Emily Cooksey

2020 recipient of the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) Environment & Society Graduate Fellows Program.

Emily Cooksey (she/her) is PhD student in Environmental Health Science in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman School of Public Health. Her doctoral dissertation is focused on presence, persistence, and human health risk associated with pathogenic Vibrio from oysters harvested in Southern California through a collaboration with Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). The primary focus of her research is to expand scientific knowledge of the interactions between shellfish, microbial water quality, environmental factors, and public health. As an Environment and Society Fellow, Emily will identify implications for human health by coupling oyster research in Southern Californian estuaries and in simulated marine environments with QMRA. Her laboratory findings will influence her QMRA model and assess regulatory standards. The collaboration between the University of Arizona and SCCWRP provides a platform for groundbreaking Vibrio research on the West Coast and the ability to influence current oyster harvesting policy in Southern California. Emily will use her research to evaluate existing policy to reduce human health risk from exposure to pathogenic Vibrio.