Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data Integration

Abstract With climate change contributing to an increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events like wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes, there is a growing need for coordinated research efforts to understand the impact of these events on human health. Specialized research frameworks ca...

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Main Authors: J. Barkoski, A. Liu, E. Van Fleet, S. Ramsey, A. Miller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2025-06-01
Series:GeoHealth
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GH001380
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author J. Barkoski
A. Liu
E. Van Fleet
S. Ramsey
A. Miller
author_facet J. Barkoski
A. Liu
E. Van Fleet
S. Ramsey
A. Miller
author_sort J. Barkoski
collection DOAJ
description Abstract With climate change contributing to an increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events like wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes, there is a growing need for coordinated research efforts to understand the impact of these events on human health. Specialized research frameworks can help interdisciplinary teams organize and visualize complex exposure‐health pathways, identify knowledge gaps, and enhance coordination and communication across diverse groups of stakeholders. This article describes the development and application of a conceptual framework for wildfire‐related exposures and human health outcomes. This framework serves as a tool for integrating data resources and mapping known and hypothesized connections, between complex wildfire exposures and human health outcomes, across the lifecycle of a wildland urban interface (WUI) fire. We also demonstrate the utility and flexibility of this framework for disaster research settings through two example applications. The first demonstrates an application for studying WUI fires and respiratory health outcomes, and the second example shows how the framework can be expanded to visualize exposure and health modeling with potential biomarkers of exposure and effect. Our GeoHealth Framework for WUI Fires illustrates complex linkages between wildfire related exposures and health outcomes and highlights areas for future study. Given the destruction and complexity of WUI fires, this framework provides an important resource that can assist with evaluating these complex exposure‐health relationships, guiding and coordinating data collection, and informing communities and decision‐makers to improve response, recovery, and future preparedness for such events in the United States and globally.
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spelling doaj-art-229fa6e26fe84564bd6d33cd998c7d282025-08-20T03:30:08ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)GeoHealth2471-14032025-06-0196n/an/a10.1029/2025GH001380Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data IntegrationJ. Barkoski0A. Liu1E. Van Fleet2S. Ramsey3A. Miller4DLH LLC Bethesda MD USAOffice of the Director Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Institutes of Health Durham NC USADLH LLC Bethesda MD USADLH LLC Bethesda MD USAOffice of the Director Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Institutes of Health Durham NC USAAbstract With climate change contributing to an increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events like wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes, there is a growing need for coordinated research efforts to understand the impact of these events on human health. Specialized research frameworks can help interdisciplinary teams organize and visualize complex exposure‐health pathways, identify knowledge gaps, and enhance coordination and communication across diverse groups of stakeholders. This article describes the development and application of a conceptual framework for wildfire‐related exposures and human health outcomes. This framework serves as a tool for integrating data resources and mapping known and hypothesized connections, between complex wildfire exposures and human health outcomes, across the lifecycle of a wildland urban interface (WUI) fire. We also demonstrate the utility and flexibility of this framework for disaster research settings through two example applications. The first demonstrates an application for studying WUI fires and respiratory health outcomes, and the second example shows how the framework can be expanded to visualize exposure and health modeling with potential biomarkers of exposure and effect. Our GeoHealth Framework for WUI Fires illustrates complex linkages between wildfire related exposures and health outcomes and highlights areas for future study. Given the destruction and complexity of WUI fires, this framework provides an important resource that can assist with evaluating these complex exposure‐health relationships, guiding and coordinating data collection, and informing communities and decision‐makers to improve response, recovery, and future preparedness for such events in the United States and globally.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GH001380wildfire exposuresdisaster health researchdata visualizationconceptual modelwildfires and health
spellingShingle J. Barkoski
A. Liu
E. Van Fleet
S. Ramsey
A. Miller
Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data Integration
GeoHealth
wildfire exposures
disaster health research
data visualization
conceptual model
wildfires and health
title Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data Integration
title_full Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data Integration
title_fullStr Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data Integration
title_full_unstemmed Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data Integration
title_short Conceptual GeoHealth Framework for Disaster Response Research: Case Study for Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fires and Data Integration
title_sort conceptual geohealth framework for disaster response research case study for wildland urban interface wui fires and data integration
topic wildfire exposures
disaster health research
data visualization
conceptual model
wildfires and health
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GH001380
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