Madeleine Kangsen Scammell
Biographic Data
| ID | 2312294 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Madeleine Kangsen Scammell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Madeleine Kangsen |
| FAMILY NAME | Scammell |
| SIGNATURE | SCAMMELL M K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Boston University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3836-083X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Estimating Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Residential Power Outages in Massachusetts from 2013 to 2022 Using Public Records
Power outages are a growing threat to human health. Extreme weather events and strains on the electrical grid can cut off access to critical health-supporting medical equipment. However, the full scope of health impacts related to power outages has not been quantified, in large part because outage data with high spatial and temporal resolution are not widely available. In this work, we present a methodological framework for constructing a longitu…
Communication recovery in the classroom
Introduction Classrooms are environments for learning and growth, yet they also present opportunities for microaggressions to occur that may perpetuate feelings of exclusion in various educational contexts. Communication recovery frameworks offer guidance on how to engage in discussions that include diverse viewpoints, emphasizing the importance of empathy, humility, and active listening. Objective In this study, we implemented and evaluated a pi…
The role of sensors and community engagement in the mission toward equitable, healthy cities
The role of sensors and community engagement in the mission toward equitable, healthy cities, Amy Mueller, M. Patricia Fabian, Bianca Navarro-Bowman, Barbara Espinosa Barrera, Yasser Aponte, Ben Cares, Karl Allen, Roseann Bongiovanni, Madeleine Scammel
Facilitators and Barriers for Keeping Cool in an Urban Heat Island
This research highlights the importance of understanding perceptions of residents in EJ communities to contextualize vulnerability and identify multipronged heat coping strategies and targeted interventions
Characterizing the Environmental Health Literacy and Sensemaking of Indoor Air Quality of Research Participants
This study is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants of an indoor air quality monitoring study. The purpose of the interviews was to capture participants' perceptions of indoor air quality and engage them in a discussion of those factors that influenced their behavior. Interview study participants ( n = 20) noted the importance of family health concerns and their own sensory awareness of possible contaminants. They dis…
Mixed methods assessment of personal heat exposure, sleep, physical activity, and heat adaptation strategies among urban residents in the Boston area, MA
The growing frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heat events necessitates interventions to reduce heat exposures. Local opportunities for heat adaptation may be optimally identified through collection of both quantitative exposure metrics and qualitative data on perceptions of heat. In this study, we used mixed methods to characterize heat exposure among urban residents in the area of Boston, Massachusetts, US, in summer 2020. Repeated i…
MCR
Sharing individualized results with health study participants, a practice we and others refer to as "report-back," ensures participant access to exposure and health information and may promote health equity. However, the practice of report-back and the content shared is often limited by the time-intensive process of personalizing reports. Software tools that automate creation of individualized reports have been built for specific studies, but are…
Climate Trends at a Hotspot of Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Causes in Nicaragua, 1973–2014
An ongoing epidemic of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) afflicts large parts of Central America and is hypothesized to be linked to heat stress at work. Mortality rates from CKDu appear to have increased dramatically since the 1970s. To explore this relationship, we assessed trends in maximum and minimum temperatures during harvest months between 1973 and 2014 as well as in the number of days during the harvest season for which…
Reporting Results of a Community-Based In-Home Exposure Monitoring Study
Our report back process and materials benefitted from the contributions of multiple diverse stakeholders. We recommend at least a two-part strategy for facilitating communication within the community and between community and academic researchers. The materials and methods can be easily adapted by other researchers to report back exposure results in other community-specific contexts
Urinary Metals Concentrations and Biomarkers of Autoimmunity among Navajo and Nicaraguan Men
Metals are suspected contributors of autoimmune disease among indigenous Americans. However, the association between metals exposure and biomarkers of autoimmunity is under-studied. In Nicaragua, environmental exposure to metals is also largely unexamined with regard to autoimmunity. We analyzed pooled and stratified exposure and outcome data from Navajo ( n = 68) and Nicaraguan ( n = 47) men of similar age and health status in order to character…
A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Sharing Air Pollution Results with Study Participants via Report-Back Communication
We implemented a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods evaluation of an air pollution data report-back to study participants in Chelsea, Massachusetts. We aimed to determine whether the report-back was effective in the following three ways: engagement, understandability, and actionability for the participants. We also evaluated participants' valuation of the report-back information and process. The evaluation involved both qualitative components…
Methods for Evaluating the Combined Effects of Chemical and Nonchemical Exposures for Cumulative Environmental Health Risk Assessment
