Before coming to the University of Maryland, Dr. Heather Platter received her Bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in Family, Youth and Community Sciences from the University of Florida. As a doctoral student in behavioral and community health at the University of Maryland, she was a graduate assistant in the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, as well as a Rudd Health Literacy Fellow.

One of the early acts of new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt was to reverse the 2015 federal ban on chlorpyrifos, a dangerous pesticide proven to harm children and developing fetuses. This reversal—challenged by Maryland and other states—was overruled last summer but a lift on the ban is currently being reconsidered in U.S. appeals court.

A new, three-year study led by Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sacoby Wilson and Assistant Professor of Urban Planning Marccus Hendricks will analyze the impact that exposure to environmental contaminants associated with natural disasters has on vulnerable communities. 

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave nearly 700,000 people a lump of coal in their empty grocery basket.

The School of Public Health would like to recognize and welcome the following faculty and staff to our community. Some are already part of our community and are being recognized for new roles/titles, while others are joining us this academic year. Welcome and congratulations to all!

College Park, Md. — COVID-19 worries children from sub-Saharan Africa more than children from other parts of the world, an international study of children’s knowledge, perceptions and stress during the pandemic found. A research team asked questions to more than 4,000 children aged 9-12 in 42 countries during the month of April 2020.