I’m an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Principal Investigator of the EQUIS Lab. I have interdisciplinary training as an epidemiologist and environmental scientist, which I apply to investigate the environmental and public health impacts of extractive industries and climate-driven disasters.
My research centers environmental justice and health disparities, with the aim of informing evidence-based interventions to improve health and address persistent inequities. Recently, I have focused on the health impacts of oil and gas development and wildfire smoke, using population-level data and community-engaged methods. I also conduct studies and support programs to foster representation and inclusion in the sciences.
I received a PhD in Environment and Resources from Stanford University, an MS in Epidemiology and Clinical Research from the Stanford School of Medicine, a Master's of Environmental Science (MESc) with a focus in global health from the Yale School of the Environment, and a BS in Evolution and Ecology from UC Davis.
Recent Research
Historically redlined neighborhoods in the U.S. have more oil wells
In a study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, we investigated whether historical redlining was associated with higher exposure to wells in U.S. cities. We found that in neighborhoods that were otherwise similar, redlined neighborhoods had significantly more wells. Redlined neighborhoods have persistent health and social inequities and ongoing pollution from oil and gas wells in these neighborhoods may in part account for these disparities.
Oil production emits harmful concentrations of air pollution in California
In work published in Science of the Total Environment, we found that drilling new wells and increasing oil production emitted harmful concentrations of fine particulate matter, ozone, and other pollutants. We controlled for unrelated factors that vary from place-to-place and year-to-year, as well as weather and other pollution sources like wildfire. This finding could explain, in part, why living near wells would increase preterm birth risk as we found in earlier work.
Selected Publications
Public health impacts of extractive industries
David J.X. Gonzalez, Christina Francis, Michael Baiocchi, Mark Cullen, Gary M. Shaw, and Marshall Burke. Upstream oil and gas production and ambient air quality in California. Sci Tot Environ 806(1), 2022. [Article, Press Release]
David J.X. Gonzalez, Allison R. Sherris, Wei Yang, David K. Stevenson, Amy M. Padula, Michael Baiocchi, Marshall Burke, Mark R. Cullen, and Gary M. Shaw. Oil and gas production and spontaneous preterm birth in the San Joaquin Valley, CA: A case-control study. Environ Epidemiol 4(4), 2020. [Article, Press Release]
David J.X. Gonzalez, Aubrey Arain, and Luis E. Fernandez. Mercury exposure, risk factors, and perceptions among women of childbearing age in an artisanal gold mining region of the Peruvian Amazon. Environ Res 179, 2019. [Article]
Distributive and procedural environmental justice
Joan A. Casey, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Amy Padula, David J.X. González, Holly Elser, Rosana Aguilera, Alexander J. Northrop, Sara Y. Tartof, Elizabeth R. Mayeda, Danielle Braun, Francesca Dominici, Ellen A. Eisen, Rachel Morello-Frosch, and Tarik Benmarhnia. Measuring Long-Term Exposure to Wildfire PM2.5 in California: Time-Varying Inequities in Environmental Burden. PNAS 121 (8), 2024. [Article, Press Release]
Joan A. Casey, Misbath Daouda, Ryan S. Babadi, Vivian Do, Nina M Flores, Isa Berzansky, David J.X. González, Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, and Tamarra James-Todd. Methods in public health environmental justice research: A scoping review from 2018–2021. Curr Environ Health Rep 10(312–336), 2023. [Article]
David J.X. Gonzalez, Claire M. Morton, Lee Ann L. Hill, Drew R. Michanowicz, Robert J. Rossi, Seth B.C. Shonkoff, Joan A. Casey, and Rachel Morello-Frosch. Temporal trends of racial and socioeconomic disparities in population exposures to upstream oil and gas development in California. GeoHealth 7(3), 2023. [Article, Press Release]
David J.X. Gonzalez, Anthony Nardone, Andrew V. Nguyen, Rachel Morello-Frosch, and Joan A. Casey. Historical redlining and the siting of oil and gas wells in the United States. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 33(76–83), 2022. [Article, Press Release]
Climate change, human behavior, and environmental health threats
Alique G. Berberian, David J.X. Gonzalez, and Lara J. Cushing. Racial disparities in climate change-related health effects in the United States. Curr Environ Health Rep 9(451–464), 2022. [Article]
