I am a Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.  As an environmental health scientist and epidemiologist, my research examines social determinants of environmental health among diverse communities in the US with a focus on social inequality, psychosocial stress and how these factors interact with environmental chemical exposures to produce health inequalities. My work has examined this environmental justice question in the context of ambient air pollution, drinking water quality, climate change as well as prenatal exposures to environmental chemicals and effects on developmental outcomes.  I also collaborate with other scientists and community partners to leverage public data as well as apply community-based participatory research methods to carry out much of my research, including developing study protocols, conducting data collection and leveraging research results to improve policy.  In collaboration with researchers, regulatory scientists, and community partners, I have developed scientifically valid and transparent tools for assessing the cumulative impacts of chemical and non-chemical stressors to improve regulatory decision-making and advance environmental justice in California.  

PhD, Environmental Science, Policy and Management; University of California, Berkeley

MPH, Epidemiology, School of Public Health; University of California, Berkeley

BA, Environmental Studies; Skidmore College

energy, climate, health, oil and gas, air pollution, water pollution

I am the executive director of the energy science and policy institute, PSE Healthy Energy. I am also a visiting scholar in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley and an affiliate in the Environment Energy Technology Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. An environmental and public health scientist by training, I have more than 15 years of experience in water, air, climate, and population health research. I have published more than 35 peer reviewed papers and technical reports, and I am an author of multiple high profile scientific assessments including the Human Health chapter of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), two human health chapters in the California Senate Bill 4 Independent Scientific Study on hydraulic fracturing and well stimulation; and a forthcoming assessment of the public health dimensions of underground gas storage in the State of California. I have sat on multiple science-policy expert panels, and have worked and published on topics related to the intersection of energy, air pollution, water quality, climate, and human health from scientific and policy perspectives.

Click here for more information

1. Czolowski E, Santoro RL, Srebotnjak T, Shonkoff SBC. 2017. Towards Consistent Methodology to Quantify Populations in Proximity to Oil and Gas Development: A National Spatial Analysis and Review. Environmental Health Perspectives. Online version available at: https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/EHP1535.

2. DiGiulio DC, Shonkoff SBC, Jackson RB. Submitted. The Need to Protect Fresh and Brackish Groundwater Resources During Unconventional Oil and Gas Development.

3. DiGiulio D, Shonkoff SBC. 2017. Is Reuse of Produced Water Safe? First, Let’s Find out What’s in It. August 2017. EM Magazine, a copyrighted publication of the Air & Waste Management Association.

4. Stringfellow WT, Camarillo MK, Domen JK, Shonkoff SBC. 2017. Comparison of Chemical-Use Between Hydraulic Fracturing, Acidizing, and Routine Oil and Gas Development. PLoS ONE. 12(4): e0175344. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175344

5. Shonkoff SBC, Hays J, Hill LA, Krieger E, Hughes D, Hosang N, Law A. 2016. Trump: Renewables for Self-Sufficiency. Nature. 540:341. Available at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v540/n7633/pdf/540341b.pdf

6. Hays J, McCawley M, Shonkoff SBC. 2016. Public Health Implications of Environmental Noise Associated with Unconventional Oil and Gas Development. Science of The Total Environment. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969716325724.

7. Krieger E, Casey J, Shonkoff SBC. 2016. A framework for siting and dispatch of emerging energy resources to realize environmental and health benefits: Case study on peaker power plant displacement. Energy Policy. 96:302-313. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421516302798.

8. Hays J, Shonkoff SBC. 2016. Toward an Understanding of the Environmental and Public
Health Impacts of Unconventional Natural Gas Development: A Categorical Assessment of the Peer-Reviewed Scientific Literature, 2009-2015. PLoS ONE. 11(4): e0154164. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154164.

9. Hays J, Finkel M, Depledge M, Law A, Shonkoff SBC. 2015. Considerations for the
development of shale gas in the United Kingdom. Science of The Total Environment. 512-513:
36-42. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969715000078.

10. Ingraffea A, Wells M, Santoro R, Shonkoff SBC. 2014. Assessment and Risk Analysis of Casing and Cement Impairment in Oil and Gas Wells in Pennsylvania: 2000-2012. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 111 (30): 10955-10960. Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/30/10955.abstract.

11. Shonkoff SB, Hays, J, Finkel, MF. 2014. The Public Health Dimensions of Shale Gas Development. Environmental Health Perspectives. 122 (8): 787-795. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307866.

