Nicole Iroz-Elardo, PhD
Nicole Iroz-Elardo, PhD (she/her) joined Willamette in Fall 2022 as an Assistant Professor in the Public Health, Ethics, Advocacy, and Leadership (PHEAL) program. Cross-trained in urban planning and public health, her research focuses on how to plan healthier and more equitable communities by leveraging the social and environmental determinants of health.
Prior to joining the Willamette faculty, Dr. Iroz-Elardo was an Assistant Research Professor of Urban Planning at University of Arizona from 2018-2022. Her doctoral degree in Urban Studies from Portland State University was earned in 2014 where she investigated the extent to which Health Impact Assessment provided an additional participation avenue for vulnerable communities in transportation planning processes.
She has previously worked for Urban Design 4 Health, Inc., Oregon Health Authority, and Battelle Memorial Institute. At each, she specialized in translating cutting-edge research into practitioner tools to increase the suite of information upon which decisions - public and private - are made by folding in health information. Dr. Iroz-Elardo remains committed to creating equitable, healthy tools as an applied researcher.
Link to Google Scholar Page
Link to Willamette Page
Dr. Iroz-Elardo in the NEWS! Recent Publications, Webinars, & Press
Making of Home: Transportation Mobility & Well-being Among Tucson Refugees was published in August 2022 in Transportation Geography (full text free until Sept 22, 2022). Using interview and survey methods, this project (PI: Dr. Myadar) allowed us to better understand the links between past experiences of refugees and transportation choices upon resettlement. Learn more about the larger project at our funder, the National Institute of Transportation and Communities (NITC).
I'm loving this July 8th, 2022 Washington Post interview featuring my collaborator Dr. Ladd Keith talking about our Cool Corridor Project and how we start to build multi-modal transportation systems that protects all users from extreme heat in a changing climate.
Are e-scooters safe, sustainable, and healthy? How do we even start to untangle that question? Check out a June 2022 Webinar hosted by NITC on the topic! With one of my favorite collaborators - Kristi Currans - and with Jon MacArthur, we discuss how e-scooters help meet sustainability and health goals as well as what we should look out for when thinking through unanticipated impacts.
Research Interests
Built Environment, Transportation & Land Use
I have over a decade of experience understanding the health trade-offs around dense built environments and associated transportation systems. This includes deep expertise in morbidity and mortality impacts associated with physical activity, environmental exposures, and the ability to reach health promoting goods and services. I am an international leader in monetizing the health impacts of transportation & land use decisions.
My research is deeply informed by a commitment to health equity. In addition to showing disparate potential impacts of land use and transportation plans, I am continually evaluating and reconceptualizing walkability to incorporate social & cultural norms.
My current research goals are also informed by reducing vehicular travel strategies such as reducing parking requirements or safely introducing alternative modes such as e-scooters. This is because both climate change and public health crisis desperately need a new mobility norm that makes roads safe for all ages, abilities, and road users.
Heat Health
More recently, I've begun looking at the health behavior implications of personal heat exposure in a changing climate. For example, I supported keeping volunteers and clients safe during outdoor COVID vaccine drives and guided evaluation efforts around cool pavement pilots at the municipal level.
I am currently interested in understanding how unhoused populations manage during extreme events; and how to support healthy habits such as public physical activity, particularly in high heat outdoor environments.
Active Courses
I primarily teach in the Public Health, Advocacy, Ethics & Leadership (PHEAL) major at Willamette.
Click below to see public facing course pages, syllabi, etc.