Pesticides

Every day, hundreds of workers across Washington state are hurt on the job. Some lose their lives. Many of the industries that shaped the state — forestry, fishing, agriculture — are riddled with risk.

Hannah DyeMS Thesis, Environmental Health SciencesHometownThousand Oaks, CAFuture plansApplying to medical school.

Cecilia MartindaleMS, Environmental Health SciencesHometownColorado Springs, COFuture plansPursuing a PhD in environmental health and working in public health practice.

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).

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.

Evan GallagherProfessor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health SciencesProudest achievements:Showing how biochemical pathways in fish make them susceptible to toxic chemicals, and what this means for human disease; Directing the UW Superfund Research Program; Mentoring students and postdocs.

Lucio CostaProfessor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational HealthProudest achievements:Research he led with others on PBDEs (flame-retardant chemicals) that may act as developmental neurotoxicants, and his work on two enzymes known as paraoxonases (PON1 and PON2) that possess antioxidant properties and may protect against some health c

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

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.”

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.

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.

It’s a fitting recognition of Lianne Sheppard’s dedication to research, teaching and public service that she received an endowed professorship at the UW in the same week as being tapped to chair a federal scientific committee.

Magali Blanco PhD, Environmental and Occupational Hygiene Hometown Santa Cruz, CA Future plans Continuing her research on environmental exposures and health outcomes in an academic or government setting.

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.

For her dedication to teaching and mentoring researchers who study birth defects, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) Professor Elaine Faustman has been awarded the

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.

Many Washington growers rely on pesticides to ensure a bountiful harvest in a state ranked as the top apple producer in the US. But pesticides sprayed from tractors onto crops can drift into neighboring farmland, risking crop damage and farmworkers' health.

Galvin’s team is seeking additional funding to continue app development.

Picture-perfect produce at your local market is the surest sign of summer in the Pacific Northwest.    Those berries, cherries and other fruits and vegetables arrive in stores Instagram-ready thanks in part to farm laborers who apply pesticides to agricultural crops throughout the year.   But that work can put farmworkers and thei

Magali Blanco received her PhD in environmental health and MS in occupational and environmental exposure science from the University of Washington, and a BA in biology from Lewis & Clark College. Blanco’s research applies quantitative, data-driven methods to study how environmental exposures affect health.

Dr. Rachel M. Shaffer works on chemical assessments in the Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment in the U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development. Dr. Shaffer has a broad background in environmental health sciences, with graduate training spanning experimental toxicology and human epidemiological research as well as experience in science policy and risk assessment.

Cynthia L. Curl, MS, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Health at Boise State University, where she studies the intersection between agricultural production and human health and directs the Curl Agricultural Health Lab.

Dr. Judit Marsillach is Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health. In May 2021, she was appointed as the Sheldon D. Murphy Endowed Chair in Toxicology and Environmental Health.

Dr. Kasner is an Assistant Teaching Professor with a research focus on leveraging technology to prevent injury and illness among working populations.

Dr Lu is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Sciences in the College of Resources and Environment at Southwest University in Chongqing, China. His teaching and research is focused on environmental physiology and toxicology.  He assists Chinese students from Zhejiang University to apply for graduate studies within DEOHS. 

Dr. Michael Yost is Professor of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS). He is also the Director of the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center at DEOHS. A member of the DEOHS faculty since 1993, Dr. Yost was named department chair in August 2014.