EOHS Professor Runs for Public OfficeSylvia Hood Washington is hoping to bring an environmental perspective to the Illinois freeways. This April, the research associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, will be on the ballot as a candidate for DuPage County’s Milton Township Highway Commissioner.
If elected, Washington said she hopes to bring her skills and expertise in public health and epidemiology, the built environment and environmental science to the position.
“There is a focused concern right now in DuPage County and in Milton Township on arbor viruses, particularly West Nile virus,” she said. “This area is heavily populated with trees and numerous restored wetlands, and subsequently has lots of flooding.”
The lack of basic infrastructure makes the areas environmentally unsustainable in other ways, she added. “Sidewalks promote safe access to public transportation and nearby recreational resources, like the Illinois Prairie Path, all of which, if available, would further encourage physical activities like walking and bicycling that can go a long way in reducing obesity among adults and children in the area.”
As an interdisciplinary trained environmental scientist/engineer and trained naturopath, Washington examines the impact of environmental conditions on human health. She has authored several peer reviewed environmental health articles and published two books focused on the historical intersections of public health, engineering systems, policy planning, socio-economic status and the environment.
Washington is also the current editor in chief of Environmental Justice, a new international journal which focuses on the interrelationships between policy planning, environmental health, environmental ethics and environmental law. She is a board member of the national environmental group Aldo Leopold Foundation, sits on the Illinois EPA Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and is a member of the Illinois Humanities Council steering committee for its current environmental series, “Oil and Water.”
As Highway Commissioner, Washington said she would also like to focus on ground water, soil and air protection for parts of Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream, Lombard, Glendale Heights and Winfield, known as the unincorporated areas of DuPage County.
“Since there is a history of dumping in these areas, I would like to look at implementing policy that will promote greener living like street maintenance and recycling tree clippings in ways that can help promote human health,” she said.
Washington received her master’s degree in systems engineering and doctorate in environmental history from Case Western Reserve University. She also holds a Master of Public Health in epidemiology with an emphasis on environmental health and pollution from the UIC SPH.
Washington has lived in DuPage County with her husband and two daughters for over 16 years. Here, she also established her own consulting firm, Environmental Health Research Associates, LLC, which examines the long term impact of environmental geography from natural and unnatural agents on the health of human populations.
-- Tina Daniel ^ Top of Page ^
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