Dr. Samuel Kay

Dr. Samuel Kay is an expert and leader in environmental health, cumulative impacts, climate, and air quality with over a decade and a half of experience. In faculty roles at the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota, Sam led multidisciplinary teams designing policy interventions to address environmental, climate, and health impacts. In the US Environmental Protection Agency’s offices of Research and Development (ORD) and Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), he worked to advance environmental and health protection through science, policy, and regulatory initiatives, including the Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6), inaugural White House Environmental Justice Science, Data, and Research plan, and numerous regulatory actions including NAAQS and major air toxics rules. Sam co-founded the Environmental & Health Data Analysis Trust (EHDAT) in 2025 and currently serves as Chief of Air Quality Planning for the District of Columbia and as a faculty affiliate in the Johns Hopkins University Department of Environmental Health & Engineering.

The Environmental & Health Data Analysis Trust (EHDAT), founded in 2025, is developing a next-generation environmental and health screening platform to support state, Tribal, and local governments, researchers, community organizations, and the public with reliable, transparent, and scientifically rigorous environmental, health, and cumulative impacts analysis. Led by former staff from EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), EHDAT builds on the strengths and lessons learned from EJScreen and other screening tools while addressing their limitations through improved data, analytical methods, and usability. The modular platform will integrate nationally consistent and locally generated data into a suite of user-friendly mapping and analytical tools that can evolve as new science, datasets, and user needs emerge. By providing a stable, nonpartisan resource grounded in the best available science, EHDAT will help advance environmental and public health decision-making while remaining resilient to changing political conditions. EHDAT is collaborating closely with the Johns Hopkins University Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, where we are affiliated research scientists.