A Curious Career with Contaminants

Prof. John (Jack) Spengler, Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has over 40 years’ experience in environmental health and exposure science, characterising the exposure to and effects of contaminants in outdoor and indoor environments. Through studies of homes, office buildings, schools, and transit systems Spengler has investigated design, materials, maintenance, and behaviours that mitigate exposures to harmful contaminants. During the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, his team examined transmission and mitigation of airborne viruses in schools, airplanes, airports, and buses. His recent studies have looked at health and the built environment and the wellbeing benefits of exposure to Nature.