{"id":38388,"date":"2026-10-15T13:55:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/stem\/?p=38388"},"modified":"2026-10-15T13:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:55:46","slug":"how-wildfire-smoke-impacts-childcare-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/stem\/news\/2026\/10\/15\/how-wildfire-smoke-impacts-childcare-practices","title":{"rendered":"How wildfire smoke impacts childcare practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sharon A. Jones<\/a>, professor in the Department of Engineering & Mathematics, recently co-published a paper in The International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (IJDRR) examining how childcare providers adapt to wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside Dr. Ruth Dittrich, an associate professor of economics at the University of Portland, they began researching responses to wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Their latest research focuses on young children, one of the populations most vulnerable to climate impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a team of student researchers, Jones and Dittrich surveyed licensed childcare providers in Seattle, asking them about how they accessed information, perceived risks and implemented protective actions during wildfire smoke events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They worked with Jos\u00e9 Lins (Applied Computing, GIS minor \u201823), a data analyst and visualization specialist for UW Bothell, to bring an equity lens to their research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lins helped identify patterns connected to environmental justice, looking at how childcare facilities faced disproportionate risks and barriers to adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sumaya Yusuf (Applied Computing, Data Science minor \u201825), who worked on the project as a student, was inspired to do more research at an academic level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy aunt runs a childcare home, and I\u2019ve seen firsthand how much of her own resources go into running it and caring for the kids there.\u201d Yusuf said. \u201cI was drawn to seeing how research like this could actually lead to policy change \u2014 whether that\u2019s advocating for funding, resources or things like indoor air quality monitors for facilities that can\u2019t afford them on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the project focuses on childcare providers, the researchers emphasize how the results have a real-world impact. The research is ongoing as the team goes on to conduct interviews with childcare providers, policy advocacy and project proposals with community partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about this project in the full UW Bothell story, \u201cA look at how childcare providers adapt to wildfire smoke<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Sharon A. Jones, professor in the Department of Engineering & Mathematics, is part of an ongoing research project examining how childcare providers adapt to wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":637,"featured_media":38389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,9,7],"tags":[],"school":[],"class_list":["post-38388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-department-of-engineering-mathematics","category-innovation","category-research","category-students"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nHow wildfire smoke impacts childcare practices - School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/stem\/news\/2026\/10\/15\/how-wildfire-smoke-impacts-childcare-practices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How wildfire smoke impacts childcare practices - School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Sharon A. 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