Teddie Potter, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP

Dr. Potter is deeply committed to climate change and planetary health education. Dr. Potter is the inaugural director of the Center for Planetary Health and Environmental Justice at the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota and a Fellow in the Institute on the Environment at the University. She is a board member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and a member of the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, and the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA). She serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the US Health Sector; the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM); and the Climate Crossroads committee of NASEM. Her most recent work is founding with the International Council of Nurses, Nursing for Planetary Health, a global nursing movement.

• Excellence in Mentoring Daisy Award, 2024
• Pauline A. Vincent Endowed Chair in Public Health, 2021
• Digital Health Awards: Bronze Award, See You Now Podcast episode 51: The Planet is Our Patient, 2021
• Institute on the Environment Affiliate Award, 2020
• TRUST Award for Collaboration and Partnership, 2020
• Teaching of Social Engagement DAISY award, 2019
• Institute for Advanced Studies 5x5 Fellow, 2018
• Institute on the Environment Fellow, 2018
• University of Minnesota Graduate Student Advising Award, 2016
• Josie R. Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice Award, 2015
• Induction as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, 2015
• Capstone International Nursing Book Award, 2015
• AJN Book of the Year Award, 2014

• Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
• American Academy of Nursing
• American Nurses Association
• Minnesota Organization for Registered Nurses [MNORN]
• National Academies of Practice
• Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society

Potter, T. M., Nerbonne, J. F., & Surapaneni, V. L. (2024). Building movements to address climate change. In B. S. Levy & J. A. Patz (Eds.), Climate change and public health (2nd ed., pp. 404-421). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197683293.003.0019

Potter, T., & Jonker, T. P. (2023). Mental health impacts of climate change for birthing people and the provider’s role. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 68(3), 320–323. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.13492

Flaten, C. B., Pechacek, J. M., Potter, T. M., & Mueller, C. (2023). Planetary health in nursing curricula: How one school transformed nursing curricula as they integrated planetary health concepts with the 2021 AACN essentials. Journal of Professional Nursing, 49, 52–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2023.08.010

Howard, C., Moineau, G., Poitras, J., Redvers, N., Mahmood, J., Eissa, M., Al Qodmani, L., Potter, T., Green, S., & Guzman, C. A. F. (2023). Seeding a planetary health education revolution: Institutional sign-on challenge. The Lancet 402(10418), 2173–2176. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02526-6

LeClair, J., & Potter, T. (2022). Planetary health nursing. American Journal of Nursing, 122(4), 47–52. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000827336.29891.9b

Kurth, A., & Potter, T. (2022). The public health crisis is planetary-And nursing is crucial to addressing it. American Journal of Public Health, 112(S3), S259–S261. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306877

Potter, T. (2022). The way of nursing: Leading disruptive change for all. Creative Nursing, 28(3), 149–153. https://doi.org/10.1891/CN-2022-0013

Guzmán, C. A. F., Aguirre, A. A., Astle, B., Barros, E., Bayles, B., Chimbari, M., El-Abbadi, N., Evert, J., Hackett, F., Howard, C., Jennings, J., Krzyzek, A., LeClair, J., Maric, F., Martin, O., Osano, O., Patz, J., Potter, T., Redvers, N., … Zylstra, M. (2021). A framework to guide planetary health education. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(5), e253–e255. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00110-8

Potter, T., Schenk, E., & Cook, C. (2021). Nurses at the United Nations. Creative Nursing, 27(4), 242–244. https://doi.org/10.1891/cn-2021-0011

Potter, T. M. (2021). Planetary health: An essential framework for nursing education and practice. Creative Nursing, 27(4), 226–230. https://doi.org/10.1891/cn-2021-0017

"Planetary Health: An Integrated Approach to Great Transition," Beyond Borders International Healing Touch Conference. (October 2024).

"Health of the Planet and its People," Climate Crossroad Summit, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington DC. (July 2024).

"Centering Human Health and Equity in Climate Crisis," Climate Crossroad Summit, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington DC. (July 2024).

"Health Professionals’ Approach to Community Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Equity," National Climate Adaptation Conference. (May 2024).

"Planetary Health a Hopeful Future for All," Community Service Learning Conference, San Antonio, TX. (February 2024).

"Introducing Planetary Health for Nurses and Midwives," Florence Nightingale Foundation. (September 2023).

"Nursing for Planetary Health," International Council of Nurses, American Nurses Association Symposium. (July 2023).

"Planetary Health: A Transdisciplinary Movement for a Sustainable Future,” Share National Conference, Virtual. (May 2023).

"Planetary Health: Do Nurses Have a Role?," Sunway Center for Planetary Health, Planetary Health and Nursing Workshop, Virtual. (January 2023). 

"Women: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Planet," United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments Webinar, Virtual. (March 2022)

"Nursing Beyond the Bedside: Planetary Health," United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, World Health Organization Webinar, Virtual. (March 2022)

Award: Hewa Safi Kwa Wote – Clean Air For All
Principal Investigators: Zulu, Makeda; Potter, Teddie (Co-PI)
Sponsoring Organization: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Award Dates: 2025 - 2028

Award: Storying and Story Care: Building a Model to Transform Self and System to Eliminate Racism and Achieve SDGs Addressing Health, Equity, Peace, and Justice
Principal Investigators: Martin, Lauren; Potter, Teddie (Co-PI)
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota SDG Research Grant
Award Dates: 2021 - 2022

• Planetary Health and Planetary Health Nursing
• Cultural Transformation
• Partnership-Based Health Care
• Collaborative Online International Learning
• Interdisciplinary teaching, practice, and research
• Innovation