Marta A. Segura named director of UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions
Marta A. Segura, a renowned expert on climate and health, has been named director of the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions (C-Solutions).
Segura, founding chief heat officer for the city of Los Angeles and among the first appointed globally, has been named the center’s director effective August 1. “I've spent my career at the intersection of climate risks, health, and equity, and I'm honored to bring that experience home to UCLA, my alma mater, at a moment when connecting climate and health to solutions for our communities is desperately needed,” said Segura, who earned her master of public health degree from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in 1991.
Over the course of her career to date, Segura has brought evidence-based solutions to policy makers in order to effect positive change. She has done so in her roles as a Los Angeles City planning commissioner, the city’s chief heat officer, founding director of the city's Climate Emergency Mobilization Office, and an advisor to the state of California on climate emergency policies and legislation.
“Having led public health policy at the county level for sixteen years, I know how rare it is to find someone who can move fluidly between rigorous science and the realities of governing,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, former director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and an innovative leader in public health policy. “Marta has done exactly that throughout her career, and I'm confident she will bring the same discipline and practical judgment to advancing C-Solutions' policy impact across California.”
As the city of Los Angeles’ chief heat officer, Segura designed and recommended guidelines for California's Community Resilience Centers Program during its development; the program has since directed $270 million in state funding toward neighborhood facilities that keep residents safe during extreme heat events and on days of poor air quality. Segura also advised state officials during the development of CalHeatScore, the state’s official heat warning system. The safe indoor temperature work she led in Los Angeles helped inform Los Angeles County's ordinance and, subsequently, California's Senate Bill 655, signed into law in October 2025, the nation's first state policy requiring residential dwelling units to attain and maintain a safe maximum indoor temperature. Additionally, her career experience in the nonprofit sector ensures that she will be a leading force at the center in both fundraising and organizational capacity.
"To improve how we protect people from extreme heat, we need to invest in the science. We need to more clearly measure and build on the most effective policies and solutions to reduce heat's health and economic impacts," said Jane Gilbert, chief heat ambassador for the Atlantic Council's Climate Resilience Center. "Segura has the practical, on-the-ground experience to understand the research, tools, and information policymakers and practitioners need to accelerate their efforts to protect communities facing worsening climate impacts, here and elsewhere. She will no doubt expand the efficacy and reach of the C-Solutions tools."
Segura has spoken at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Bloomberg CityLab, and UNFCCC Climate Champions convenings, and has been interviewed for Harvard Kennedy School's Data-Smart City Solutions podcast. She has been featured by media including CNN, the Los Angeles Times, NPR/KCRW, The Guardian, Grist, Spectrum News, and Fast Company, as well as in Spanish-language media such as Univision and Telemundo. In addition to the master of public health degree she earned from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, she also holds a bachelor of arts degree in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Barbara, where she was named a 2026 Outstanding Alumna.
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ABOUT C-SOLUTIONS
The UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions (C-Solutions) focuses on protecting people and communities from the effects of climate change. The center equips decision-makers with solutions that reduce inequities and benefit their economy, environment, and health. Alongside its partners, the center uses evidence-based best practices that improve health and resilience, now and for generations to come. C-Solutions is housed within the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.