IBS Speaker Series: James Crooks

Join in person or via Zoom, email ibs-contact@colorado.edu for the password.
*Light lunch served at 11:45, please RSVP.

Title: Uncovering new links between climate change, air quality, natural disasters, and American society

Abstract:

The U.S. remains a large contributor to climate change while also being adversely affected by it through, among other pathways, air pollution and natural disasters. In this talk I will present results from three recent studies that reveal previously unexamined links between climate change, air quality, natural disasters, and American society. First, I will show how climate change since the mid-20^th century has increased today’s Front Range ozone levels and how this ‘ozone climate penalty’ affects regulatory compliance and disproportionately impacts less privileged populations. Second, I will describe how the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s primary soil conservation program for farmers provides an enormous—though totally unintended—benefit for public health through reduced air pollution. And third, I will show how the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s post-disaster assistance program for individuals and households can magnify certain socioeconomic disparities while minimizing others.

Bio:

James L. Crooks received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health and also does research at National Jewish Health. Crooks’ research areas include air pollution, Bayesian statistics, climate and health, and epigenetics. His special interests include: environmental epidemiology; climate change, extreme weather, and human health; air pollution exposure characterization; environmental genomics and epigenomics; and data science.