Environmental Health Scientist
WELCOME
I am an environmental health scientist studying the relationships between energy, air pollution, and health. I am interested in how and under what circumstances we can reduce our personal environmental exposures and to what extent this can lead to improved health.
I am an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego in the School of Public Health. Previously, I was a 2021-2023 Stanford Earth Postdoctoral Fellow working with Professor Marshall Burke as a part of the ECHO (Environmental Change and Human Outcomes) Lab. I am also a Senior Agents of Change Fellow. I was awarded my PhD by Department of Environmental Health Science at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, where I was advised by Professor Darby W. Jack, in July 2021. I received my BA in Environmental Studies from Yale University in 2015.
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I am an environmental health scientist, and my research quantifies the health impacts of environmental exposures to inform policy strategies that will protect human health. In one branch of my work, I study efforts to reduce the negative impacts of traditional biomass use through increase dclean cooking fuel use to reduce air pollution exposures, improve health, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I also study the human health impacts of environmental hazards, including air pollution and temperature extremes, and investigate interventions that can reduce these impacts, serving as climate change adaptation strategies. My research contributes to the design of policies and programs address climate change while delivering immediate health benefits for more sustainable planetary futures.
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Research Areas
I use a variety of approaches to study a range of environmental health problems. I aim to understand what determines personal environmental exposures, how they impact health, and to what extent we can reduce exposures to lead to healthier lives.
Adaptation to climate change to improve public health
Adaptation to climate change is urgently needed. My research tries to understand which programs, policies, and strategies can reduce the impacts of climate hazards on public health.
Overlap and synergistic health impacts of wildfires and heat
Wildfires are a substantial and growing source of air pollution in the western US, and will increasingly coincide with elevated temperatures.
Household transitions to clean cooking fuels: how, when, and why?
Displacing polluting cooking fuels with clean-burning fuels promises improved health and well-being. My research examines under what circumstances can these transitions take place in India, Ecuador, and elsewhere.