Occupational Health

“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.

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

About 100 staff, faculty and student workers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were designated “essential workers” by the UW and worked in person throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to maintain critical DEOHS work and services.

Read more about our graduates and their future plans Families, friends, faculty and staff gathered Friday to celebrate 82 students graduating from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) in the department’s first in-person graduation ceremony in three years.

Shelley Stephan MS, Occupational Hygiene Hometown Irvine, CA Future plans A career as a research industrial hygienist.

Amalawa Aiwekhoe BS, Environmental Health Hometown Everett, WA Future plans Continue his job at Boeing as an occupational health and safety specialist, eventually returning to DEOHS for his Applied MS in Occupational Hygiene.

Inna Antonchuk MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Hometown Rivne, Ukraine Future plans Continuing to work as a nurse as well as applying her public health training, perhaps with a government agency “I am very interested in immigrant occupational health but also in public health policy."

Katy Burr MPH, One Health Hometown Seattle, WA Future plans Joining the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service program “I'm hopeful that my work will help to illuminate ways to keep people who work with animals safer at work.” - Katy Burr

 

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.”

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.

Tips for wearing an N95 or KN95 mask: Improve the fit by pinching the metal nose clip around the bridge of the nose. N95s have straps that go around the back of your head.

Dorian Kenleigh MPH, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Hometown Pittsburgh, PA Future plans Continuing to advocate for workers, such as in the cannabis industry as a medical consultant.

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.

Outdoor workers in the world’s lower-latitude tropical forests may face a greater risk of heat-related deaths and unsafe working conditions because of deforestation and climate warming, according to a new study led by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and Indonesia’s Mulawarman U

Joanne Medina MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Hometown Brooklyn, NY “Be open to diverse experiences, because you never know how those skills may prepare you for future jobs and opportunities.” - Joanne Medina

Judit Marsillach has always been drawn to research that improves people’s well-being. But a lucky choice of college roommates led her to the field of environmental health.

Editor’s note: Lily Myers is a second-year DEOHS master's student in Occupational Hygiene and a trainee in the Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (part of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences). We recently spoke with Myers about her research at a Seattle-area marine mammal hospital.

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

Read the full story in the latest edition of the UW Public Health magazine Newly updated environmental health research laboratories in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) will have a transformative impact on some of the most important work DEOH

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.

In her free time, Dennise Drury loves playing volleyball, basketball and soccer. She’s just as multifaceted when it comes to public health pursuits.

Without the cooling powers of trees, workers in deforested areas are less productive, according to new research from the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other collaborators.