Wildfires increasingly threaten oil and gas drill sites 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.  Researchers said their analysis, which was published recently in the journal One Earth, is the first to examine historical and projected wildfire threats on oil and gas facilities ..read more

A drive to serve his community Joey Teresi MS, Environmental Health Sciences Hometown Channahon, IL Future plans An environmental health or public health career in the public sector. “I’ve been lucky to have advisers in DEOHS that help me set lofty goals and meet those goals.” - Joey Teresi When Joey Teresi was in high school, he thought he’d end up as a forensic scientist — he loved TV shows like the CSI series. But he also had an innate sense of curiosity about his environment and how the world around him worked beyond crime scene investigations. In college, he decided to pursue a dual deg ..read more

A satellite view of climate impacts in cities 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. She recently spoke with the UDP about blending these two disciplines, her latest research and her new course using Google Earth Engine. How did you get into your field of study? Growing up in Taiwan, I witnessed heat stress, summer storms and landslides every year. Yet it wasn’t until a visit ..read more

Prescribed burning reduces wildfire smoke impacts Claire Schollaert, DEOHS PhD alum and UCLA postdoctoral scholar. Across the American West, managers of fire-prone landscapes are increasingly using a practice that seems counterintuitive: setting small fires to prevent larger, more destructive ones. Commonly called “prescribed burns,” these targeted, controlled fires keep forests healthy by reducing the buildup of grasses, leaves, branches, and other debris that can fuel larger wildfires and smoke out nearby communities. But smoke from prescribed burns also presents health risks. Today’s forest ..read more

Prescribed burning reduces wildfire smoke impacts Claire Schollaert, DEOHS PhD alum and UCLA postdoctoral scholar. Across the American West, managers of fire-prone landscapes are increasingly using a practice that seems counterintuitive: setting small fires to prevent larger, more destructive ones. Commonly called “prescribed burns,” these targeted, controlled fires keep forests healthy by reducing the buildup of grasses, leaves, branches, and other debris that can fuel larger wildfires and smoke out nearby communities. But smoke from prescribed burns also presents health risks. Today’s forest ..read more

Preparing Washington’s second largest city for wildfire season 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. And some years, wildfire season explodes into global tragedy as it did in 2023, across Canada, to the shores of Maui, to Spokane, Washington—where two wind-driven August fires near town burned more than 200,000 acres and destroyed a reported 360 primary residences. DEOHS Teaching Professor Tania Busch Isaksen. The US E ..read more

Why major in Environmental Public Health? The UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) recently changed the name of our Bachelor of Science degree to Environmental Public Health. To learn more about what prompted this update, and where the major can take students, we caught up with DEOHS Teaching Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator Tania Busch Isaksen. 1. DEOHS recently updated the name of our undergraduate major to Environmental Public Health. What inspired that change? We've spent the last several years reviewing, making changes to, and improving ..read more

Centering young “climate heroes” Cassandra Jean, DEOHS postdoctoral scholar. Washington State is experiencing an increasing number of extreme heat events due to climate change. The 2021 Pacific Northwest “heat dome,” for example, resulted in 441 deaths and became the deadliest weather-related disaster in Washington’s history. Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities are at an increased risk for extreme heat exposure due to underlying health inequities and historical marginalization, which necessitates a centering of their voices in preparing for future extreme heat events. In ..read more

Building climate resilience along Seattle’s riverfront 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 Seattle neighborhoods of South Park and Georgetown to survey households about their perspectives on issues relating to climate resilience. Among other things, we found that community members prioritize environmental health; want more green spaces; see their community connec ..read more

Climate change causing ‘indisputable’ harm to our health Dr. Jeremy Hess Experts from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) are among the authors of the newly released Fifth National Climate Assessment, an overview of climate trends, impacts and efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change across the nation. The assessment is led by the US Global Change Research Program and mandated by Congress. The fifth edition, released Nov. 14, assesses current and future risks posed by climate change in 10 regions. Dr. Jeremy Hess, DEOHS professor, was an author ..read more