Addressing environmental health disparities through community-based research
Welcome to Dr. Sklar's Research Group at the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. Our research addresses environmental health disparities affecting vulnerable communities, including waste workers in sub-Saharan Africa, people incarcerated in the United States, and frontline communities in wildfire-prone areas.
We employ community-based approaches, centering our work on supporting efforts of existing community organizations and government programs. The group works closely with worker organizations and public utility providers across the United States, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia.
Our research has brought global attention to sanitation workers' health challenges, while our work in the California prison system has led to statewide directives improving indoor air quality in carceral settings.
A cornerstone of our work is our commitment to developing community capacity in environmental health research and policymaking. We actively mentor community partners across sub-Saharan Africa and support their contributions to the scientific enterprise and peer-reviewed literature.