Natalie Sampson, Ph.D.

Natalie Sampson, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She currently serves in many leadership roles in the field of environmental health at the local and national level, including: 

• Chair, American Public Health Association Environment Section 
• Co-lead, Michigan Center on Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease Community Engagement Core
• Co-investigator, Community Action to Promote Healthy Environments,
• Co-director, Environmental Health Research to Action, and
• Member, National Environmental Health Partnership Council and the Environmental Health & Equity Collaborative

Dr. Sampson works across sectors and disciplines to understand and address the environmental justice implications of land use planning and infrastructure with community, academic, and agency partners. She values diverse ways of knowing through qualitative and quantitative methods, including photovoice and health impact assessment. Through her action-oriented research, Dr. Sampson aims to remove structural inequities in environmental decision-making, build capacity for community and youth-led research, and increase the use of plain language in the field of environmental health. She teaches courses on environmental health and community organizing.

Ph.D. in Health Behavior Health Education, University of Michigan

M.P.H. in Health Promotion, Portland State University

B.S. in Environmental Studies, University of Michigan

1. Sampson, N., Sampson, M., Price, C., Almuktar, S. Bashi, A., & Luqman, S. (2022). Plain language as a prerequisite for environmental justice. Environmental Justice. doi.org/ 10.1089/env.2021.0108.

2. MacIver, L., London, J., Sampson, N., Gordon, M., Grow, R., Akaba, A., & Eady, V. (2022) Owning Our Air: Lessons from West Oakland’s engagement with AB 617 for addressing structural environmental racism. American Journal of Public Health, 112:262-270. doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306592.

3. Sampson, N., Price, C., Alwishah, K.,* Saleh, I.,* Mahdi, A., Mozip, A., Luqman, S., Archambault, D., Gleicher, S., Norwood, D., Almaklani A.B., Leonard, N, Arouche, A., Tariq, M., Reda, Z. (2021). Building youth capacity to address environmental health and justice concerns in Dearborn, MI. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 15(3):401-410. doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2021.0041.

4. Sampson, N., Sagovac, S., Schulz, A., Fink, L., Mentz, G., Reyes, A., Rice, K., DeMajo, R., Gamboa, C., & Vial, B. (2020). Mobilizing for community benefits to assess health and promote environmental justice near the Gordie Howe International Bridge. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(13), 4680. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17134680