California wildfires | Environmental Health Sciences Center

Reading between the lines with Hong Ji, PhD

The 2019-2020 Environmental Health Sciences Scholar knows fate plays best when it’s in your own hands

By Jennifer Biddle

From all outward appearances, some might describe Hong Ji’s career in epigenetics as pre-destiny. Her life seemed to follow a prescription: Brilliant microbiology student matriculating from top universities to pursue an ever-promising research career, all with the hope of illuminating the dark mysteries of some impossible-to-cure disease.

Anthony Wexler: Blue sky thinker

Anthony Wexler, PhD, MS is a research scientist who measures and models atmospheric aerosols related to urban smog, human health and global warming. His engineering background is the foundation for his understanding of the body’s physiological systems.

Nicholas Kenyon: Remodeling how we think about airways

Waking Up to Wildfires: The web series

Where to find Waking Up to Wildfires

Bookmark our website or follow us on Facebook to find out where the full-length documentary is screening next.

A version of the doc also will air on PBS in October 2019, the 2-year anniversary of the North Bay wildfires.

Interview with Lisa Miller, PhD

Dr. Lisa Miller is a Professor of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, and the Associate Director of Research at the California National Primate Research Center.

Researchers enrolling moms and moms-to-be in Camp Fire study

Bio-Specimen Assessment of Fire Effects (B-SAFE) Study aims to reveal how wildfires affect the health of pregnant women and their babies

B-SAFE Camp Fire Study

You’re eligible to participate if:

Waking Up to Wildfires

In Waking Up to Wildfires, Emmy-winning filmmaker Paige Bierma uses her camera to tell the stories of people most affected by the 2017 North Bay wildfires. We hear from survivors, firefighters, public health officials, community groups – and the scientists who are trying to make sense of it all while people struggle to recover and new fires erupt.

Wildfires: When preparing for the worst is best

By Jennifer Biddle

When I moved to Sacramento last year I thought I was escaping earthquakes. For years, I lived just down the street from the Hayward Fault in North Berkeley. Our little bungalow on a hill was cute but creaky. I used to joke with my husband that if our house collapsed when The Big One hit we could buy that Airstream he always wanted.

So, it was a relief knowing my family was safe from such a calamity when we moved to Sacramento. Then wildfire season hit.

New research on wildfires in California

“We know what natural wildfire smoke is composed of, but we have no idea what will be in urban wildfire smoke. We expect it to be very different.” Keith Bein, UC Davis Air Quality Research Center

Researchers from the UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) are working with communities across California to study the impact smoke and burned debris have had on survivors of wildfires over the past two years.