The university celebrated the accomplishments of our graduates in a virtual commencement ceremony on Sunday, December 20. The main ceremony can be viewed on the UMD Facebook and YouTube channels. Graduates are encouraged to share their photos and memories on social media using #UMDgrad. SPH graduates should also use #publichealthTerps and tag @UMDPublicHealth. See Public Health Terps' photos and reflections and join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram!

This week, the University of Maryland School of Public Health virtually inducted 21 members into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. Inductees included students, faculty, alumni and this year's honorary inductee, Maryland Senator Brian Feldman, who represents District 15 in Montgomery County.

Over four weeks this fall, the School of Public Health’s Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) lab hosted the sixth annual Environmental Justice and Health Disparities Symposium. The free event was virtual this year due to Covid-19. 

There were nearly 1,000 registrants from at least 45 states and six countries. 

The event spanned four Saturdays and included speakers from community organizations, environmental justice advocacy groups, researchers, scholars, legal professionals, elected officials and more. 

Richard Remigio, a PhD candidate in Environmental Health Sciences, has received the NIH R36 Dissertation Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for his research on the climate effects on health care delivery for medically-vulnerable populations.

Importance of moving activities outdoors and ensuring proper ventilation indoors stressed, as experts urge science community to clarify definitions

On Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extracted updated language published just days earlier about how Covid-19 spreads airborne and defaulted to its previous guidance about Covid-19 transmission, CNN reported.

"A draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error to the agency's official website,” said Jason McDonald, a CDC spokesman. 

Environmental injustices abound in Maryland. From industrial pollution in Baltimore to unsafe worker conditions on the Eastern Shore, disadvantaged communities often bear the brunt of environmental harms. 

In a letter to Governor Larry Hogan and his administration, Associate Professor Sacoby Wilson-- along with the executive director of the Assateague Coastal Trust and seven other community health, environmental justice and civil rights leaders-- stated that Maryland is not doing enough to combat these injustices. 

The Clean 2020 Virtual Summit is bringing together thought leaders from from business, policy, standards development, engineering and public health to work together to control viral transmission in the built environment. Four SPH experts have been involved in the collaborative effort - Assistant Professor Jennifer Roberts, Professor Donald Milton, Professor Sandra Quinn and Dean Boris Lushniak. 

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. 

In this year of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions—like every other segment of society—have been forced to make critical decisions about when to reopen that could have significant health and financial implications. And because of the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, these decisions are being made with limited information, constrained resources and no reliable road map.