EH Awards celebration recognizes excellence in teaching, research, and community building
On May 21st, the Department of Environmental Health (EH) gathered to honor the hard work and dedication from all members of our department through the 2025-2026 academic year, including staff, faculty, and students.
Dr. Kari Nadeau hosted the celebration, and noted, “None of the research and academic successes that we celebrate each year would be possible without your support and hard work behind the scenes. Thank you to each of you for nominating your colleagues, teachers, and classmates. We had many nominees for each of these awards, and it was not easy to limit ourselves to just these winners.”
Marlee Quinn and Bobby McDermott were the recipients of the EH Values Award, given to members of the EH Community who embody the department’s values, including transparency, integrity, innovation, collaboration, impact, and curiosity. Marlee Quinn is Research Project Manager at Dr. Tamarra James-Todd’s Environmental Reproductive Justice Lab. Her nominator wrote, ““The lab physically would not exist or operate without Marlee, and she somehow is able to do her own job on top of supporting, listening to, collaborating with, organizing for, and brightening the day of half of the EH department single-handedly!” Bobby McDermott is a Staff Assistant for the Department and had the task of managing the relocation of faculty, researchers, labs, and office from the Landmark Center back to the Longwood campus earlier this year.
The winners of the 2026 Outstanding Community Contribution Award were Ryan Dalforno and Sarah Unninayar, for their meaningful and lasting impact in the EH community and the communities EH serves. Ryan is a PhD candidate in environmental health who has led the EH Journal Club, in addition to supporting his fellow students. Sarah is a Senior Program Manager with the Harvard Chan-NIEHS Center, and was recognized for being a champion of community-engaged work, who “has contributed hours of her time, on Saturdays and after work hours, to assist at community events all across Boston.”
The winners of the 2026 Outstanding Research Awards were Parham Azimi and Antonella Zanobetti. Dr. Azimi was honored for his work in support of communities who have faced environmental disasters, including wildfire survivors in Lahaina and Los Angeles. Dr. Zanobetti was recognized for her work developing a quantitative tool used to better understand the health effects of environmental exposures, including temperatures.
The Excellence in Teaching Award is the Department’s most prestigious teaching honor. It recognizes faculty members and teaching fellows who have consistently demonstrated exceptional skill, innovation, and dedication to student learning. The 2026 winners of the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award were Jin-Ah Park and Joel Schwartz. Dr. Park is an Associate Professor of Airway Biology who was honored for her dedication to her students and their learning. Dr. Schwartz was nominated by a student who wrote, “I’ve never met anyone like Joel; he is so clear in teaching that anyone can learn a lot from him. He has been a great inspiration to me and — I imagine — to the thousands of students at Harvard and elsewhere who came before me.”
The Teaching Fellow winners of the 2026 Excellence in Teaching Award were Ben Lanava and Jeremy Berger. Lanava is PhD Candidate in Population Health Sciences who served as a teaching fellow for ID215 this semester and has excelled in this role. Dr. Berger is a postdoctoral research fellow, and an alum of the OEM Residency Program. His nominator wrote that his “performance is exceptional — not only in quality — but in measurable impact, instructional innovation, and leadership.”
The Faculty Excellence in Advising Award recognizes faculty members who have consistently demonstrated exceptional skill, innovation, and dedication to mentoring. The winners of the Faculty Excellence in Advising Award were Tamarra James-Todd and Marc Weisskopf. Dr. James-Todd is Professor of Environmental Reproductive Epidemiology, who was nominated by multiple students and mentees who described her as “an incredible role model for me and other students in the department.” Dr. Weisskopf, Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Physiology, was recognized for his “commitment to student growth, generosity with time, and kindness.”
Francine Laden, Associate Chair of the Department, presented the final award to Kari Nadeau. Dr. Nadeau was the recipient of the inaugural EH Impact Award in recognition of her work as Chair of the Department of Environmental Health over the last 3 years.
