Policy

People love talking about the weather, but what they like talking less about is why certain weather patterns exist. That’s something Joan Casey has observed as a scientist who studies climate change’s impact on communities. 

A new digital tool developed by researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) could help health jurisdictions in Washington state assess their readiness for emergencies such as earthquakes, wildfires and tsunamis.

DEOHS research scientist Rachel Wood. Photo: Courtesy of Wood. Rachel Wood is looking for TB’s missing millions.

Groceries were the most common expense reported as hard to afford in the past month, followed by housing, according to the latest WAFOOD survey.

As policy director for the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), Maggie Leland’s job is rarely the same from day to day. She may be working on a new rule to help protect workers’ health or assisting members of the Washington State Legislature with technical guidance related to a proposed bill.   

In the Pacific Northwest, cherries, peaches, plums and many other fruits mean summer — thanks to the people who harvest them. As climate change makes our region’s summers increasingly hot and smoky, researchers and policymakers are becoming more concerned about the health impacts on these agricultural workers. 

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.

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

Seattle is routinely listed as one of the most walkable and bike-friendly cities in the nation.

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.

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

Learn more in our interactive feature: "At every age, cleaner air means better health." It’s not just textbooks and homework woes that unite schoolkids of the sunny Yakima Valley with their counterparts in rainy Seattle’s urban neighborhoods.

DEOHS is collaborating with cross-sector partners to prepare for a hotter future in the Pacific Northwest

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

Asheton Gilbertson MS, Occupational Hygiene Hometown Denver, CO Future plans Working as an industrial hygienist at Sandia National Laboratories. “My work with firefighters helped solidify that I made the right choice in coming to UW, because I would not have gotten to do this anywhere else.”

Register now for Dr. Lynn Goldman's Apr. 20 talk: Cumulative Environmental Risk Impacts of Redlining: Houston as a Case Study As dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, Dr.

 

For her many contributions to assessing the risk of chemical hazards, Elaine Faustman has been awarded the 2023 Arnold J.

Last year, two treasured members of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) community passed away: Emeritus Professors Jane Koenig and Daniel Luchtel.

Wastewater surveillance was a valuable component of the US public health response in the nation’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is worthy of further development and continued investment, says

Jennifer Otten, a faculty member and food systems scholar in the UW School of Public Health, has been appointed to the Washington State Food Policy Forum. The cross-sector group was formed by the Washington State Legislature in 2016 to make recommendations for improving food systems in the state.

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.  

Belen Salguero BS, Environmental Health Hometown Morton, WA Future plans A public health career focusing on worker health in marginalized communities

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

When Marissa Baker introduces the field of occupational health to her undergraduate students, she asks them to think of a job they or someone they know has had, and what they didn’t like about the job.

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.