Environmental Justice

For many farmworkers across Washington state, the risks of working on the front lines during the pandemic have been compounded by an “infodemic.”

Read the full report here

In a year like no other, DEOHS faculty, students and staff quickly pivoted to tackle new threats posed by the pandemic. We contributed to Washington state's COVID-19 response, showed the effectiveness of self-sampling for the virus and assessed impacts on essential workers—not to mention our furry friends.

In the U.S., we each waste about a pound of food each day. Our own choices contribute to the pileup, combined with a system that promotes wasteful decisions, according to a new report from UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) Associate Professor Jennifer Otten and collaborators.

Oceans affect every human life — no matter how far away from a coastline a community may be. Oceans supply fresh water and oxygen, regulate the climate, influence the weather and affect human health. People rely on these large bodies of water for food, income, transportation and recreation. In turn, human activities can impact oceans and the systems they support.

Editor's note: Natalie Peterson is a UW senior completing her BS in Environmental Health. Her JRCOSTEP internship was recently featured by the Indian Health Service on its website.  

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.

Join author BJ Cummings for a virtual book launch on July 11 at 2 pm, hosted by the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center. Register here  

  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?

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

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.

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.

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.

Read the news release Workers who pick our fruits and vegetables already face harsh conditions in fields during summer harvest months. Those conditions will worsen significantly over the coming decades.

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

According to the analysis, “strategic investments in a coordinated global-pandemics initiative would likely have a return ratio of between $17 and $20 on every $1 spent.” Curbing pandemics might also address shared global challenges, such as gender and social inequalities, and support climate adaptation and mitigation.

Babies born today will face unprecedented health risks and life-long health consequences from rising temperatures, according to new research published Wednesday from The Lancet.

Maria Blancas, a UW PhD student and staff member in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), will receive the 2019 Bullitt Environmental Prize for her work with immigrant farmworkers in Washington.

Washington is on the road to 100 percent clean energy with the passage of a new law championed by Gov. Jay Inslee that sets targets for achieving zero-carbon electricity by 2045.

Editor's note: This study, which ended in 2019, found that communities underneath and downwind of jets landing at Sea-Tac Airport are exposed to a type of ultrafine particle pollution that is distinctly associated with aircraft.

It was at the height of California’s worst drought on record that Esther Min saw for herself the power of data to help low-income families. “People’s water bills were skyrocketing, wells were drying up, families were driving miles away to buy bottled water,” said Min, who was working on a water-access study in the Salinas Valley in 2014.

What exactly is environmental justice, and how can we advance it through the law in Washington and beyond?

Climate change in Washington state affects us all—but not all of us in the same way. Your job, your zip code and your race are more likely to determine your level of risk from climate change than the frequency or magnitude of events associated with climate change like heat waves, wildfires and drought.

Vanessa Galaviz, lecturer in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), is being recognized by the American Public Health Association (APHA) as an emerging leader in environmental health.

At the Western Hemisphere’s busiest land border crossing, tens of thousands of vehicles wait each day, engines idling, to cross between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Researchers know that the 30,000 residents of San Ysidro, on the US side of the crossing, live with spikes in air pollution, higher levels of asthma and other negative effects from those car emissions.

Dr. Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning and the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington, where she is also affiliated with the Data Science program. As a geographer, Dr. Chen finds great interest in the synergy of machine learning and satellite imagery analysis.

Shannon is an environmental health advocate, community science champion and enthusiastic about the potential for open systems and technology to support the creation of a more just and equitable future. 

Chris Zuidema is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences with expertise in exposure assessment, air pollution, and occupational health.