Dr. Beth Haley

Dr. Beth Haley (she/her) is an environmental health scientist who studies the intersection of water, climate change, and health. Recent research projects include epidemiologic studies of health outcomes associated with combined sewer overflows, spatial and risk modeling of fecal indicators in riverine systems, and wildfire impacts on drinking water quality in the western US. Beth holds a BA degree in Conservation Biology from Boston University, an MA in Environmental Studies from Prescott College, and a PhD in Environmental Health from the Boston University School of Public Health. She lives in Oregon and loves spending time outside with her partner and dog.

Combined sewer systems (CSS) are located in more than 650 municipalities across the United States. CSS collect wastewater and stormwater into a single pipe. When the volume of combined stormwater and wastewater exceeds the capacity of the system during heavy rainfall, CSS overflow into receiving waterbodies in releases called combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSO discharge contains microbial pathogens and chemical and physical contaminants that pose a threat to human health and the environment. The greatest acute public health risk from CSO discharge arises from waterborne pathogens which people can be exposed to through water-based recreation or contaminated drinking water. Climate change is expected to exacerbate CSO events in regions projected to receive more frequent extreme precipitation. Despite the clear public health risk, few studies have estimated the association between CSO activations and adverse health outcomes. The limited evidence directly linking CSO events to health outcomes makes justification of the level of investment needed to eliminate overflows challenging. During this fellowship, I will work with collaborators to address this research gap by publishing several studies on the health and water quality impacts of CSOs and writing a white paper summarizing this body of work to inform future research and actions.