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Welcome to the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Research on Climate, Health, and Energy (BIRCHE3) Lab.
Our research focuses on the impacts of energy use - typically at the household level - on air pollution, climate, and health. While progress on providing clean household energy arguably follows development trajectories, there is need to accelerate this transition through innovative policy and dissemination approaches. Our research group builds the evidence base for these transitions based on health, environmental, and economic benefits using the multidisciplinary field of Environmental Health Sciences as the foundation of our work. We use and develop lower-cost sensors to objectively answer questions where evidence is lacking and explore novel techniques to link vulnerable populations with effective interventions.

Featured Publications

Jul 12, 2024 In praise of cooking gas subsidies: transitional fuels to advance health and equity FEATURED

Using case studies, we show LPG has climate and health benefits as a transitional clean fuel for households where potentially cleaner and more sustainable solutions, like cooking with electricity, are not yet feasible (and not yet clean given current grid mixes).

Apr 15, 2024 Household Air Pollution Interventions to Improve Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Official American Thoracic Society Research Statement FEATURED

A multidisciplinary group of international researchers, public health practitioners, and policymakers with expertise in household air pollution reviewed a literature search, convened four sessions via web conference, and developed consensus conclusions and recommendations via the Delphi method.

Recent Publications (see more)

Feb 16, 2025 Desk Rejection: Focusing on household air pollution is critical for achieving equitable clean air for all
The recent Air Pollution Special Issue (Science 385) does a laudable job highlighting the global scientific community’s ability...

hands holding small LPG can that looks like a spray paint can

Feb 14, 2025 Affordable, available, unsafe: Wee tiny LPG “cans”
We are kicking off* a new project around Phnom Penh, in peri-urban areas that may be ready to...

Dec 10, 2024 Sally Rooney: When are we going to have the courage to stop the climate crisis?
Sally Rooney, in the Irish Times: Perhaps the best-case scenario is that the children of today, and their...

Sep 20, 2024 Underestimated Data Center Emissions & Three Mile Island
Perhaps unsurprisingly, big tech's data center-related emissions are likely vastly underestimated. From the Guardian: According to a Guardian...

Apr 25, 2022 Vaclav Smil in the Times Magazine: “This is where we are in terms of global civilization: This transition has to happen on a billion and trillion scales.”
A far-ranging, thought-provoking, and excellent interview with Vaclav Smil in the lead-up to his new book. A few...

Apr 18, 2022 Some thoughts on Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility
I finished Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility over the weekend. A fun read, right up my...

Mar 22, 2022 Bill McKibben previsualizes a world without combustion
In 2015, Bill Nazaroff published an editorial in Indoor Air, where he extended the photographer's process of visualization...

Nov 01, 2021 LRB: 26 Pieces for COP26
The London Review of Books is sharing writing about water, fire, earth and air from their archive. Many...

Aug 30, 2021 Jim Salter at Ars Technica: “Learn to think in sed, awk, and grep”
Saltar provides an overview of redirection and three commonly used command line tools in a nice article at...

Aug 26, 2021 Data Science Community Newsletter: COVID on campus – Worse this year than last?
ADSA's Data Science Community Newsletter is an excellent resource for data science news. It is catered toward academics,...

You don't get what you expect, you get what you inspect.