Environmental Health

Asthma affects more than 6% of U.S. children, making it the most common chronic disease in kids nationwide. It’s difficult to isolate any single cause, but one of the most common contributors is air pollution: Studies have shown that breathing air with high levels of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and other environmental pollutants can increase children’s risk of developing asthma.

When University of Washington researchers discovered high rates of air pollution and childhood asthma in communities near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the next step became urgently clear — how to help.

This new year comes with four new faculty for the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).They bring expertise in addressing how emerging environmental exposures and social disparities influence a broad range of health concerns, including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, fertility, birth outcomes, vector-borne disease and microbial exposure.

For the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), 2024 was a year of behind-the-scenes change, as we thanked Professor Michael Yost for his 10-year tenure as department chair and welcomed

Jorge Rivera-GonzalezPh.D., Environmental Health Sciences (Industrial Hygiene and One Health)HometownPuerto RicoFuture plansPursuing a career as an Environmental Health Officer.

Maegan ChuaBS in Environmental Public HealthHometownKetchikan, AKInternship with:Public Health – Seattle & King County

Professor Lianne Sheppard’s bio recently grew a bit longer as she added a new title to her name. As of Sept. 1, 2024, Sheppard is the interim chair of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).  

At the end of this month, Michael Yost will be stepping down after a 10-year term as chair of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).

Kaidan St LouisBS in Environmental Public HealthHometownLoveland, COInternship with:WM

In June, 30 new faculty members at the UW took a five-day, 1,000-mile-plus bus tour around Washington state to get to know the state’s diverse landscape and people, as well as their new colleagues.  

David Eaton, professor emeritus in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), received the 2024 Merit Award from the Society of Toxicology (SOT).

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

Spending time in nature is good for us. Studies have shown that contact with nature can lift our well-being by affecting  emotions, influencing  thoughts, reducing stress and improving physical health. Even brief exposure to nature can help.

Joey TeresiMS, Environmental Health SciencesHometownChannahon, ILFuture plansAn environmental health or public health career in the public sector.“I’ve been lucky to have advisers in DEOHS that help me set lofty goals and meet those goals.”- Joey Teresi

Bob Wilbur thought he’d found a retirement home that would be a place of peace. Nestled against Admiralty Bay on the western edge of Whidbey Island, the three-story house is surrounded by trees and shoreline. It offers the kind of quiet that only an island can provide. Except when the Growlers fly. 

Hannah McKinleyBS, Environmental HealthHometownSnohomish, WAFuture plansPursuing an MPH in DEOHS and an MPA in the UW Evans School.“I feel very lucky to have found a place to explore so many of my academic interests.”- Hannah McKinley

Abbie GilbertMS, Environmental Health SciencesHometownWarrensburg, MOFuture plansPursuing a PhD in DEOHS focusing on infants’ exposure to heavy metals.

Migration to King County has grown over the years, in part due to the boom of the tech sector. As housing prices have risen, public health researchers want to know how this has affected internal displacement within the county, especially for low-income households.

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.

The University of Washington School of Public Health (UW SPH) continues to offer some of the best public health graduate education in the country, according to the 2024 rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. UW SPH ranked No.

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. 

 

For University of Washington School of Public Health alum Rachel Shaffer (MPH, ’18, PhD, ’20), the notion of public health has always been present.

 

 

Researchers using a novel method of measuring long-term wildfire smoke exposure have found that Indigenous communities in California are exposed to disproportionate amounts of dangerous particulate matter—sometimes far beyond what has been previously known.

A new rule passed by the US Environmental Protection Agency this month will prevent thousands of premature deaths each year. The rule strengthens the national air quality standard for industrial emissions of fine particles, often called soot, as part of the Clean Air Act.

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.

The UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) recently changed the name of our Bachelor of Science degree to Environmental Public Health.