Climate Change

Heat is a quiet killer. Unlike most natural disasters, which can leave visible damage across an entire region, a heat wave’s effects on human health can be difficult to track.

 

Evan GallagherProfessor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health SciencesProudest achievements:Showing how biochemical pathways in fish make them susceptible to toxic chemicals, and what this means for human disease; Directing the UW Superfund Research Program; Mentoring students and postdocs.

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.  

For Esther Min, the most effective public health science starts with listening to the needs of communities.

A new $2.3 million program funded by the US National Science Foundation will educate and equip young scientists to cultivate resilience to climate impacts such as flooding and extreme heat.

Two teams of researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their partners have been awarded grants from the University of Washington Population Health Initiative to support research on the health impacts of wildfire smoke and extreme heat.

Register now for Joseph Allen's Nov. 3 talk: "Healthy Buildings: The Nexus of COVID, Climate and Worker Health" As director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program, Joseph Allen often invites people to take their age and multiply it by 0.9.

“Have you ever been working in the field and been unable to see the sun because of smoke?” At a recent outreach event for farmworker families in Central Washington, participants were asked questions like this one about the challenges they face during wildfire smoke season, with an invitation to raise their hands when they agreed.

Associate Teaching Professor Tania Busch Isaksen Heat-related deaths are widespread across Washington state, and they occur even in regions that typically have milder climates, according to a new

Isabel Nerenberg, MS 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.

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.

DEOHS Assistant Professor Nicole Errett How do you plan ahead for the unforeseen?

Learn more about our work on the health impacts of extreme heat Extreme heat kills more people in the US than any other weather event. Scientists expect climate change to make this worse; already, 37% of heat-related deaths are thought to be due to climate change.

Since it launched in 2019, Washington’s Environmental Health Disparities Map has been used to help decision-makers and government agencies work with communities to clean up contamination, improve buildings and electric grids, plant trees and many other projects.

Communities in one of Washington’s most wildfire-prone regions share hard-earned wisdom about communicating the risks of wildfire smoke in a new report from a team of UW researchers, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Okanogan River Ai

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

The Fifth Season project The Fifth Season project is featured on KUOW's Soundside program. See all of the portraits and hear the audio stories here.

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

Nicole Errett Two interdisciplinary teams led by researchers from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) will study disaster preparedness and noise pollution with awa

Panel on sustainability in coffee and tea industries Attend a free panel discussion on current developments in the coffee and tea industries focused on creating just and sustainable supply chains that benefit people and the environment. Brewing Sustainability in the Coffee and Tea Industries May 18, 2022, 12:30 - 1:30 pm

DEOHS Assistant Professor Nicole Errett A new pilot project co-led by University of Washington researchers to improve disaster preparedness and climate resilience in South Seattle will put equity at the cen

Juliette Randazza MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Master in Public Administration Hometown Andover, MA Future plans Entering public service in local or state government, working on environmental policy and management and their impact on health

Two international research projects co-led by researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were recently awarded Tier I pilot grants from the UW Population Health Initiative (PHI). The grants support researchers in laying an interdisciplinary foundation for a future project to generate proof of concept.

Register now to join us Tuesday, March 8, for a panel discussion about the IPCC report with four co-authors from UW DEOHS

Farmers struggling to adapt to rising temperatures in tropical regions can unleash the benefits of natural cooling, alongside a host of other wins, simply by dotting more trees across their pasturelands. For the first time, a study led by the University of Washington puts tangible numbers to the cooling effects of this practice.

Daaniya Iyaz MS, Environmental Health Hometown Born in Chennai, India; raised in Sammamish, WA, USA Future plans Working in public health in government or consulting.

In 2021, the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) welcomed new faculty, forged collaborations in climate and health, and continued our innovative, community-oriented environmental health research on areas including air pollution, COVID-19 and the far-reaching health impacts of wildfire smoke across Washington state. Explore our top stories below.

The evidence has been clear for some time: Climate change presents a dire threat to human health. Unfortunately, as a result of inaction on the issue, the prognosis is getting worse.

In mid-October, UW PhD student Amber Khan took a hike up Mt. Si that was different from the treks she usually goes on with her husky.