Edward Kasner

I was born and raised in Morton, Washington, a small rural town near Mount Rainier whose local economy is primarily supported by lumber mills. I completed my undergraduate degree at the UW, where I initially wanted to study biology. After taking my first environmental health class, I was hooked and decided to study environmental and occupational health.

Miguel Rojas-Flores Applied MS, Environmental Health Sciences Hometown Merced, CA Future plans After graduation this fall, I plan to move back home to California’s Central Valley and pursue a teaching credential to serve the communities where I grew up.

2022 was a year of growth, change and global recognition for the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), which secured top rankings in US News & World Report’s Best Global Universities 2022-2023 survey.  

The UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) welcomes eight new faculty members to its ranks during the 2022-23 academic year.

Claire Schollaert, PhD student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), is one of two recipients of this year’s Russell L. Castner Endowed Student Research Fund, which supports student research in environmental health.

Diana Marquez MS, Applied Occupational Hygiene Hometown Grandview, WA Future plans A career with Washington State Department of Labor & Industries “The most meaningful thing has been getting to change workers’ perspectives around the work we do in occupational health and safety.”

Aarti Tandon BA, Food Systems, Nutrition and Health Hometown Yorba Linda, CA Future plans To pursue medicine in environmental and occupational health. “I believe my research helps reduce gaps in fair and equal access for marginalized peoples.” - Aarti Tandon

Tiny pollution particles can cause major health problems. Our research shows how to minimize your risk.

All forest fire smoke is bad for people, but not all fires in forests are bad.

Yoni Rodriguez MS, Occupational Hygiene Hometown Toppenish, WA Future plans Pursuing an MD/PhD in Environmental Health “My next step is to couple public health education with technology that monitors and removes environmental toxins in a safe, efficient and sustainable manner.”

Last year, the University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded COVID-19 population health equity research grants to three projects involving partnerships between UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and community leaders.

Four students in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were recently awarded scholarships from the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation (AIHF) to support their studies in industrial hygiene.

Elizabeth Torres with El Proyecto Bienestar. Even before COVID-19 showed up on Pacific Northwest farms last spring, some farmers and farmworker advocates were rushing to get ready for it.

As smoke from wildfires on the West Coast makes its way across the US, it’s becoming clear that our future will involve coexistence with fire.

Right now, some 140,000 agricultural workers are picking apples, peaches and other crops at the peak of Washington’s harvest season, just as Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency in response to wildfires burning across the state.

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative has awarded COVID-19 population health equity research grants to three projects involving partnerships between UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and community leaders.

The University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) was recently awarded funding for four new projects to address the health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

Many Washington growers rely on pesticides to ensure a bountiful harvest in a state ranked as the top apple producer in the US. But pesticides sprayed from tractors onto crops can drift into neighboring farmland, risking crop damage and farmworkers' health.

Dr. Kasner is an Assistant Teaching Professor with a research focus on leveraging technology to prevent injury and illness among working populations.

Background.

The Washington State Department of Health investigates hundreds of pesticide illness reports each year, many of which are related to pesticide spray drift. Drift is the movement of pesticide aerosols through the air from an area of application to any unintended site and accounts for up to half of the pesticide-related illnesses among agricultural workers in the United States.