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UNM doctor volunteers with mobile medical team in Ukraine

Refugees fleeing eastern Ukraine in Lviv
Dr. Matthew Wilks
Refugees fleeing eastern Ukraine in Lviv

University Showcase, 3/18, 8a: As the Russian war against Ukraine intensifies, medical workers from around the world are answering the call to help. Among them is Dr. Matthew Wilks, a University of New Mexico assistant professor who serves as medical director at the Sandoval Regional Medical Center in Rio Rancho. Wilks belongs to Team Rubicon, an international disaster relief organization.

He previously deployed with the group to Mozambique after a powerful cyclone killed more than a 1,000 people and trigged mass flooding. He also went to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017. He spoke from Lviv, Ukraine on March 11.

Also on this episode, this week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said drought conditions across more than half the U.S. will likely continue through at least June. This comes on the heels of news that the megadrought we have experienced for the past 22 years in the Southwest is the worst in over 1200 years. Research points to human-caused climate change as a major culprit. We revisit part of a previous interview with journalist Laura Paskus about her book “At the Precipice: New Mexico’s Changing Climate”

Megan has been a journalist for 25 years and worked at business weeklies in San Antonio, New Orleans and Albuquerque. She first came to KUNM as a phone volunteer on the pledge drive in 2005. That led to volunteering on Women’s Focus, Weekend Edition and the Global Music Show. She was then hired as Morning Edition host in 2015, then the All Things Considered host in 2018. Megan was hired as News Director in 2021.