Bio
Maria Blancas is a lecturer in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health and a research coordinator with the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center. She’s served as a graduate research assistant and project manager on several community-engaged participatory research projects. Blancas has helped develop research instruments, trained community surveyors, provided qualitative data analysis support, and supported research translation and dissemination efforts. She received the prestigious Bullitt Environmental Prize for her dissertation work that focuses on empowering farmworkers to tell their own stories. Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Blancas to serve on the Washington State Environmental Justice Council. A daughter of farmworkers, she’s committed to ensuring that farmworkers and their families are safe and healthy. Blancas earned her doctorate in environmental and forest sciences from the University of Washington and completed her MPH degree in the Community-Oriented Public Health Practice program.
Education
PhD Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, 2021
MPH Community Oriented Public Health Practice, University of Washington, 2017
BA Global Health, Medical Anthropology, University of Washington, 2012