GW Experts Available: EPA Strengthens Rule on Harmful Soot Pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening limits on soot, a harmful air pollution in which studies have shown that fine particles kill thousands of Americans every year. According to The Washington Post, the stricter standards could prevent thousands of premature deaths, particularly in communities of color where people have breathed unhealthy air for decades.

Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, commentary and analysis on air pollution, air quality management and climate change as well as the public health implications. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations at [email protected].

Jonathan Deason is a professor and director of the GW Environmental & Energy Management Institute. His expertise includes all aspects of air quality management, including greenhouse gas management and implications for global climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as environmental management and energy policy. 

Rachael Jonassen, an associate research professor in the Sustainable Urban Planning Program, is the Director of the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Management Program in the GW Environmental and Energy Management Institute. Jonassen has nearly three decades of experience in developing and applying climate downsizing techniques. She previously served as Program Director for Carbon Cycle at the National Science Foundation and also served as NSF representative to the US Global Change Research Program. Jonassen can discuss aspects of PM2.5 (black carbon, BC), including its role in accelerating ice melt and the larger, science  implications of climate change as well as how it intersections with transportation, coal power plants, legal, urban planning and policy. 

Neelu Tummala, a clinical assistant professor of surgery, is a surgeon whose academic work focuses on the intersection of climate, pollution and health. She can speak to her experience treating patients who have been affected by pollution, as well as how environmental justice affects vulnerable populations.

Susan Anenberg, a professor of environmental and occupational health and Director of the GW Climate and Health Institute, has studied the health implications of air pollution and climate change from local to global scales. She can talk about air pollution, the EPA rules, and the impact on human health. 

Gaige Kerr, a senior research scientist at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health, is studying air pollution and how it affects human health. He can talk about the EPA rules and how it affects health, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods.