LOHP - Labor Occupational Health Program

Edwina Mariel (MPH ‘26) joined us this spring as a UC Berkeley Public Health graduate student researcher on the California Heat Study, conducting interviews with key informants and focus groups with workers in warehouse, construction, agriculture and the fast food industries. Mariel comes from Veraguas, Panama and traces her interest in public health to her upbringing.

“My family practices subsistence farming in Panama,” she said. “We practice our own indigenous traditions. I’m curious about the connection between the science of public health and cultural knowledge and understanding. I see myself as a connector between all of these different fields.”

At LOHP, Mariel said she was excited to work on the heat project because she knew the data would have immediate impact given that it was being collected for state-level policymakers. “It’s way more impactful because it’s applied research,” she said. And because she has seen first hand, the impact of climate change on communities, especially coming from a subsistence farming family.

“We see the impact of a changing climate. It impacts how we feed ourselves and how we sustain ourselves. It also creates a layer of stress that impacts our daily lives. We worry about the future of that land,” she said.

Mariel will continue her work on the heat study this summer and is exploring doctoral programs.

Image description: Edwina Mariel stands in a Nagua, a traditional dress, in front of raised garden beds.

Thank you to members of California's Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for taking action yesterday to begin the process of banning engineered stone in California to protect workers from contracting silicosis. A progressive and incurable occupational lung disease, silicosis is caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica dust. Too many workers have already lost their lives. We must do more to protect workers in California.
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https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2026/2026-45.html

Image Description:
A quote from the UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program Director Suzanne Teran reads: "Too many workers—many of whom are young Latino men fabricating countertops—have developed silicosis or died from working with this highly toxic material.

We need to take action to stop this epidemic. No household countertop is worth workers’ lives.” A cutout of Teran speaking into a microphone in the bottom right corner along with LOHP's logo.