One of the ways that students in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) at GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health learn about current EOH research is through the department’s seminar series. The department brings in one or two experts each month to discuss their research, and the events are always well-attended.
Sometimes the seminars feature EOH faculty. In a recent seminar, “Communities Engaged to Improve Air Quality and Health,” GW EOH Assistant Professor Amanda Northcross told attendees about her recent work in Leandrinho, Brazil. Located in Bahia, Brazil’s state with the highest population of dark-skinned residents, Leandrinho sits in the shadow of the largest petrochemical complex in the southern hemisphere.
Northcross spoke about her work with the residents of Leandrinho to set up an air monitoring network and engage in an air quality monitoring campaign. Their goal is to quantify the impact of the local industry on the local environment and the health of the residents.
After the seminar, El’gin Avila, an MPH student in the department’s Environmental Health Science and Policy program who is about to graduate and plans to pursue a doctoral degree, spoke with Northcross about her talk. In this 1:39 recording on the EOH Department’s Youtube Channel, they discuss the intersection between social justice and environmental pollution that characterizes her research in Brazil.