Cumulative risk assessment (CRA) has been proposed as a means of evaluating possible additive and synergistic effects of multiple chemical, physical and social stressors on human health, with the goal of informing policy and decision-making, and protecting public health. Routine application of CRA to environmental regulatory and policy decision making, however, has been limited due to a perceived lack of appropriate quantitative approaches for as…
Self-rated health and its association with perceived environmental hazards, the social environment, and cultural stressors in an environmental justice population
Negative perceptions of environmental hazards and reported cultural stressors were significantly associated with fair/poor self-rated health among residents in a low-income majority-minority community, with social cohesion having a beneficial association with self-rated health. Efforts to improve health should recognize the importance of public perceptions of social and environmental hazards found in neighborhood environments, and benefits of str…
Consumption of Contaminated Seafood in an Environmental Justice Community
New Bedford Harbor (NBH) in Massachusetts was listed as a Superfund site in 1983 due to extensive contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from industrial pollution. Since 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has posted signage and fencing in areas around NBH to discourage fishing activity, along with distributing consumption advisories locally. This exploratory study combined qualitative and geographic information syst…
Breathe Easy at Home
The Breathe Easy at Home Program enables clinicians to refer asthmatic patients to Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) if they suspect housing conditions trigger symptoms. The authors conducted one-on-one interviews with clinicians ( n = 10) who referred patients, and focus groups with inspectors from the ISD ( n = 9) and a variety of stakeholders ( n = 13), to gain insight into program function and implementation. Clinician interviews …
The Flint, Michigan, Water Crisis
The Flint water crisis highlights numerous regulatory failures related to federal drinking water regulation, interpretation, and enforcement. The events that unfolded in Michigan, from the initial utilization of a corrosive water source to provide Flint's drinking water to the inadequate response of numerous regulators, demonstrate how the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) can be wrongly interpreted, implemented, and weakly enforced, leading to dang…
A Walk in the Park
Proximity to a park does not necessarily imply access or use, and the social environment may positively or negatively influence the positive intentions of the built environment. To investigate parks, park use and physical activity, and their associations with exposure to community violence, we interviewed residents (n = 354) of a densely populated urban community. Our findings indicate that proximity to any park is not associated with physical ac…
Engaging Communities in Research on Cumulative Risk and Social Stress-Environment Interactions
Studies have documented cumulative health effects of chemical and nonchemical exposures, particularly chronic environmental and social stressors. Environmental justice groups have advocated for community participation in research that assesses how these interactions contribute to health disparities experienced by low-income and communities of color. In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a request for research applications (RFA)…
Whatever Works
The objective of this study was to investigate legal tactics employed by lawyers in Massachusetts working on environmental justice cases, and to explore lawyers' perceptions and uses of scientific expertise and data. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews with eight lawyers in Massachusetts focused on each lawyer's most recent environmental justice case, opinions on future legislation, and interactions with scientific data. Currently, there is no …
Tools for Addressing Cumulative Impacts on Human Health and the Environment
“Cumulative impacts” refers to the total harm to human health and the environment resulting from combinations of stressors over time. Cumulative impacts are creating three kinds of effects: degraded ecosystems (such as oceans and boreal forests), human diseases, and disproportionately burdened communities, which are the hallmark of environmental injustice. At the heart of the problem lie the modern risk-based regulatory systems of the United Stat…
Chronic kidney disease in Nicaragua
Interviews provided evidence suggesting that medications such as diuretics, antibiotics and NSAIDs are widely used and sold over the counter for symptoms that may be related to dehydration and volume depletion. These factors, alone or in combination, may be possible contributors to kidney damage. Acute kidney damage coupled with volume depletion and exposures including medications and infectious agents should be further evaluated as causal factor…
Qualitative environmental health research
Qualitative research uses nonnumeric data to understand people's opinions, motives, understanding, and beliefs about events or phenomena. In this analysis, I report the use of qualitative methods and data in the study of the relationship between environmental exposures and human health. A primary search for peer-reviewed journal articles dated from 1991 through 2008 included the following three terms: qualitative, environ*, and health. Searches r…
Meeting People Where They Are
In a unique partnership, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), Boston University School of Public Health, the Committee for Boston Public Housing, and the West Broadway Task Force (WBTF) led an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) intervention in Boston's public housing developments. Key to the success of the program was recruiting residents to participate. Residents who were trained as Community Health Advocates (C…
Tangible evidence, trust and power
Tangible evidence, trust and power
Meeting People Where They Are
