Wildfires

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. 

Whether it’s a blizzard, a heat wave or a wildfire, severe weather is often quickly followed by a power outage.  As demonstrated in the recent Los Angeles wildfires, these combined events can be associated with major economic costs and health risks. Loss of power can disrupt medical equipment, heating or air conditioning, and other important systems.  

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

Hear from Theberge at our Environmental Health Seminar on Oct.

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. 

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).

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.  

In the past several months, researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their partners have received four awards from the UW Population Health Initiative to pursue research on the health impacts of emerging threats including extreme cold, sea level rise, extreme heat combined with wil

More than 100,000 oil and gas wells across the western US are in areas burned by wildfires in recent decades, according to a new study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, the UW and six other institutions. Some 3 million people live next to wells that in the future could be in the path of fires worsened by climate change. 

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

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.

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 University of Washington’s new Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC) will lead the development of a new workplan for a regional public health emergency preparedness and response center to help prepare the Northwest for disasters and emergencies.

Breathing wildfire smoke poses a health risk to people of all ages, not just young children and older adults, according to new research from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and colleagues at Seattle Children’s.

Claire Schollaert PhD, Environmental & Occupational Hygiene Hometown Walnut Creek, CA Future plans A career as an environmental health scientist in academia, government or the nonprofit sector

Two teams of researchers from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciencs (DEOHS) and their partners recently received grants from the UW Population Health Initiative for projects focusing on supporting healthy home environments in Washington’s Yakima Valley and understanding the connections between community-based land management and disease outbreaks in Brazil.

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.  

A new $2.3 million program funded by the US National Science Foundation will educate and equip young scientists to cultivate resilience to climate impacts such as flooding and extreme heat.

Two teams of researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their partners have been awarded grants from the University of Washington Population Health Initiative to support research on the health impacts of wildfire smoke and extreme heat.

“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.

DEOHS Assistant Professor Nicole Errett How do you plan ahead for the unforeseen?

Communities in one of Washington’s most wildfire-prone regions share hard-earned wisdom about communicating the risks of wildfire smoke in a new report from a team of UW researchers, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Okanogan River Ai

The Fifth Season project The Fifth Season project is featured on KUOW's Soundside program. See all of the portraits and hear the audio stories here.

Tiny pollution particles can cause major health problems. Our research shows how to minimize your risk.