intimate partner violence, access to care, and help-seeking among survivors who face social and structural barriers. Her research spans East Africa and U.S. immigrant communities and examines how health systems, social conditions, and cultural contexts influence survivors’ experiences and pathways to care. Her current work explores the intersection of climate change and gender-based violence in Kenya, including how climate-related stressors and institutional responses shape risks for women and girls. 

Dr. Munala’s scholarship emphasizes community-engaged research, environmental justice, and the social determinants of health, with a particular focus on identifying opportunities to strengthen systems and improve access to survivor-centered care. She is actively engaged in professional organizations, serving as Section Councilor for the International Health Section of the American Public Health Association and as a member of the Minnesota Population Center. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and contributes to a growing body of scholarship on violence prevention, health equity, and the gendered health consequences of climate change.

PhD, Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Education and a minor in Communications from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst

MSW, University of Chicago

BA, Psychology, Ohio State University

• Planetary Health Award – University of Minnesota, School of Nursing (2026)
• Dean's Award – Advancing Nursing & Community Health through Engaged Research (ANCHER) team (2026)
• Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists (2025)
• Faculty External Grant Fellowship – St. Catherine University (2024)
• Climate Leadership Award – Center for Climate, Health, and Equity, American Public Health Association (2023)
• Poster Session Award Winner – Health Impacts of Climate Change, Minnesota Psychiatric Society Fall Program (2023)
• Abigail Quigley McCarthy Collaborative Research Award – St. Catherine University Center for Women (2022)
• University Patricia O'Connor Myser Excellence in Faculty Mentoring – Award Nominee (2021)
• Faculty Fellowship Award – St. Catherine University, Funded by GHR-AEG grant (2020)
• St. Catherine University Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award Winner (2019)
• Abigail Quigley McCarthy Collaborative Research Award – St. Catherine University Center for Women (2018)
• All-University Student Leadership Award Mentor (2018)

*Next to a name denotes student co-author

Munala, L., Kimber, F., Abusbaitan, H., Hoffman, S., Hearst, M., Pirsch, A., Dressel, A., Walton, A., Chinkondenji, P., Phiri, G., Kamanga, V., Kathewera Banda, M., Likha, W., Lopez, A. A., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2026). A Cycle of Gendered Vulnerability: Understanding Violence, Poverty, and Systemic Failure Among Refugee Women in Malawi. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 

Munala, L., Allen, E.M., Frederick, A.J. et al. Intersecting marginalizations amplify adolescent girls’ climate change vulnerabilities in Kilifi, Kenya. Discov Public Health 23, 1309 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-02721-4 

Abusbaitan, H. A., Walton, A., Munala, L., Eyadat, A., Luebke, J., Graf, M., Lopez, A. A., Kridli, S., Pirsch, A., Kimber, F., Kasine, Y., Melton, C., ElJarrah, I., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2026). An ecofeminist analysis of gender-based violence: Addressing women's safety through an eco-social framework. Women's Studies International Forum.

Allen, E., Munala, L, Frederick* AJ., Quito, C., Enayat, a., & Ngujiri, A. (2025). Climate Change and Health: Impacts Across Social Determinants in Kenyan Agrarian Communities. Climate, 13(8), 169. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli13080169

Munala, L., Ibrahim , H., Hearst, M. O, L., Buesseler, H., Zenk*, A. (2025) "I do not want to see a police officer" The voices of immigrants following police violence in Minneapolis. Social Sciences, 14(4), 210. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14040210

Munala, L., Olson, H. & Johnson, C. (2025) "If You Are Raped, You Are like Secondhand": Systemic Barriers to Reporting Sexual Violence Against School-Aged Girls in a Rural Community in Kenya. Sexes, 6(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes6010012

Munala, L., Phi* K.M, & Johnson*, C. (2024) "[L]ook at their bodies…, their bodies speak volumes about themselves": Sexual violence against school-aged girls and community perceptions of consent. Journal of Global Social Welfare. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-024-00341-x

Munala L, Allen EM. Ngujiri, A, & Frederick* AJ (2024). Investigating Climate-Induced Vulnerabilities: The WAVES-CC Study Protocol for Understanding the Nexus Between Environmental Stressors and Violence Against Women and Girls in a Rural Coastal Kenyan Community. Women, https://doi.org/10.3390/women4020014

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Climate Change Consultation Group (2024). Key considerations for future research regarding how climate change impacts sexual and reproductive health and rights: reflections from a global consultation. The Lancet. Planetary health, 8(6), e347–e348. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00093-7

Munala, L, Mohamed, A & Okunna, N.' Yewhalawork, B., Kibati, P & Kihuha, J (2023). "Instead of asking for fare, you ask her to pay with sex": Male perspectives on the factors that influence schoolgirls engagement in Age Disparate-Transactional Sex Relationships. Journal of Adolescents. https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents4010001

Allen EM, Munala L, Ward-Rannow* J. (2023) Do Gender-Based Violence Interventions Consider the Impacts of Climate Change? A Systematic Review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380231214793

Munala L, Allen EM, Frederick* AJ. & Ngujiri, A (2023) Climate Change, Extreme Weather, and Intimate Partner Violence in East African Agrarian-Based Economies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20237124

Munala, L., Allen, E M., Phi, KM, Beall, O (2022) Social Justice and Public Health: A Framework for Curriculum Reform. Pedagogy in Health Promotion. http://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3591

Munala, L., Yewhalawork*, B., Okunna, N., Kihuha, J (2022). "Girls are the ones who save the family": Factors and consequences of engaging in age-disparate transactional sex relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221119521

Allen, E., Munala, L & Henderson*, J. (2021) Kenyan Women Bearing the Cost of Climate Change. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312697