12. Law A, Hays J, Shonkoff SB, Finkel, ML. 2014. Re: Public Health England’s reply to Editorial on
its Draft Report on Shale Gas Extraction. BMJ. 348:g3280.

13. Law A, Hays J, Shonkoff SB, Finkel, ML. 2014. Public Health England’s Draft Report on Shale Gas Extraction: Mistaking Best Practices for Actual Practices. BMJ. 348:g2728.

14. Shonkoff SB. 2013. Shale gas and Tight Oil Development: Look Before We Leap. Global Energy Affairs. Available at: http://globalenergyinitiative.org/insights/103-shale-gas-tight- oil-development.html

15. Shonkoff SB, Morello-Frosch R, Pastor M, Sadd J. 2011. Environmental Health and Equity Implications of Climate Change and Mitigation Policies in California: A Review of the Literature. Climatic Change. Volume 109. Supp. 1.

16. Smith KR, Jerrett M, Anderson HR, Burnett RT, Stone V, Derwent R, Atkinson RW, Cohen A, Shonkoff SB, Krewski D, Pope CA, 3rd, Thun MJ, Thurston G. 2009. Public Health Benefits of Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse-Gas Emissions: Health Implications of Short-Lived Greenhouse Pollutants. The Lancet. 374(9707): 2091-2103.

17. Shonkoff SB, Morello-Frosch R, Pastor M, Sadd J. 2009. Minding the Climate Gap: Implications of Environmental Health Inequities for Mitigation Policies in California. Environmental Justice 2(4): 173-177.

18. Spencer DF, Ksander GG, Donovan MJ, Liow PS, Chan WK, Greenfield BK, Shonkoff SB,
Andrew S. 2006. Evaluation of Water Hyacinth Survival and Growth in the Sacramento Delta, California, Following Cutting. The Journal of Plant Management. 44: 50-60.

Pioneer Under 40 in Environmental Public Health; Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)

Emerging Leader, Emerging Leaders Fund; The Claneil Foundation

Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award; University of California, Berkeley

PhD, Energy & Resources; University of California, Berkeley (2016)

MPH, Epidemiology; University of California, Berkeley (2011)

BS, Molecular Environmental Biology; University of California, Berkeley (2003)

environmental justice, climate change, GIS, community-engaged scholarship

My research examines social inequalities in environmental exposures and the combined impacts of environmental and social stressors on health. My work has investigated questions of environmental justice in the context of pollution sources and hazardous sites, prenatal exposures to harmful chemicals, and climate change. Current projects include examining the impact of flaring from oil and gas wells on reproductive health outcomes and work to reduce the health risks of unsafe drinking water among low income households reliant on private wells.

Click here for more information.

1. Andrade, J., L. Cushing, A. Wesner, “Science Shops and the US Research University: A Path for Community-Engaged Scholarship and Disruption of the Power Dynamics of Knowledge Production” In: Education for Citizenship and Social Justice, T.D. Mitchell and K.M. Soria (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, Chan, 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-62970-4, pgs. 149-165

2. Casey, J.A., P. James, L. Cushing, B.M. Jesdale, R. Morello-Frosch, “Race, Ethnicity, Income Concentration and 10-Year Change in Urban Greenness in the United States” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2017) 14 (12) 1546-1561, doi:10.3390/ijerph14121546

3. Morello-Frosch, R., L. Cushing, B.M. Jesdale, J. Schwartz, W. Guo, T. Guo, M. Wang, S. Harwani, S.S. Petropoulou, W. Duong, J.S. Park, M. Petreas, R. Gajek, J. Alvaran, J. She, R. Das and T.J. Woodruff, “Environmental Chemicals in an Urban Population of Pregnant Women and their Newborns from San Francisco” Environmental Science & Technology (2016) 50 (22): 12464–12472, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03492

4. Cushing, L., J. Faust, L. August, R. Cendak, W. Wieland and G. Alexeeff, “Racial/ethnic disparities in cumulative environmental health impacts in California: evidence from a state-wide environmental justice screening tool (CalEnviroScreen 1.1)” American Journal of Public Health (2015) 105(11): 2341-2348, doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302643

5. Cushing, L., R. Morello-Frosch, M. Wander and M. Pastor, “The Haves, the Have-nots, and the Health of Everyone: The Relationship between Social Inequality and Environmental Quality”, Annual Review of Public Health (2015), 18(36): 193-209, doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122646

6. Jesdale, B., R. Morello-Frosch and L. Cushing, “The Racial/Ethnic Distribution of Heat Risk–Related Land Cover in Relation to Residential Segregation”, Environmental Health Perspectives (2013), 121(7):811-817, doi:10.1289/ehp.1205919

Switzer Environmental Leadership Fellowship; Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

Chancellor’s Public Fellow; University of California, Berkeley

Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

PhD, Energy and Resources; University of California Berkeley

MS, Energy and Resources; University of California, Berkeley

BS, Environmental Science; Brown University

drinking water, water justice, environmental health, environmental justice, California water, human right to water

I am a Research Scientist for the California Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). My research focuses on exposure to drinking water contaminants and the environmental justice implications of this work. I am passionate about working with local communities to address and solve drinking water quality problems using participatory research methods and collaborative approaches. I have worked for over a decade with non-profit organizations, academics and state agencies conducting community engaged water equity research in both California and Latin America. I am the lead on OEHHA’s human right to water work and co-lead the SRP’s Water Equity Science Shop. Prior to joining OEHHA I was a post-doctoral scholar at UC Davis and worked as a Research Scientist with the Community Water Center. I hold a PhD and Masters from UC Berkeley focused on water resources management and environmental health, and a BS in Environmental Science from Brown University.

1. Lubell, M.N. and Balazs, C. Adaptive Governance and Integrated Water Resources, in The Oxford Manual on Water Politics and Policy. 2018.

2. Ranganathan, M and Balazs, C. 2015, Drinking Water Marginalization at the Urban Fringe: Learning Across the North-South Divide. Urban Geography. 36:3, 403-423.

3. Balazs, C and Lubell, M. 2014. Water Justice and Social Learning: The Case of the Upper Kings Basin. Water Policy Special Issue on Justice in Water Governance. 16: 97-120.

4. Balazs, C and Ray, I. 2014. The Drinking Water Disparities Framework: On the Origins and Persistence of Inequities in Exposure, American Journal of Public Health, 104(4): 603-611.

5. Balazs, C and Morello-Frosch, R. 2013. The Three R’s: How Community Based Participatory Research Strengthens the Rigor, Relevance and Reach of Science. Environmental Justice, 1(6): 9-14.

6. Balazs, C., Morello-Frosch, R, Hubbard, A and Ray, I. 2012. Environmental justice implications of arsenic contamination in California’s San Joaquin Valley: a cross-sectional, cluster-design examining exposure and compliance in community drinking water systems. Environmental Health, 11(84): 2-12.

7. Balazs, C., Morello-Frosch, R, Hubbard, A and Ray, I. Just Water? 2011. Social Disparities in Nitrate Contaminated Drinking Water in California’s Central Valley. Environmental Health Perspectives.

UC Presidential Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2013)

Switzer Environmental Leadership Grant for work with Community Water Center (2012)

Switzer Environmental Leadership Fellowship for graduate studies (2009-2010)

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2007-2010)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency STAR Graduate Fellowship (2006-2009)

Fulbright Fellowship for study in Bolivia (2002-2003)

I conduct biologically-based, population-level studies on exposure and health risks associated with endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). I aim to improve public health by studying reproductive and developmental health impacts related to EDCs commonly found in consumer and personal care products and identifying opportunities to reduce exposure and associated health risks among vulnerable populations. I earned my MPH and PhD in environmental health sciences at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. My dissertation research focused on developing methods for; characterizing disparities in; and evaluating dietary sources of cumulative phthalates exposure. Prior to graduate school, I facilitated scientific dialogue and research translation around developmental impacts of environmental contaminants as the reproductive health working group coordinator for the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE). I studied molecular biology as an undergraduate and contributed to laboratory research that improved chemical screening methods in water through microarray development. I enjoy spending free time outside with my 18 month old son, where we go on many long walks and have deep conversations about birds, airplanes, flowers, and buses. I also enjoy cooking, reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Click here for more information

Environmental toxicology, environmental justice, water quality, cardiovascular toxicology, mitochondrial dysfunction

My research focuses on environmental justice and the health effects of environmental contaminants. I am particularly interested in addressing exposure to contaminated groundwater among vulnerable populations. I also conduct research on cardiovascular, metabolic, and mitochondrial dysfunction associated with arsenic exposure. I am currently working on a project that aims to reduce the risk of exposure to contaminated drinking water in California through community involvement, education, and environmental policy.

1. Pace C., Banerjee T.D., Welch B., Khalili R., Dagda R.K., Angermann J. (2016). Monomethylarsonous Acid, But not Inorganic Arsenic, is a Mitochondria Specific Toxicant in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells. Toxicology in Vitro. 35:188-201. doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2016.06.006

2. Pace C., Dagda R.K., Angermann J. (2017). Antioxidants Protect Against Arsenic Induced Mitochondrial Cardio-toxicity. Toxics. 5, 38: doi:10.3390/toxics5040038

3. Pace C., Smith-Gagen J., Angermann J. (2018). Arsenic Methylation Capacity and Metabolic Syndrome in the 2013-2014 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 15, 1: 168; doi:10.3390/ijerph15010168

Suma Cum Laude, University of Nevada, Reno (2017)

Suma Cum Laude, University of Nevada, Reno (2014)

M.P.H. Academic Achievement Award, University of Nevada, Reno (2014)

Graduate Student Association, University of Nevada Reno, Student Scholarship (2014)

Nevada Public Health Association Scholarship Winner (2013)

Miles Public Health Scholarship Award, University of Nevada Reno (2011)

Valedictorian Candidate, Sierra Nevada College (2011)

Suma Cum Laude, Sierra Nevada College (2011)

Undergraduate Research Prize Recipient, 2^nd place, Sierra Nevada College (2011)

PhD, Environmental Health Sciences; University of California, Berkeley

MPH, Global Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH); Emory University

BS, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology; University of California, Los Angeles

climate change, health equity, environmental justice, energy, policy

My interest in place-based environmental hazards that have implications for climate change, health and environmental justice began at Emory University, where I completed my Master of Public Health. During my time there, I had the pleasure of working on projects with vulnerable populations and collaborating with policymakers in India and Atlanta, GA. I continue to strive to identify disproportionate impacts of environmental hazards in my work and am committed to translating my research to affect equitable policymaking. I am currently examining the relationship of California oil/gas development relative to prenatal health outcomes and drinking water resources.

1. White AC, Khuu JK, Dang CY, Hu J, Tran K, Liu A, Gomez S,  Zhang Z, YI R, Scumpia P, Grigorian M, and Lowry WE. Stem cell quiescence acts as a tumor suppressor mechanism in hair follicle initiated squamous tumors. Nature Cell Biology. 2014 Jan;16(1):99-107. PubMed PMID: 24335650; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3874399.

2. Tran K, Azhar G, Nair R, Jaiswal A, Knowlton K, Mavalankar D, Hess J. A cross-sectional, randomized sample survey of household vulnerability to extreme heat among urban slum dwellers in Ahmedabad, Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013 Jun 18;10(6):2515-43. PubMed PMID: 23778061; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3717750.

3. White AC, Tran K, Khuu J, Dang C, Cui Y, Binder SW, Lowry WE. Defining the origins of Ras/p53-mediated squamous cell carcinoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 May 3;108(18):7425-30. PubMed PMID: 21502519; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3088581.

 

Mentored Research Award Fellowship (2017-2018)

EPA-NEJAC Youth Perspectives Climate Change Workgroup (2016-2018)

SAGE-IGERT Fellowship, UC Berkeley (2016-2018)

Tenbosch Graduate Fellowship, UC Berkeley (2014-2015)

NCAR Biannual Colloquium on Climate and Health Scholarship (July 2013)

American Public Health Association Environment Section Student Scholarship Award (September 2012)

Public Health Traineeship, Emory University (November 2011)

PhD Candidate, Society and Environment division of Environmental Science and Policy Management; University of California, Berkeley

Masters, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)

BA, Joint Specialist in Political Science and Philosophy, Minor in History; University of Toronto

Climate Change, Environmental Impact, Feminist Theory, Women and Gender Studies, Ecofeminism, Postcolonial Feminism, Post Colonial Studies, Queer Ecologies, Indigenous Feminism, Critical Theory, Feminist Economics, Environmental Studies, Environmental Philosophy, Qualitative Methodologies

Scholars and international organizations have shown that climate change disproportionately affects women. Indigenous women and women of the Global South are particularly impacted. Women’s traditional labor roles and their lack of economic and socio-political power are proving to be non-conducive to climate change adaptation. Affected women have organized the “Women for Climate Justice” contingent — an international interface of women’s groups, collectives, initiatives and organizations — positioned at the forefront of the global climate justice movement. They look to remedy the disproportionate effects of climate change on them, while contending that women’s local work skills and knowledge can help mitigate climate change. My research investigates the nexus between climate change and gender. Specifically, I explore the burdens and solutions of the Women for Climate Justice contingent to better understand the global pattern of gendered vulnerability to climate change, as well as how it sheds light on feminist theories that explain the wider systemic oppression of women.

The theoretical component of my research is embedded in ecological feminist theories that have long contended that environmental and gender exploitation are linked. They have affirmed that capitalism’s founding ideology of continuous growth—materialized as the infinite extraction of finite natural resources—has been necessitated by the coincident subordination of women, minorities, and nature, and is based on the exploitation of women’s, power, bodies and labor.

1. “‘Mother Earth’ Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism in North America,” Genesis : Rivista della Societa Italiana delle Stroriche, international and mutilingual academic journal

Arnold Schultz Fellowship (2017)

Highest Honors, Masters Degree, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) (2013)

PhD, Environmental Health Sciences; University of California, Berkeley

MPH, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health; University of California, Berkeley

BS, Molecular Environmental Biology; University of California, Berkeley

AA; Merritt Community College

environmental exposures, environmental justice, occupational health, biomonitoring, endocrine disruption, reproductive health, environmental epidemiology

Dr. Trowbridge is currently a post-doc with the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at UCSF, she is also a visiting scholar with the SH/E lab. Her current research focuses on evaluating prenatal exposure to toxic environmental chemicals in relation to pregnancy and birth outcomes. Her dissertation work entailed exploring exposure to environmental chemicals in a cohort of women firefighters in San Francisco and exploring the association of exposure with early biomarkers of effect. Dr. Trowbridge is a Latina scientist dedicated to promoting diversity in STEM fields and conducting research in environmental health.

Please click here for more information.

PhD Student, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; University of California, Berkeley

MS Student, Statistics; University of California, Berkeley

MESc, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Yale University

MPH, Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health; Yale University

BA, Music; Vassar College

environmental justice, environmental epidemiology, health equity, air pollution, geographic information systems, community-based participatory research

My research investigates disparities in exposures to environmental hazards, particularly air pollution, and associated human health outcomes.  Some of my prior work looks at associations between airborne fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) components and African American racial residential segregation in the United States as well as the sociodemographic context of oil and gas disposal well locations in the United States.  I am particularly interested in collaborative research models in which scientists take direction from and explicitly share power with members of communities seeking relief from exposure to environmental hazards.

1. Baccarelli AA, Zheng Y, Zhang X, Chang D, Liu L, Wolf KR, Zhang Z, McCracken JP, Díaz A, Bertazzi PA, Schwartz J, Wang S, Kang CM, Koutrakis P, Hou L.  Air pollution exposure and lung function in highly exposed subjects in Beijing, China: a repeated-measure study.  Particle and Fibre Toxicology.  2014 October;11:51.  doi: 10.1186/s12989-014-0051-7.  PMID: 25272992.  PMCID: PMC4192276.

2. Hou L, Barupal J, Zhang W, Zheng Y, Liu L, Zhang X, Dou C, McCracken JP, Díaz A, Motta V, Wolf KR, Bertazzi PA, Schwartz JD, Wang S, Baccarelli AA.  Particulate air pollution exposure and expression of viral and human microRNAs in blood.  Environmental Health Perspectives.  2016 March;124:344-350.  doi: 10.1289/ehp.1408519.  PMID: 26068961.  PMCID: PMC4786978.

Air and Waste Management Association Award

Berkeley Fellowship for Graduate Study

Yale Jan A. J. Stolwijk Fellowship in Environmental Epidemiology

Yale Climate Change and Health Initiative Summer Fellowship

Yale Hixon Center for Urban Ecology Fellowship

Yale Jubitz Family Endowment for Research Internships

Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies Master’s Research Award

Vassar Ford Scholar Award

Teaching Fellow, Principles of Epidemiology I (CDE 508a); Yale School of Public Health (Fall 2016)

MPH, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health; University of California, Berkeley

BS, Cell Biology; University of Kansas
BA, Anthropology; University of Kansas

Environmental justice, community-based participatory research, climate change, health equity