Joan Casey – The Conversation

Fine particulate matter from wildfires can cause long-term health harms. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

September 16, 2024

How researchers measure wildfire smoke exposure doesn’t capture long‑term health effects − and hides racial disparities

Joan Casey, University of Washington and Rachel Morello-Frosch, University of California, Berkeley

Which is riskier for your health: a few days of very bad PM₂.₅ exposure or many more days of slightly bad exposure? Researchers developed new metrics to provide better answers.

People line up for ice provided by a utility company during a 2019 power outage in Brooklyn. AP Photo/Seth Wenig

May 1, 2024

Power outages linked to heat and storms are rising, and low‑income communities are most at risk

Nina Flores, Columbia University and Joan Casey, University of Washington

Practices such as redlining left marginalized groups in more disaster-prone areas with poorer quality infrastructure − and more likely to experience prolonged power outages.

A pump jack in the town of Signal Hill, California, which sits within the Long Beach Oil Field near the Port of Long Beach. Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

June 18, 2020

Living near active oil and gas wells in California tied to low birth weight and smaller babies

Rachel Morello-Frosch, University of California, Berkeley; Joan Casey, Columbia University; Kathy Tran, University of California, Berkeley, and Lara Cushing, University of California, Los Angeles

A new study finds an association between living near active oil and gas wells in California and low birth-weight infants, adding to findings elsewhere on health risks from oil and gas production.

Under the El tracks, downtown Chicago. Franck Michel

October 6, 2017

Urban noise pollution is worst in poor and minority neighborhoods and segregated cities

Joan Casey, Columbia University; Peter James, Harvard University, and Rachel Morello-Frosch, University of California, Berkeley

New research shows that noise pollution in US cities is concentrated in poor and minority communities. Beyond regulating airplane noise, the US has done relatively little to curb noise pollution.

Health studies in Pennsylvania show links between some health problems and local fracking activity. Les Stone/Reuters

August 25, 2016

Fracking and health: What we know from Pennsylvania’s natural gas boom

Sara G. Rasmussen, Johns Hopkins University; Brian S. Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University, and Joan Casey, University of California, San Francisco

Three studies find higher rate of health issues for people who live near large or many fracked natural gas well sites.

Pennsylvania has added thousands of new gas wells over the past decade. Les Stone/Reuters

April 10, 2015

Small increases in radon track natural gas development with fracking in Pennsylvania

Joan Casey, University of California, San Francisco and Brian S. Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University

Study of Pennsylvania, which has had a surge in unconventional drilling with fracking, suggests a link between fracking and higher levels of radon.

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