Lara Cushing

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.

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