Environmental Health

Can you reuse nonsurgical N95 respirators and KN95 and KF94 masks? Yes! Tips from DEOHS Assistant Professor Marissa Baker:  

Editor's note: In January 2022, Anna Humphreys and colleagues, including DEOHS Assistant Professor Nicole Errett, published a paper in BMC Public Health on the impacts of rural wildfire smoke on mental health and well-being, and opportunities for adaptation.

For her dedication to teaching and mentoring researchers who study birth defects, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) Professor Elaine Faustman has been awarded the

  Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York’s Central Park, once called trees the lungs of the city. Trees and shrubs filter a variety of air pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter. But could they also benefit communities near airports by absorbing harmful ultrafine particles from aircraft exhaust?

Fishing for fun, food and cultural connection is a way of life in the Pacific Northwest. View the videos

Given the extraordinary challenges of this year’s pandemic, the students of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) needed a superhero. Watch a student video honoring Nicole Errett

When Michael Rosenfeld started college, he planned to become a labor historian. But his cell biology professor at Grinnell College turned him on to science.

Kaitlyn Kelly MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Hometown Carmel, CA Future plans Continue her work as a policy specialist for the Washington State Department of Health.

This spring, the first group of undergraduates to complete the UW Nutritional Sciences Program’s Food Systems, Nutrition and Health major are taking the knowledge they’ve acquired and applying it to help their communities.

Even before she became a public health researcher, Rebekah Petroff was thinking like one. Rebekah Petroff PhD, Environmental Toxicology Hometown North East, PA Future plans A postdoc in human epigenomics at the University of Michigan, and a future academic career.

Alexa Yadama BS, Environmental Health Hometown Pullman, WA Future plans A career in environmental or public health, and eventually a master’s in public health. “ I really appreciate mixing public health with my science background and helping people with the knowledge I have.”

Magali Blanco and Gabino Abarca from the University of Washington School of Public Health were selected to take part in the inaugural Latino Center for Health Student Scholars Fellowship program.

  Read the green cleaning fact sheet En Español

Business owners who have weathered pandemic closures face a new challenge as they prepare to reopen—protecting their workers in a landscape altered by the novel coronavirus. Now researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) are teaming up to help them.

 

Sumaya Aden BS, Environmental Health Hometown Federal Way, WA Future plans Going to medical school after graduation in 2021 “I like seeing how things happen and why and the data behind it.” - Sumaya Aden

Each spring, seasonal farmworkers arrive in the Pacific Northwest for the planting season. This year, they’ve been met with a public health emergency.

Are our pets at risk for COVID-19? Recent reports of animals testing positive for the novel coronavirus—including a cat in Belgium, a dog in Hong Kong and, famously, a tiger in the Bronx Zoo—have pet owners worrying about their furry companions. Many also wonder whether pets can pass COVID-19 on to people.

Ola i ka Wai. Water is life. Tyler Gerken MS, Environmental Health Hometown: Kea’au, Hawai’i Island, HI Future plans: A career in the US Public Health Service, perhaps as an environmental health officer for the National Park Service or the Indian Health Service

Water is essential for life, but in communities with inadequate sanitation, it can also spread diseases like polio, typhoid and hepatitis A. By monitoring wastewater and water sources contaminated by wastewater for pathogens in fecal matter, researchers and public health workers can help stop waterborne illnesses in their tracks.

Our empty roads and restaurants reflect our new reality: Many workers are now working remotely in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But what if your work requires your presence?

How did Esther Min, a graduate student in the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), end up at a six-hour-long dinner in Kyrgyzstan?

Hannah Echt’s passion for public health is something of a family tradition. Hannah Echt MS, Occupational Hygiene Hometown: Cincinnati, OH Favorite thing about Seattle: "The public transportation is really good. You can get pretty much everywhere you need to go on the bus or light rail."

Talk with an adviser Learn about our graduate degrees

  Countries including the US are taking dramatic steps to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, with some barring entry to anyone who has recently visited China. But do travel bans work?

University of Washington students and faculty will tackle pressing health concerns on three continents with the support of awards from the UW Global Innovation Fund to five DEOHS faculty members.

Many state and local health agencies recognize the threat of climate change but need more resources and clearer, more flexible guidance to reduce its impact on public health, according to a new study from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).

Read more about the School of Public Health’s role with the Population Health Initiative in the new UW Public Health magazine.

Washington is expected to face increasingly smoky summers. A few things you can do to prepare now: