Welcome!
What is the connection between wildfire and climate change?
How does wildfire impact human health?
Who are most vulnerable, and for how long?
What can we do to reduce the negative health impacts that result from wildfire?
This site was created by amazing graduate students at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. Instead of a typical term paper, their Concepts in Environmental Health (ESHH 511/611) final products are shared in a public-facing website so that we can all learn -- briefly -- and find reputable sources to encourage further learning.
The Projects
The structure for this site is based loosely on the core concept of prevention in the field of public health. There are three levels of prevention - primary, secondary, and tertiary - which set a framework for examining the connection between wildfire and environmental health.
With wildfires expected to worsen with climate change, these student-developed pages begin to answer questions around how we can plan, act, and respond to wildfire to reduce potential health issues that these disasters can spark.
Three Types of Prevention
Primary prevention - Preventing disease or injury before it ever occurs.
Secondary prevention -- Reducing the impact of a disease or injury that has already occurred.
Tertiary prevention -- Softening the lasting effects through management of health issues.
Institute of Health & Work, 2015
Getting Started?
New to these topics or want a refresher? Explore our class companion website: Learn Environmental Health
Development of this site and its companion site, Learn Environmental Health, were funded through teaching support to Lisa K. Marriott from the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and through a Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion award from the National Institutes of Health (R25GM129840-05S1), funded through Lisa Marriott's Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA).
This website expands a collaboration with Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI), who submitted a grant proposal to the National Institutes of Health in July 2022 to develop a travelling museum exhibit about Wildfire and Human Health. The proposal partners OMSI, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and the Forestry Center (see Team), with this website providing foundational work that could be featured in their travelling exhibit, if funded. OHSU and OMSI both have Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPAs) in Oregon, with Lisa Marriott's SEPA grant (R25 GM129840) focused on STEM informatics.
Approaches for this site apply principles learned from SEPA, whose grantees have amazing public-friendly resources and communication recommendations used throughout this website and our course, Concepts in Environmental Health.
Cite this Website
Mitchell, R. & Marriott, L.K. (Eds.). (2022, December 28). Wildfire and Human Health. Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, Oregon. Accessed from https://sites.google.com/view/wildfirehumanhealth
Cite an Individual Webpage
Wanting to cite a specific page, please do! Students are encouraged to cite their webpages on their resumes and Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Last Name, F.M. (2022, December 28). Page title. In R. Mitchell and L.K. Marriott (Eds.), Wildfire and Human Health. Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, Oregon. Accessed from https://sites.google.com/view/wildfirehumanhealth
Example:
McNichol, S. (2022, December 28). The mental health impacts of wildfires. In R. Mitchell and L.K. Marriott (Eds.), Wildfire and Human Health. Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, Oregon. Accessed from https://sites.google.com/view/wildfirehumanhealth/the-recovery/mental-health