05/28/2025: Occupational & Environmental Risk Among U.S. Agricultural Workers

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Photo of Dr. Heather Amato and Dr. Nicolas A. Smith

About the webinar:

This webinar will explore two unique research topics.

Tracking Antimicrobial Resistance on Farms: Surveillance, Partnerships, and Protecting Worker Health

This presentation will explore antimicrobial resistance (AMR) risks in dairy farming environments, highlighting findings from an environmental surveillance study in California and a partnership-based research effort in Maryland. It will examine challenges to community engagement in occupational health research within the agricultural industry and discuss strategies for strengthening collabora- tions that protect farmworker health.

A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Examine Risk and Protective Factors for Farmworkers’ Health & Well-Being

This presentation shares findings from an ongoing 5-year community-based research project in Oregon that examines workplace risk and protective factors for Latino/Hispanic farmworkers, with a focus on the impact of new farmworker overtime legislation. Attendees will learn about the study’s methodological approach, key qualitative and quantitative findings, and the importance of addressing economic stressors and leveraging protective factors to support farmworker wellbeing.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of the first presentation, the learner will be able to:

Describe the role of environmental surveillance in identifying occupational AMR risks in dairy farm settings.
Explain barriers and facilitators to community-engaged research in agricultural environments.
Identify strategies for building partnerships that support worker-centered occupational health research.
Discuss the implications of AMR exposure for farmworker health and rural public health systems.

At the completion of the second presentation, the learner will be able to:

Describe the major economic and occupational health risk factors affecting Latino/Hispanic farmworkers in the U.S.
Identify key protective factors that support farmworker health and well-being outcomes.
Analyze how policy-level interventions, such as farmworker overtime legislation, can impact workplace and health outcomes over time.

Speaker: Heather Amato, PhD, MPH

Dr. Heather Amato is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global, Occupational, and Environmental Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She is trained as an environmental epidemiologist specializing in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and microbial pathogen transmission at the human-animal-environment interface. Her research uses spatial and molecular epidemiology to track environmental sources of exposure and evaluate interventions that protect vulnerable populations, including farmworkers in the U.S. and in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Amato’s work emphasizes environmental pathogen surveillance and community-engaged approaches to occupational and environmental health. She leads projects investigating AMR in agricultural systems in California, Maryland, and collaborates internationally in Nepal, Benin, and India to address critical global health challenges.

Speaker: Nicholas A. Smith, PhD

Nicholas A. Smith is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington. In his research, he engages with the individuals who are part of the at-risk and/or vulnerable workforce in order to better understand their experiences and to support positive change efforts, with a focus on workplace domains. In particular, Nicholas draws on a systems approach to investigate the interplay between such individuals and their environments with a focus on how to design positive workplaces and communities that support health and wellbeing. Nicholas also engages in participatory and community-engaged applied research, with the goal of extending current theory to emphasize hands-on and practical ways to enhance wellbeing. To do so, Nicholas draws on a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques with the goal of driving positive change. Further, Nicholas conducts research on research methodology, longitudinal modeling, measurement, and research design.

ACCREDITATION

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health designates this activity for a maximum of 1.0 Contact Hour. Participants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Certificates of Completion

Certificates of Completion will be available to webinar participants who are present for the complete, live webinar, and logged in with their registered email address. Call-in attendees are not eligible for certificates at this time - Please download the Zoom app to log in via email on your smartphone whenever possible.

In order to receive your Certificate of Completion, qualified learners must complete the post-webinar evaluation within 7 days of the webinar. A link to the evaluation will be emailed to qualified learners 24 hours after the webinar via no-reply@zoom.us. Qualified learners who submit their evaluation will receive a Certificate of Completion via email, and can also print/save the certificate from their browser after submitting their evaluation.

If you're not able to attend the live presentation, no problem! We record most presentations and will host them on our website provided we have permission to do so. Presentation recordings are not eligible for Certificates of Completion.

ACCESSIBILITY:

If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) to fully participate in this event, please contact Michelle Meyer at (510) 642-8365 or mmeyer@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail) with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.

About the California Labor Lab

The California Labor Lab is a collaboration among investigators at UCSF, UC Berkeley, and the California Department of Public Health. The Lab is housed at the Philip R Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF. Our mission is to extend the pursuit of health and safety for workers in traditional employment to those in a wide range of alternative arrangements in partnership with affected communities.

Click here to learn more about the California Labor Lab.