Denise is the assistant director of the Earth League Secretariat at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. She is a nationally recognized interdisciplinary scientist with expertise in community-engaged research and environmental social improvement. She blends environmental science and medical anthropology and has worked on transdisciplinary scientific teams to solve environmental contamination and health problems. Moreno Ramírez directs the Secretariat, which is led by co-chairs Peter Schlosser and Johan Rockström.
Moreno Ramírez's prior research spans 24 years. It includes designing virtual reality public-facing products with rural museums, making them hubs of local climate knowledge (Climate Heritage ILLuminated in Arizona), preserving oral histories of individuals living in hazardous contaminated spaces for future generation edification (Voices Unheard: Arizona's Environmental History); understanding how volatile organic compounds interact in workplace air and impact low-wage workers in beauty salons and auto shops in Arizona; developing peer education modules for Mexican Community Health Worker to devise environmental health programming at the community level; and partnering directly at hazardous contaminated sites (Superfund Sites) to establish community-led environmental research projects.
She has received prestigious awards, such as the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (T32), a highly competitive award designed to support the most promising and talented researchers in the early stages of their careers. She also received the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice Fellowship from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, a recognition that underscores her significant contributions to the field of environmental justice. She was also awarded the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship, a highly selective and competitive fellowship supporting promising early-career scholars. Her research has been featured in national and international media, including The Guardian, Environmental Health News, Inside Climate News, and SXSW.