Fellows News

TONY REAMES RECOUNTS A story about an elderly couple in Detroit who are facing something that is plaguing more Americans every day: crippling energy bills. JPB Fellow Reames, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, tells U.S. News that the retired couple moved into a house on the east side of the city years ago and, like so many other families, have since watched their…

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As the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt daily living, researchers are taking a closer look at one requirement for health that many people take for granted: sleep.  And they’ve concluded, perhaps not surprisingly, that improving our sleep schedule and quality is an important part of coping with these stressful times and defending against COVID-19. “We’re all affected by the pandemic in different ways,” said Chandra L. Jackson, Ph.D., a research…

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Closing the disparities in access to nature is imperative for health and social justice. “Go outside and play!” Countless parents have said this to their kids in the hopes of finding a few quiet moments. But it turns out to be scientifically sound advice, too. A raft of research shows that being outdoors rewards us. A dose of nature can boost creativity, elicit experiences of awe that increase altruism, and improve mental health outcomes. According…

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Green surroundings improve mental health—for those lucky enough to have them. As the United States reels from its largest COVID-19 spike yet, large swaths of Americans are once again confined to their homes. After nearly a year of social isolation, the toll on our mental health is clear: People of all ages have experienced depression, anxiety, and stress. Unsurprisingly, the more isolated you are, the worse the outcome. Fortunately, gazing at nature can ease the psychological…

Continue reading “The Privilege of a Pandemic Nature View”

The environmental justice movement has developed to address inequalities in the distribution of environmental hazards and benefits. Transportation and resulting pollution have a disproportionate impact on communities that are low-income, minority, or immigrant. As a result, these communities also bear the burden of excess adverse health effects. Measurement of linkages may be difficult due to correlations between potential causal factors, including air pollution and lower socioeconomic status, but care should…

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Natural gas leaks and tree death: A first-look case-control study of urban trees in Chelsea, MA USA Abstract Urban vegetation is associated with numerous public health benefits; however, urban tree canopies may be threatened by fugitive methane exposure from leaky natural gas distribution systems. Despite anecdotal evidence of the harmful impacts of natural gas leaks on urban tree decline, the relationship between soil gas exposure and tree health has not…

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Topics include therapy updates, vaccine development, pandemic’s racial divide Looking at exposure in answer to COVID-19’s racial divide Five months into the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, data are clear that the disease severely sickens and kills people of color at starkly higher rates than white people. After eliminating any theories of a genetic basis for lack of evidence, Dickinson and team launched a study focused largely on exposure…

Continue reading “Research Summit Joins Colorado Experts Battling COVID-19”