In a unique partnership, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), Boston University School of Public Health, the Committee for Boston Public Housing, and the West Broadway Task Force (WBTF) led an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) intervention in Boston's public housing developments. Key to the success of the program was recruiting residents to participate. Residents who were trained as Community Health Advocates (C…
Tangible evidence, trust and power
Qualitative environmental health research
Qualitative research uses nonnumeric data to understand people's opinions, motives, understanding, and beliefs about events or phenomena. In this analysis, I report the use of qualitative methods and data in the study of the relationship between environmental exposures and human health. A primary search for peer-reviewed journal articles dated from 1991 through 2008 included the following three terms: qualitative, environ*, and health. Searches r…
Meeting People Where They Are
In a unique partnership, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), Boston University School of Public Health, the Committee for Boston Public Housing, and the West Broadway Task Force (WBTF) led an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) intervention in Boston's public housing developments. Key to the success of the program was recruiting residents to participate. Residents who were trained as Community Health Advocates (C…
Chronic kidney disease in Nicaragua
Interviews provided evidence suggesting that medications such as diuretics, antibiotics and NSAIDs are widely used and sold over the counter for symptoms that may be related to dehydration and volume depletion. These factors, alone or in combination, may be possible contributors to kidney damage. Acute kidney damage coupled with volume depletion and exposures including medications and infectious agents should be further evaluated as causal factor…
Tools for Addressing Cumulative Impacts on Human Health and the Environment
“Cumulative impacts” refers to the total harm to human health and the environment resulting from combinations of stressors over time. Cumulative impacts are creating three kinds of effects: degraded ecosystems (such as oceans and boreal forests), human diseases, and disproportionately burdened communities, which are the hallmark of environmental injustice. At the heart of the problem lie the modern risk-based regulatory systems of the United Stat…
Engaging Communities in Research on Cumulative Risk and Social Stress-Environment Interactions
Studies have documented cumulative health effects of chemical and nonchemical exposures, particularly chronic environmental and social stressors. Environmental justice groups have advocated for community participation in research that assesses how these interactions contribute to health disparities experienced by low-income and communities of color. In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a request for research applications (RFA)…
Whatever Works
The objective of this study was to investigate legal tactics employed by lawyers in Massachusetts working on environmental justice cases, and to explore lawyers' perceptions and uses of scientific expertise and data. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews with eight lawyers in Massachusetts focused on each lawyer's most recent environmental justice case, opinions on future legislation, and interactions with scientific data. Currently, there is no …
Breathe Easy at Home
The Breathe Easy at Home Program enables clinicians to refer asthmatic patients to Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) if they suspect housing conditions trigger symptoms. The authors conducted one-on-one interviews with clinicians ( n = 10) who referred patients, and focus groups with inspectors from the ISD ( n = 9) and a variety of stakeholders ( n = 13), to gain insight into program function and implementation. Clinician interviews …
The Flint, Michigan, Water Crisis
The Flint water crisis highlights numerous regulatory failures related to federal drinking water regulation, interpretation, and enforcement. The events that unfolded in Michigan, from the initial utilization of a corrosive water source to provide Flint's drinking water to the inadequate response of numerous regulators, demonstrate how the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) can be wrongly interpreted, implemented, and weakly enforced, leading to dang…
A Walk in the Park
Proximity to a park does not necessarily imply access or use, and the social environment may positively or negatively influence the positive intentions of the built environment. To investigate parks, park use and physical activity, and their associations with exposure to community violence, we interviewed residents (n = 354) of a densely populated urban community. Our findings indicate that proximity to any park is not associated with physical ac…
Consumption of Contaminated Seafood in an Environmental Justice Community
New Bedford Harbor (NBH) in Massachusetts was listed as a Superfund site in 1983 due to extensive contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from industrial pollution. Since 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has posted signage and fencing in areas around NBH to discourage fishing activity, along with distributing consumption advisories locally. This exploratory study combined qualitative and geographic information syst…
Methods for Evaluating the Combined Effects of Chemical and Nonchemical Exposures for Cumulative Environmental Health Risk Assessment
Cumulative risk assessment (CRA) has been proposed as a means of evaluating possible additive and synergistic effects of multiple chemical, physical and social stressors on human health, with the goal of informing policy and decision-making, and protecting public health. Routine application of CRA to environmental regulatory and policy decision making, however, has been limited due to a perceived lack of appropriate quantitative approaches for as…
Self-rated health and its association with perceived environmental hazards, the social environment, and cultural stressors in an environmental justice population
