Our climate is our planet’s life support system, and the University of Michigan is spearheading innovative research and curriculum around evolving environmental threats to human health. As extreme weather events increase, air quality fluctuates, and illnesses transmitted by food, water, and disease-carriers such as mosquitoes and ticks broaden their impact, U-M experts are partnering with local communities to stage productive public health interventions.
From responding to climate change and extreme weather events to assessing the role of legacy infrastructure and institutions in public health, U-M researchers are on the forefront of sustainable and equitable public health interventions. Some of our key initiatives at the intersection of human health and the environment include: the Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease Center, the Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, the Healthy Environments Partnership, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, the Center for Sustainable Systems , the Michigan Center on Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease (M-LEEAD) and Poverty Solutions. Find U-M experts in sustainability and environmental science, across fields and academic units.
Dolores Perales is the inaugural winner of the Young Climate Leader Award, given by the Michigan Climate Action Network. She is pursuing a dual master’s degree in urban and regional planning and environment and sustainability. Perales co-manages the Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision Project’s farms and orchard, including coordinating volunteers and working with the community to teach sustainability.
Three projects have been selected to receive funding through the Graham Sustainability Institute’s catalyst grants, which provide support for small-scale, collaborative, interdisciplinary sustainability research. The projects seek to, respectively, improve urban stream quality in Washtenaw County and beyond, convert alleys in Detroit into net-zero community spaces, and protect nail salon workers from toxic exposure.
Exposure to a chemical found in the weed killer Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides is significantly associated with preterm births, according to a new U-M study.
Researchers at U-M joined forces with community members and the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition to evaluate the noise impact of the trucks on the neighborhood, many being rerouted as part of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge under construction.
As the fifth anniversary of the passage of major amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act approaches this June, a U-M researcher will address the impact the law has had on the regulation of industrial and commercial chemicals.
A study published by U-M researchers quantifies the air pollution that impacts Latinx communities in California due to beef production. The study focuses on Costco's beef supply chain in California and explores the environmental impacts of air pollution resulting from beef production in the San Joaquin Valley, a region that has some of the worst air quality in the United States.
