After a very busy fall term, PHEEL reconvened on Tuesday; our group will be working together weekly, from 2:00-5:00PM on Tuesdays in Drexel’s Center for Science, Technology and Society. There is a sizable list of tasks that we want to complete by the end of the term, including a summary report for community groups and local […]
The Asthma Files will be starting a three year investigation of environmental health governance in six cities: Albany, New York City, Philadelphia, Houston, Beijing, and Bengalura. The project focuses on efforts to understand and address the health effects of long term exposure to transportation-related air pollution: In each city studied, project researchers will examine the operation and […]
We are just about five weeks away from the start of Drexel’s fall term, and I’m beginning to think about how to organize research activities for the year — do we have a big research group like last year? weekly meetings? everyone working together? but perhaps most important: what do people want to work on? Most […]
“In today’s world, it’s not enough just to be a scientist, you have to be a science educator.” Samantha Joye, University of Georgia We watched this short video on how scientists responded to the Deep Horizon disaster; it’s the five year anniversary and we were wondering about the current status of the site and its impact. […]
Would you sign up to have your postmortem body composted? That’s the question I posed to my Politics of Environmental Health students after reading this NYT piece on the Urban Death Project. About a third of the class was open to it; a few were pretty grossed out. We discussed how, like most ambitious, radical […]
Philadelphia’s River Wards are characterized by industrial legacies that have left a distinct material and cultural imprint on the city’s northeast neighborhoods. Lining the Delaware River, Fishtown, Kensington, Port Richmond, and Bridesburg comprise one of eighteen planning districts that have been targeted by Philadelphia’s 2035 initiative. But how will sustainability initiatives – those led by the […]
We’ve finalized the line-up for the Shifting Energy Cultures speaker series. Our first event is two weeks from today, Wednesday February 11th from 12-2PM. Lunch is provided so please RSVP in advance of the event. Get Smart: The Drexel Smart Campus We all turn on the lights and expect electricity to flow, but how efficient is […]
Next week the EPA will hold two public hearings on the proposed updates to the national air quality standards for ground-level ozone. These are scheduled for Thursday January 29th — one in Washington, DC and the second in Arlington, Texas. I won’t be able to attend the D.C. hearing, but plan to submit comments, which can […]
Our first phase of data collection for the River Wards Environmental Health Project has concluded. Our survey team spent 11 weeks in the field and visited 3,392 households. We completed 331 surveys and collected data for 223 blocks in the survey area. In our weekly project meetings, the survey team consistently reported that residents were […]
This week the River Wards survey team began training for the field. Our team is a mix of undergraduate and graduate students from Drexel University, myself, and Russell Zerbo from the Clean Air Council. The team will be conducting our door-to-door survey four to five days a week in the study area – Port Richmond, […]