Disaster resilience

In the past several months, researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their partners have received four awards from the UW Population Health Initiative to pursue research on the health impacts of emerging threats including extreme cold, sea level rise, extreme heat combined with wil

More than 100,000 oil and gas wells across the western US are in areas burned by wildfires in recent decades, according to a new study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, the UW and six other institutions. Some 3 million people live next to wells that in the future could be in the path of fires worsened by climate change. 

The same geologic forces that shaped Washington state hold the potential to devastate the Pacific Northwest. This reality necessitates thorough disaster planning to prepare the region to mitigate, respond to and recover from future catastrophes.

Nell ThompsonBS, Environmental Public HealthHometownLynnwood, WAFuture plansGetting a master's of public health.“The learning opportunities I've had at UW have been really inspiring.”- Nell Thompson

Assistant Professor Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen joined the UW last year with a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and the Department of Urban Design and Planning (UDP) in the College of Built Environments.

Kathleen Moloney, DEOHS research scientist. As unprecedented as the outbreak of COVID-19 felt, it was far from the first time a deadly disease has swept the globe. 

It might start with a slight scent of smoke from a faraway wildfire, and often ends with weeks-long warnings about hazardous air quality, calls to shelter indoors and lessons about how to build homemade air filters.

2023 has been a year of community resilience for the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS). Together with many partners, our students, faculty and staff spearheaded projects to help Pacific Northwest communities respond and adapt to extreme heat, flooding, wildfire smoke and other impacts of climate change.

Explore the storymap In the fall of 2022, our team of researchers from the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps, the Duwamish River Community Coalition (DRCC), the City of Seattle and the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences went door to door in the Se

The University of Washington’s new Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC) will lead the development of a new workplan for a regional public health emergency preparedness and response center to help prepare the Northwest for disasters and emergencies.

University of Washington School of Public Health faculty member Kristie Ebi was recently elected as a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Four teams of researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their collaborators recently received awards from the UW Population Health Initiative to pursue projects focused on the health impacts of military aircraft noise pollution, using drones to monitor harmful algal blooms, engaging youth in disaster planning and incorporating public health

Claire Schollaert PhD, Environmental & Occupational Hygiene Hometown Walnut Creek, CA Future plans A career as an environmental health scientist in academia, government or the nonprofit sector

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.

 

Jamie Vickery is a Research Social Scientist and the Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Branch Chief within the Global Systems Laboratory’s Weather Informatics and Decision Support (WIDS) Division and an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

Gail has her doctorate in Public Health from the University of Texas, School of Public Health. She is a Certified Industrial Hygienist. Currently she has joint appointments as a Visiting Professor with Universidad de La Sabana, Faculty of Nursing, Bogotá, Colombia and as an Occupational Health Instructor for Texas A&M University.

Mr Matthews-Trigg graduated from DEOHS in 2017 with a Master’s in Public health, and he has continued to work with DEOHS faculty Drs. Kris Ebi and Nicole Errett since then, including co-authoring a textbook chapter with Dr. Ebi, supporting the DEOHS wildfire symposium, and supporting the Global Heat Health Information Network.

Joan A. Casey received her doctoral degree from the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2014. Dr. Casey is an environmental epidemiologist who focuses on environmental health, environmental justice, and sustainability.

Resham Patel is an assistant teaching professor at the University of Washington, with 15 years of local and national experience as a public health professional. She serves as the Director of Practitioner Engagement for the UW Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC).

Elizabeth Walker has led coalitions seeking change throughout her career as a public health professional. She has a strong commitment to health equity and environmental justice; strengthening health systems and capacity-building; forming and managing effective collaborations; and enabling community-based solutions.

Dr. Hess is Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Global Health and Emergency Medicine at the University of Washington. He serves as the director of the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE). Dr. Hess has an MD and an MPH in global environmental health and is residency-trained and board-certified in emergency medicine.

Dr. Nicole Errett’s research focuses on the development, implementation and health impacts of policies and programs that aim to build resilience in the context of public health emergencies, disasters and climate change.

Tania Busch Isaksen is Teaching Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator for the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).