PROJECT: Develop extreme heat survival trainings and toolkits for caregivers of older adults and people with chronic conditions to prepare them to respond to increasingly devastating natural disasters and protect vulnerable communities.

Nikolas Wianecki is a second-year MPH student in Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. An LA native, Wianecki returned to the city after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a BS in Psychology and completing two years of service with AmeriCorps.

Wianecki was driven to pursue scholarship in public health through witnessing the devastating impacts that traumatic life events have on health and well-being, especially for marginalized communities. Experiences working in gender-based violence prevention and COVID-19 response revealed the toll that personal and community-wide disasters take on physical and mental health. His academic and professional interests lie within the intersections of mental health, disaster public health, workforce development, and community-based interventions. Most recently, Wianecki has worked in projects around disaster workforce development, COVID-19 vaccine equity for NHPI and SEA communities, and gender-based violence in Kenya.

Outside of UCLA, Wianecki loves to create pottery on the wheel, bake, spend time outdoors, and care for his many plants. He also serves as a Plant Futures Fellow with the UC Berkeley Plant Futures Initiative, advocating for sustainable and equitable plant-based food systems.