Doctoral Dissertation Research: Mobility and Environmental Toxicity in Wildfire Response Communities

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Wildland fire response is increasingly important, but the health and wellness of migrant and immigrant workers who contribute to these industries in the United States is not well understood. This 12-month dissertation research project uses qualitative and quantitative approaches to better understand exposure to air pollution in an increasingly mobile environmental industry. This research offers new ways of understanding exposure to environmental toxins in a migrant work context, contrasting with previous approaches that have studied air pollution in residential and stationary settings. This project has the potential to help scientists understand the connections and relationships between workers, policymakers and advocates who are responding to more severe natural disasters. In addition to providing funding for a graduate student to train in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, this research addresses the needs of underrepresented groups in climate resilience. It involves directly affected community members in the research process and makes the data available to fire management companies and policymakers.This doctoral dissertation research project asks how mobility and toxic exposure correlate in occupational settings. To what extent do climate disaster industries influence pull factors in human mobilities and migrations, and how might worker, science and policy communities understand toxic exposure in a mobile workforce? The researcher will use participant observation and semi-structured interviews with fire responders as well as their friends and family and non-frontline policymakers to track the short, long-term, and relational impacts of exposure to air pollution. Additionally, small-scale participatory air quality monitoring will highlight differences between generalized air pollution models and the highly concentrated pollution that migrant workers experience in the course of firefighting. Through scientific inquiry that combines research into the qualitative dimensions of toxic exposure with quantitative small-scale air quality monitoring, this project provides a novel methodological approach to understanding occupational health for a mobile and migratory workforce. It contributes to research on the broader stakes of wildfire-produced air pollution for human health and well-being.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.