Plotting like a Pro: Data Visualization with R / ggplot2
In this hands-on workshop we will demonstrate how to create high-quality plots utilizing the ggplot2 R package. The workshop will cover different plot formats as well at many of the key options and theme layers that participants may be interested in applying to create their highly customized plots. We will also cover exporting plots as well as creating functions for a consistent formatting across plots.
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Midweek Mindfulness Reset
Reduce your stress, calm your nervous system, and reset.
Sit with a rotating group of some of the most influential instructors in the mindfulness space, including monastics from the Plum Village tradition. Each session offers a variety of mindfulness practices and insights to support your well-being. It’s the perfect reset to mark the middle of your week!
We will meet virtually via Zoom every Wednesday from 11:00 am–11:30 am ET (and you’re welcome to stay for an optional 15 additional minutes for sharing and community building). Open to all; no experience needed.
Please note that these sessions are for relaxation and general wellness only and are not a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or psychiatric treatment. By participating, you agree to take responsibility for your own physical and emotional well‑being, and to consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical or mental health concerns.
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Best Practices for Creating Charts and Graphs
This workshop will cover key design principles you should consider when planning data visualizations — from choosing the optimal chart or graph type for your data to the effective use of color, text, and annotations.
Instructor: Jess Cohen-Tanugi, Visualization Specialist, Harvard Library
Organizers
For many people, consistent exercise feels daunting — an all-or-nothing proposition in which setbacks signal failure and advice overwhelms. This discussion reframes physical activity as something accessible and sustainable by challenging common myths about exercise and the amounts needed for health and well-being. Speakers will explore how different “doses” of activity, from light movement to more intense training, influence health — and how adapting routines can help people avoid burnout and keep exercising over a lifetime. A panel of specialists in epidemiology, sports cardiology, athletics, and health journalism will weigh in, drawing on both research and real-world experience.
Speaker Information
Moderator
Gretchen Reynolds
About The Studio
EcoOpportunity Book Exchange
Informal gathering to chat about books we’ve enjoyed and build a sustainable community through reuse. Bring books to share. (All types of books: fiction, non-fiction, memoir, how-to, etc.).
Don’t have any extra books? Bring some book recommendations. There will be extra books. Invite a friend!
HUID required for building entry
Introduction to Data Visualization with Python / Seaborn
This hands-on workshop, hosted by the Countway Library, will cover the basics of data visualization using Seaborn, a library for the Python programming language. We will cover how to create plots using numeric and categorical data, as well as the creation of multi-panel figures for data exploration and presentation.
For more information about the event, visit the event page.
Community-Engaged Environmental Data Science Training
Join a two-day intensive course featuring lectures on key concepts in solution-oriented, community environmental health research. Sessions will cover areas ranging from exposure assessment techniques to epidemiologic methods, community engagement practices, health policy applications, data science, and statistical analytic approaches for doing environmental health science that is in partnership with and relevant for improving community health.
Led by Joan Casey, PhD, University of Washington and Tamarra James-Todd, Harvard University
This training is co-hosted by the Columbia University SHARP (Skills for Health and Research Professionals) Program, the Columbia NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan (CEHNM), URMC’s NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Center & Institute for Human Health and Environment, the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health, and the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities at the University of Washington.
*Scholarship covers registration fees only, not travel.
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Summer Solstice Celebration 2026: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
Join the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture on the longest day of the year—free of charge—to explore the galleries and new exhibitions at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, and the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.
Step outdoors to enjoy live music and performers, play lawn games, and make a flower crown. Ice cream, beverages, and food will be available for purchase from food trucks. Don’t miss out on this popular event for all ages!
Sponsored by the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture.
Free event parking will be available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 4:30 pm. Please note that Divinity Avenue will be closed to traffic during the event.
The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture are an 8-minute walk through historic Harvard Yard from the Harvard Square MBTA Red Line station.
In case of rain, the museums will remain open and a select number of activities will be available. Please check the HMSC website for details.
A world without lead exposure: Pursuing the path forward with Mary Jean Brown, ScD
Please join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and the Department of Environmental Health for a talk by Mary Jean Brown, ScD, Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Brown will discuss “A world without lead exposure: Pursuing the path forward.”
This event will be held in person (HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302) and via Zoom. Lunch and refreshments provided! Register here
Trainee meeting for students and postdocs immediately following the seminar, 2-2:30 pm, in 1306A! Come in-person to discuss research interests, career plans, and funding opportunities. RSVP here!
Abstract
A recent World Bank Report ‘A World Without Lead: Paving the Path to a Healthy Productive Future’ describes the global lead poisoning crisis, and its impacts on health, the environment, and human capital. The report offers a roadmap for eliminating exposure, comprising strategic investments, policy reforms and foundational public health practices like monitoring and surveillance that every country can use to address this crisis.
Removal of lead from gasoline reduced average blood lead levels globally but was not the only source of lead. Global lead consumption exceeded 12 million tons in 2022. Toxic emissions are routinely released from formal and informal lead mining, smelting and recycling and contaminate adjacent communities. Lead is found in a multitude of foodstuffs, remedies, low fire glazed pottery, jewelry, leaded residential paint and water pipes. One study estimated that 800 million children worldwide, most living in low-middle income countries, have blood lead levels known to affect learning, behavior and later adult health.
But good news: fugitive emissions from lead mining and smelting can be controlled, contaminated sites can be cleaned up, and old lead mines can be permanently closed. Lead contamination of foodstuffs and leaded paint have been successfully regulated. Population-level blood lead surveillance, together with studies of blood and environmental lead levels in areas with known lead contamination, help countries and communities identify risks and monitor progress to eliminate the danger. And, the costs of these interventions are far less than the costs of letting the exposure continue.
In this seminar, Dr. Brown will describe the current status of lead exposure with a focus on low and middle income countries, the expected costs/benefits of eliminating exposure globally, and the work that remains to be done.
About the speaker
Mary Jean Brown is on the faculty of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she taught courses in public health practice. Dr. Brown co-authored A World Without Lead: Paving the Path to a Healthy, Productive Future and works regularly with domestic and international public health agencies and non-governmental organizations such as the World Health Organization UNICEF, and Human Rights Watch on issues related to health and housing, including developing policies to eliminate childhood lead poisoning. She has published more than 150 peer reviewed scientific articles, commentaries, and policy documents and conducted epidemiological studies of housing interventions for lead, asthma, and injuries in the United States and internationally.
Dr. Brown received a Doctor of Science degree from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2000. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Boston College in 1982.
Speaker Information
Organizers
2026 Healthy Aging Symposium
From Cells to Society: The Science of Extending Healthspan
Please join us for the launch of the annual Healthy Aging Symposium at Harvard, hosted by the Healthy Aging Initiative at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and supported by the Danone Institute North America (DINA). The inaugural Healthy Aging Symposium will be held October 9, 2026, at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center in the Veritas Science Center. The symposium will showcase cross-disciplinary excellence in healthy aging research, spanning biological sciences, social sciences, nutrition, environmental health, epidemiology and policy. This event is open to students, researchers, community stakeholders, and industry professionals from the Boston/Cambridge innovation ecosystem.
The symposium will be a full day event, with talks from experts in the field, panel discussions, and time for rising stars and trainees to show how their work fits into the rapidly growing science of healthy aging. We will provide coffee and a continental breakfast, boxed lunches, and there will be an evening wine & cheese reception to close out the day. If you are interested in attending, please fill out this form, and we will reach out closer to the date with more details and registration information. If you have questions, please contact Kelsey Hunt (khunt@hsph.harvard.edu).
Organizers & Key Speakers
Additional Speakers and Topics will be announced soon!