Events
Treasure Valley Regional Climate and Health Symposium
September 2, 2026
Virtual and Boise, Idaho
The Treasure Valley Regional Climate and Health Symposium brings together health care professionals, building operations teams and engineers to explore the intersection of climate change and health. Speaker panels will explore Idaho’s three largest climate threats — heat, droughts and wildfires — through science, health implications and local community action. This event is presented in partnership with Idaho Clinicians for Climate & Health and Saint Alphonsus.
This year, the symposium is held in honor of Terry O’Connor, MD, whose final work called us to recognize that climate is not separate from health, but central to it. Dr. O’Connor, who tragically passed away in an avalanche on May 10, 2024, was widely known across St. Luke’s, the Wood River Valley and the broader medical community as a devoted emergency physician, educator, storyteller, explorer and environmental steward. Through his leadership, he helped launch the University of Colorado’s Diploma in Climate Medicine Program, training clinical leaders to better understand and respond to the health impacts of a changing climate. He lent his voice nationally to elevate these urgent connections.
This symposium continues that legacy by bringing together clinicians and community members to spark dialogue and inspire action around the health effects of the climate in Idaho. In honoring Dr. O’Connor, we are also called to carry his message forward: to recognize our role not only as caregivers, but as advocates and communicators at the intersection of climate and health.