Negative perceptions of environmental hazards and reported cultural stressors were significantly associated with fair/poor self-rated health among residents in a low-income majority-minority community, with social cohesion having a beneficial association with self-rated health. Efforts to improve health should recognize the importance of public perceptions of social and environmental hazards found in neighborhood environments, and benefits of str…
A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Sharing Air Pollution Results with Study Participants via Report-Back Communication
We implemented a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods evaluation of an air pollution data report-back to study participants in Chelsea, Massachusetts. We aimed to determine whether the report-back was effective in the following three ways: engagement, understandability, and actionability for the participants. We also evaluated participants' valuation of the report-back information and process. The evaluation involved both qualitative components…
Urinary Metals Concentrations and Biomarkers of Autoimmunity among Navajo and Nicaraguan Men
Metals are suspected contributors of autoimmune disease among indigenous Americans. However, the association between metals exposure and biomarkers of autoimmunity is under-studied. In Nicaragua, environmental exposure to metals is also largely unexamined with regard to autoimmunity. We analyzed pooled and stratified exposure and outcome data from Navajo ( n = 68) and Nicaraguan ( n = 47) men of similar age and health status in order to character…
MCR
Sharing individualized results with health study participants, a practice we and others refer to as "report-back," ensures participant access to exposure and health information and may promote health equity. However, the practice of report-back and the content shared is often limited by the time-intensive process of personalizing reports. Software tools that automate creation of individualized reports have been built for specific studies, but are…
Climate Trends at a Hotspot of Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Causes in Nicaragua, 1973–2014
An ongoing epidemic of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) afflicts large parts of Central America and is hypothesized to be linked to heat stress at work. Mortality rates from CKDu appear to have increased dramatically since the 1970s. To explore this relationship, we assessed trends in maximum and minimum temperatures during harvest months between 1973 and 2014 as well as in the number of days during the harvest season for which…
Reporting Results of a Community-Based In-Home Exposure Monitoring Study
Our report back process and materials benefitted from the contributions of multiple diverse stakeholders. We recommend at least a two-part strategy for facilitating communication within the community and between community and academic researchers. The materials and methods can be easily adapted by other researchers to report back exposure results in other community-specific contexts
Facilitators and Barriers for Keeping Cool in an Urban Heat Island
This research highlights the importance of understanding perceptions of residents in EJ communities to contextualize vulnerability and identify multipronged heat coping strategies and targeted interventions
Characterizing the Environmental Health Literacy and Sensemaking of Indoor Air Quality of Research Participants
This study is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants of an indoor air quality monitoring study. The purpose of the interviews was to capture participants' perceptions of indoor air quality and engage them in a discussion of those factors that influenced their behavior. Interview study participants ( n = 20) noted the importance of family health concerns and their own sensory awareness of possible contaminants. They dis…
Mixed methods assessment of personal heat exposure, sleep, physical activity, and heat adaptation strategies among urban residents in the Boston area, MA
The growing frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heat events necessitates interventions to reduce heat exposures. Local opportunities for heat adaptation may be optimally identified through collection of both quantitative exposure metrics and qualitative data on perceptions of heat. In this study, we used mixed methods to characterize heat exposure among urban residents in the area of Boston, Massachusetts, US, in summer 2020. Repeated i…
The role of sensors and community engagement in the mission toward equitable, healthy cities
The role of sensors and community engagement in the mission toward equitable, healthy cities, Amy Mueller, M. Patricia Fabian, Bianca Navarro-Bowman, Barbara Espinosa Barrera, Yasser Aponte, Ben Cares, Karl Allen, Roseann Bongiovanni, Madeleine Scammel
Estimating Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Residential Power Outages in Massachusetts from 2013 to 2022 Using Public Records
Power outages are a growing threat to human health. Extreme weather events and strains on the electrical grid can cut off access to critical health-supporting medical equipment. However, the full scope of health impacts related to power outages has not been quantified, in large part because outage data with high spatial and temporal resolution are not widely available. In this work, we present a methodological framework for constructing a longitu…
Communication recovery in the classroom
Introduction Classrooms are environments for learning and growth, yet they also present opportunities for microaggressions to occur that may perpetuate feelings of exclusion in various educational contexts. Communication recovery frameworks offer guidance on how to engage in discussions that include diverse viewpoints, emphasizing the importance of empathy, humility, and active listening. Objective In this study, we implemented and evaluated a pi…
Medicine (17 works) · Environmental health (14 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Environmental Justice and Health Disparities (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Geography (9 works) · Nursing (8 works) · Climate Change and Health Impacts (7 works)