The sprouting of daffodils, magnolias, and cherry blossoms serve as cues to put away puffy coats and happily say goodbye to winter. But for more than 50 million Americans (myself included), the beautiful flowers also signal something else: the arrival of spring allergy season. Sadly, the sniffles will only get louder. As the world warms, pollen allergies will likely get worse.

When I started my work at IRI, I had no idea what ENACTS was, how it was related to Ethiopia or how climate was related to health. That was in December 2014. But I quickly learned about it and by July 2015, I found myself riddled with vaccines and leading meetings in Ethiopia on how ENACTS and climate services could aid in decision-making and strategies for malaria elimination.