Tania M. Busch Isaksen

Busch Isaksen headshot

Tania M. Busch Isaksen, PhD, MPH

(she/her)
Teaching Professor
Email: tania@uw.edu
Office: 255-B, Hans Rosling Center for Population Health
Expertise: Clean Air, Safe Workplaces, Sustainable Communities, COVID-19, Climate Change, Community-engaged Research, Disaster resilience, Environmental Health, Environmental Justice, Heat, Pollution, Risk Assessment, Wildfires

About

Tania Busch Isaksen is Teaching Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator for the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS). In addition to her teaching and administrative responsibilities, she maintains an active, practice-based research portfolio focused on public health outcomes associated with extreme heat and wildfire smoke exposures; risk communication methods; climate change-related public health adaptation planning and response, and sustainable materials management. Tania has over 25 years of environmental public health experience working in local public, private, and academic settings. She earned her PhD from the UW in Environmental and Occupational Hygiene, her MPH from the University of Washington’s eMPH Program, and her BS in Environmental Health from Colorado State University.

Education

  • PhD, University of Washington
  • MPH, University of Washington
  • BS, Colorado State University

Affiliations

Collaborative on Extreme Event Resilience
Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE)
Future Rivers
The Center for Quantitative Science

Mentorship

Available to mentor new Master's students in autumn 2026. Please follow the instructions on the How To Apply page.

DEOHS Students Mentored

Enhancing Resilience to Wildfire Smoke in Alaska: Evaluating and Communicating the Use of Air Quality Data for Health Protection
Mariana Cortes Espinosa | MS Thesis | 2025 | View

Effects of the tire chemical derivative, 6PPDQ, on olfactory-mediated behaviors in coho salmon
Sophie Hammond | MS Applied | 2024 | View

Environmental Public Health Surveillance of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms in Washington State Using Drone Technology
Joseph Teresi | MS Thesis | 2024 | View

Supporting Equitable Land Management Decisions Through the Characterization of Different Sources of Smoke Exposure for At-Risk Communities
Claire Schollaert | PhD | 2023 | View

Health, Safety, and Disaster Preparedness in the Washington State Wine Industry
Mae Coker | MS Thesis | 2023 | View

Additional Information

Collaborative on Extreme Event Resilience: Tania Busch Isaksen serves as co-director.

Media Mentions

On the job: Emily Do
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Tania M Busch Isaksen | View
From classrooms to communities: Impact stories from accredited environmental health programs
September 1, 2025 | Journal of Environmental Health | Featured: Tania M Busch Isaksen | View
How high humidity can affect your health—and when it gets dangerous
June 26, 2025 | Verywell Health | Featured: Tania M Busch Isaksen | View
Showcasing undergraduate research
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Christopher D. Simpson, Judit Marsillach, Catherine Karr, Tania M Busch Isaksen, Emily Hovis, John Meschke | View
Student discovers rewards of rural public health work
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Tania M Busch Isaksen, John Meschke | View
It's time to burst the PNW weather bubble
December 16, 2024 | The Stranger | Featured: Tania M Busch Isaksen | View
Climate change intervention: UW faculty lead charge with innovation, research
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Jeremy J Hess, Kristie L. Ebi, Tania M Busch Isaksen, Nicole Errett | View
New center helps ready Northwest communities for disasters and public health emergencies
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Nicole Errett, Resham Patel, Tania M Busch Isaksen, Jamie Donatuto | View
DEOHS targets emerging health threats with new population health awards
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Nicole Errett, Tania M Busch Isaksen, Coralynn Sack, June T. Spector, Julianne Meisner, Peter Rabinowitz | View
A drive to serve his community
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Tania M Busch Isaksen, John Meschke | View