Nepal, despite its heavy reliance on agriculture, is witnessing a decline in agricultural productivity and an increasing dependence on food imports. This phenomenon, coupled with factors such as land fragmentation and labor shortages, has led to a masked "Silent Green Revolution" reminiscent of past agricultural movements. Agrochemical overuse and over-intensification has raised concerns about the long-term sustainability and health implications of such practices. In this paper I explore interplay between agricultural practices, farmer health, and environmental sustainability in Nepali farming communities. With the help of a translator, I orally conducted a Farm and Farmworker Health Survey in Phoolbari and Baluwa, two villages in the Kavrepalanchok District with both commercial and subsistence farmers. I found that while commercial farmers favored agrochemicals for their cost-effectiveness, subsistence farmers preferred organic alternatives for their safety and sustainability. However, there was a general lack of awareness among farmers regarding the symptoms of pesticide exposure and proper safety measures like Post Harvest Intervals and Personal Protection Equipment, indicating a need for targeted health and procedure awareness programs. Furthermore, the study highlighted the potential health risks associated with agrochemical use, including exposure to carcinogenic heavy metals like cadmium and glyphosate residues. These findings underscore the urgent need for sustainable agricultural practices that prioritize the health of both farmers and consumers. By centering traditional farming methods and indigenous knowledge and implementing initiatives that address occupational safety and provide proper training and infrastructure, Nepal can pave the way towards a more sustainable and equitable agricultural future.

As our relationship with public space continues to grow, pedestrianization remains an important tool for reclaiming our space for public social function. Pedestrianization of The Ave is both academically and statistically supported, yet there remains little movement in its favor. Through the lens of placemaking, this project examines the best practices for campaigning the pedestrianization of The Ave in a way that fosters community ownership. Incorporating insight from historical reviews and stakeholder surveys, this research identifies preferred engagement strategies for community stakeholders. Utilizing these findings this research conducts a pilot study and creative visioning that centers community culture. This will result in concepts of a pedestrianization that will best gain public support and feelings of community ownership. These strategies and materials will be compiled as a “campaign” that has the potential to be implemented in the near future. As community planning in the University District seems to be very disconnected from its stakeholders, this project is rooted in community empowerment, seeking to connect people to systems.

Exclusionary zoning laws — which limit population densities and land uses in specific neighborhoods — are a typical feature of American municipal land use regulation. An extensive body of evidence links traffic-related air pollutant (TRAP) exposure to adverse health effects. Using zoning data and a model of TRAP levels in cities across the Seattle metropolitan area, I hypothesize that TRAP exposure will be greater on average in zones where higher-density housing is an allowed use, and lower on average in zones reserved for lower-density housing. I used the software package QGIS to spatially join zoning and air pollution data and used the software package R to perform correlation analyses between zone types (classified by maximum population density) and three common TRAPs (NO₂, black carbon, and ultra-fine particles.) This research highlights the public health implications of normative policy regimes like exclusionary zoning. These results can assist elected officials and planners in pursuing a more geographically distributive approach to increasing housing supply in the Seattle area, in order to minimize the TRAP exposure burden – and associated adverse health effects – faced by residents.

Despite the extensive literature on Canada and European countries, there is relatively little research on paid maternity policies in U.S. states due to its recency. Economic theory would suggest that fertility rates would increase with a paid maternity leave policy as the cost of having a child would be effectively subsidized. A strong family leave plan could be the deciding factor for many families to have a child. However, current research is inconclusive with there being no studies on U.S. fertility rates specifically in mind. The goal of my research is to provide insight on the way in which the U.S. fertility rate may be affected by paid leave programs. To accomplish these goals, I will be studying the implementation of paid maternity leave in Washington state specifically. I will be using a difference in difference method to measure the effect of this policy. I will be using data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the American Community survey for my fertility rate estimates. My research is in progress; however, I would expect either slight or no change in fertility rates in Washington based on previous research in the field. The goal of this research is further insight to nationwide implementation of this program by analyzing a specific possible implication of this policy and to contribute to the literature of paid maternity leave on fertility rates.

The content of sexual education within public schools in the United States varies significantly by location due to differences in state laws and funding. The study identifies the spatial variation of adolescent health outcomes as a result of variations within the content of sexual education in public schools in the states of California and Texas. As the scale of the study includes two states containing large population sizes, the methodology employs secondary data collection and analysis from enacted state legislation as well as a variety of sources such as the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, the American Community Survey, and the U.S. Census among others. Data has been collected for the individual years of 2010 and 2020 in order to examine changes that have emerged over the past decade. Historically, California and Texas have had contrasting policies in regard to sexual education, and the preliminary results have indicated this as well. The study analyzes the possible correlation between abstinence-only sexual education and health outcomes for adolescents including increased rates of teen pregnancy, rates of sexually transmitted infections, and risky sexual behaviors, and whether there are disparities geographically as a result of these variations in state laws. Understanding how spatial variation impacts sexual education, which in turn, may relate to adverse health outcomes, is crucial in terms of targeted intervention and improving access to resources and knowledge for at-risk youth across the nation.

The World Health Organization reports that drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide. Intervention efforts are crucial to prevent drownings from occurring and maximize survival in people who do experience drowning. While multiple factors contribute to the risk of drowning, age affects drowning settings, patterns, and rates. Therefore, drowning prevention efforts should be tailored based on age. However, most drowning prevention interventions focus on pediatric populations, which fails to address the increased injury burden in older adults that disproportionately affects aging societies. To address this knowledge gap, our research team conducted a formal rapid review of published drowning prevention efforts in adults aged 50 years and older. We will analyze our results using Haddon's Matrix, a systemic tool that provides a comprehensive view of different types of prevention acting on discrete injury components. Our search strategy yielded 1914 titles and abstracts, of which we eliminated 1850 studies as irrelevant to our research question. We then conducted full-text screening on 64 studies, retaining a total of 7 studies for data extraction, which is currently ongoing. Preliminary results show discrepancies in the age definitions of older adults and a failure to address equity issues related to drowning prevention in this population. Many studies included older adults as part of the study population but did not stratify outcomes by age. Hence, no determination could be made regarding the intervention’s efficacy in older adults. Finally, most older adult drowning prevention efforts targeted a behavior change in the host rather than modifying the environment, which is often a more efficient method of injury prevention. Our preliminary results illustrate the need for a global collective effort to diversify drowning prevention and research efforts to alleviate the drowning injury burden in older adults.