Rachel Shaffer '12 is an Environmental Health Scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Rachel’s passion for environmental health began early and deepened during her time at Yale. Under the mentorship of John Wargo, she completed her senior thesis, Ozone Pollution and Health in Atlanta: The Implications of a Presidential Decision, which examined the real-world public health impacts of a presidential decision not to strengthen the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone. Her thesis earned the EVST Gaylord Donnelley Prize.

After graduation, Rachel worked at the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, DC, where she gained firsthand experience with national environmental health policy.

She went on to earn both an MPH and a PhD in Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences from the University of Washington. Today, she serves as an Environmental Health Scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and as an Affiliate Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.

Through Rachel Talks Tox, Rachel translates complex environmental health science into practical, evidence-based information that helps people better understand topics such as air pollution, wildfire smoke, and toxic chemicals.

Watch Rachel share her journey into the field of environmental health in a video on her website.