Long Term Exposure to Wildfire Particulate Matter: Does the Particular Metric Matter for Health and Environmental Justice?
May 5, 2023
Wildfires have grown in size, severity, and frequency in the US. As a result, they produce large quantities of fine particulate matter (PM25) and stressful disaster exposures in communities. Joan Casey’s presentation is motivated by wildfire smoke becoming an omnipresent climate-sensitive exposure. She covers measures (or lack thereof) of exposure to long-term wildfire PM25 and in an applied example, Casey assesses disproportionate exposures among marginalized communities in California from 2006-2020.
Joan Casey, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental and Occupation Health Sciences
School of Public Health
University of Washington
Joan A. Casey received her doctoral degree from the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2014. Dr. Casey is an environmental epidemiologist who focuses on environmental health, environmental justice, and sustainability. Her research uses electronic health records and spatial statistics to study the relationship between emerging environmental exposures and population health. She also considers vulnerable populations and the implications of health disparities, particularly in an era of climate change. Dr. Casey investigates a range of exposures including unconventional natural gas and oil development, coal-fired power plants, wildfires, power outages, and concentrated animal feeding operations. She also teaches in the MPH Core. Dr. Casey also holds a BS in Biological and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University and an MA in Applied Physiology from Teachers College at Columbia University.