Seth Shonkoff

Seth Shonkoff

View website here.

Education

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

Research Interests
energy, climate, health, oil and gas, air pollution, water pollution
Research Description
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.

Selected Publications

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.

Honors and Awards

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

Recent Teaching

Environmental Science Senior Research Seminar; University of California, Berkeley (Fall 2010 – Spring 2012)

Sociology of Natural Resources; University of California, Berkeley (Fall 2009)

Environmental Health and Development; University of California, Berkeley (Fall 2008)