Dr. Ramírez is a health and environmental geographer with specialized training in community engagement and environmental justice. His scholarship focuses on the complex intersections of climate change, urban health, and community capacities. He is deeply committed to understanding how communities interact with various aspects of climate and how these interactions shape the health and social vulnerability of populations and places. His work also explores how public health systems and communities respond to and cope with weather, water, and climate-related extremes, with a strong emphasis on justice and equitable capacity-building solutions. Recently, Dr. Ramírez launched the Civic Engagement and Climate Justice ThinkLab, which nurtures a new generation of undergraduate researchers dedicated to tackling the challenges posed by climate change.

Dr. Ramírez has conducted extensive research on the impacts of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation on cholera and malaria vulnerabilities in South America and leads interdisciplinary studies on the geography of multi-disease risk in Peru and the U.S. He also co-leads disaster risk reduction studies aimed at enhancing El Niño preparedness and early warning systems.
At CU Denver, Dr. Ramírez spearheads initiatives to support faculty and student development, with a strong commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. He has developed courses, webinars, and workshops to enhance faculty skills and engagement.
Before joining the Health and Behavioral Sciences Department at CU Denver, Dr. Ramírez taught in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at CU Denver and at Colorado State University. He was also an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at Eugene Lang College, The New School in NYC, where I taught courses on urban health, interdisciplinary epidemiology and global health, as well as climate, society, and justice.