Sara Grineski

Leadership Team Member, Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy

Co-Director, Center for Natural and Technological Hazards, College of Social and Behavioral Science

Professor, Sociology Department

Contact Information

Curriculum Vitae

Select Publications

Grineski, SE. Collins, TW., Chakraborty, J., Goodwin, E., Aun, J.J., Ramos, K. 2023. Social disparities in the duration of power and piped water outages in Texas after Winter Storm Uri. American Journal of Public Health. 113(1): 30-34.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36356281/

Grineski, SE. Alexander, C., Renteria, R. Collins, T. VanDerslice, J., Bilder, D. Bakian, A. 2023. Trimester-specific ambient PM2.5 exposures and risk of intellectual disability in Utah. Environmental Research. 218. 115009
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36495968/

Grineski, SE., Scott, M., Collins, T., Chakraborty, J., Ramos, K.D. 2023. Anxiety and Depression after Winter Storm Uri: Cascading Disasters and Mental Health Inequities. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 96, 103933
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9645098/

Grineski, SE. Collins, T.W., Chakraborty, J. 2022. Cascading disasters and mental health inequities: Winter Storm Uri, COVID-19 and post-traumatic stress in Texas. Social Science and Medicine, 315 115523
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36379161/

Grineski, SE, Collins TW, Mullen CJ. 2022. When Not Implemented Communally, Citizen Science Efforts May Reflect, Reinforce, and Potentially Exacerbate Environmental Injustice. American Journal of Public Health. 112(3):348-350.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35196036/

Websites

Center for Natural and Technological Hazards, Research Site

Bio:

Sara Grineski is a Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at the University of Utah. Her research interests are in environmental health disparities, children’s health, and environmental justice. Her doctoral education was funded by a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) fellowship in urban ecology at Arizona State University. As a Master’s student, she collaborated with a neighborhood on a community-based participatory research project on children’s environmental health, an experience that set the course for Dr. Grineski’s future career. After graduating in 2006 with her Ph.D. in Sociology with a minor in Geography, she became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). While at UTEP, she was a Principal Investigator (PI) on the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) award, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). On this award, Dr. Grineski developed and directed the academic year and summer research mentoring programs for undergraduate student and faculty mentees, which spanned across 15 colleges and universities. Separate from the NIH BUILD award, Dr. Grineski has received external research funding as a PI or Co-PI from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She has published in outlets ranging from Social Science & Medicine and Social Forces to Environmental Research Letters and Environmental Research. Throughout her faculty career, Dr. Grineski has set as a top priority involving students in her research; over half of her publications involve student authors.

Primary Areas of Research:

Sara Grineski is a sociologist with training in geography who works on health and environment research. She uses a variety of methods to address research questions of interest. Her research expertise and contributions fall into several areas • Incorporating Health Outcomes into Environmental Justice (EJ) Research • Intra-ethnic Inequalities • Advancing EJ Methods • Broadening the Scope of EJ Research • Socioenvironmental Disparities in Asthma • Undergraduate Research and Mentoring.

In the Media

2022

- Invited Gallery Speaker. The Air We Share Event. Utah Museum of Fine Arts. 28 Sept 2022. https://umfa.utah.edu/the-air-we-share . 09/2022.

2021

- Review of research study. 10/2021. https://eos.org/articles/neighborhoods-are-feeling...

2020

- Newspaper story about research study. https://www.ksl.com/article/50063705/air-pollution-peaks-linked-to-lower-academic-proficiency-in-salt-lake-county-students 8 December 2020. 12/08/2020.
- Newspaper story about research study. https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2020/12/03/u-researchers-find-peaks/ 3 December 2020. 12/03/2020.
- Press Release about research study. 23 November 2020. https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/air-pollution-spikes-reduce-test-scores/ . 11/23/2020.
- Radio interview about research study. 21 May 2020. https://kcpw.org/blog/in-the-hive/2020-05-21/air-quality/. 05/21/2020.
- Medium article about research study. 20 May 2020. https://onezero.medium.com/minority-students-are-getting-choked-out-by-air-pollution-in-utah-7e7fdf4a4057. 05/20/2020.
- Radio interview about research study. 19 May 2020. https://www.kuer.org/post/am-news-brief-high-marks-state-credit-rating-unfair-bad-air-wildfire-threatens-homes. 05/19/2020.
- Local newspaper article about research study. 19 May 2020. https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/5/19/21263965/study-minority-students-in-salt-lake-county-schools-breathe-dirtier-air. 05/19/2020.