Project Summary

In high wildfire activity areas such as California, and increasingly with climate change, it is critical to understand wildfire smoke exposure impacts accurately so that more effective and sustainable public health actions can be taken. Our long-­term actionable aim was to identify spatiotemporal factors that increase vulnerability of people to wildfire smoke exposure, as well as more accurate specification of the exposure-­disease relationship.

The purpose of this multi-­disciplinary sustainability work was to resolve key technical issues related to atmospheric modeling used to develop environmental exposure metrics for a future planned health and geospatial vulnerability study. To address these atmospheric modeling (exposure assessment) issues, the team convened a workshop with the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity, a partner on the project. Through the project, the team developed a white paper, refined their methodology as input to future grant proposals, and strengthened their collaborative partnerships. The team also hosted and recorded research seminars to broaden the impact of the team’s scholarship and to involve students and faculty.

Resources