Francisca N. Santana, David J.X. Gonzalez, and Gabrielle Wong-Parodi. Psychological factors and social processes influencing wildfire smoke protective behavior: Insights from a case study in Northern California. Clim Risk Manag 34, 2021. [Article, Press Release]
Representation and inclusion in the sciences
David J.X. González, Brooke S. Staley, Sarah B. Andrea, Elizabeth DeVilbiss, David S. Fink, Courtney Peña, Domonique M. Reed, Mary V. Díaz Santana, Luther-King O. Fasehun, AJ Alvero, Obafemi Babalola, Victor Puac-Polanco, Caroline A. Thompson, Cara L. Frankenfeld, Lindsay Fernández-Rhodes, David S. Lopez, and Hoda S. Abdel Magid. Representation and inclusion among members and affiliates of the Society for Epidemiologic Research: Findings from the 2021 Diversity and Inclusion Survey. AJE, 2024. [Article in press]
Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, Laura M. Diaz, Jessica Trowbridge, Cecilia Alcala, and David J.X. González. Toward Language Justice in Environmental Health Sciences in the United States: A Case for Spanish as a Language of Science. EHP 131(8), 2023. [Article, Article in Spanish]
See my Google Scholar profile for my full list of publications.
Public Writing
Black gold and the color line, Environmental Health News, May 2022
Treaty Does Not Stop Illicit Mercury Trade in South America, YaleGlobal, February 2018
Opportunities, Not Oppression, to Stop Illegal Mining in the Peruvian Amazon, YaleGlobal, February 2016
Fear, Politics, and Ebola: How Quarantines Hurt the Fight Against Ebola and Violate the Constitution, report from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Yale Global Health Justice Program, December 2015
Press
Please contact me at djxgonz@berkeley.edu with any press inquiries.
Environmental Health News discussed our Environmental Health Perspectives article on language justice in environmental health sciences and why providing high-quality science communication in Spanish and other non-English languages is an important part of environmental health work.
Berkeley News covered a study published in GeoHealth where we found that racially and socioeconomically marginalized California residents had disproportionately high exposure to oil and gas wells, with the widest disparities for Black people living in neighborhoods with the most intensive oil production. This study was picked up by Inside Climate News.
I was interviewed for an episode of the Carbon Copy Podcast on redlining and the disproportionate siting of oil and gas wells in marginalized communities.
I spoke with Berkeley Public Health News and Columbia Public Health Now about a study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology where we found that historically redlined neighborhoods have significantly more wells than similar neighborhoods that weren’t redlined. Our findings were covered by the Associated Press, Capital B, DeSmog, Grist, LAist, The Tennessean, and The Washington Post.
I sat for an interview with PBS NewsHour Weekend to talk about my research on neighborhood oil production and community health in California.
In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a draft rule that would create a 3,200-foot buffer zone between sensitive receptors (including homes, schools, and hospitals) and oil and gas wells. Our studies on preterm birth and air pollution were cited by CNBC and other outlets as part of the base of evidence supporting this policy.
I talked with Stanford News about findings from a study published in Science of the Total Environment, where we found that drilling and operating wells in California emitted harmful concentrations of air pollutants. This work was covered by Environmental Health News and other news outlets including the Sacramento Bee and KCET. I also discussed our findings in a Spanish-language interview with Línea Abierta on Radio Bilingüe.
Stanford News covered the Environmental Epidemiology study where we found higher risk of preterm birth among people living near oil wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Several news outlets discussed our findings, including National Geographic, CNBC, the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Grist, Capital and Main, Inside Climate News, and Yale e360.
The New York Times covered a report I co-wrote with the Yale Global Health Justice Project, in collaboration with the ACLU, where we found that scientifically unsound quarantine policies in some U.S. states impaired the capacity of international medical organizations to mount a response to the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.