Dr. John Wargo

Biography

John Wargo is the Tweedy-Ordway Professor of Environmental Health Politics at Yale University’s School of the Environment. He chairs the Yale College Environmental Studies Major Program. Wargo’s research focuses on the threats to human health posed by environmental hazards, with particular attention to pesticides, vehicle emissions, toxins in food, plastics, flame retardants, metals, and various chemicals released indoors and outdoors. His current work examines the environmental health challenges associated with the global food system. His notable publications include 'Green Intelligence,' which won an Independent Publishers Gold Medal in the Environment category, and 'Children’s Toxic Legacy,' which received the American Publishers’ Association Prize in Political Science. Wargo has testified before the U.S. Senate and House Committees, providing recommendations for legal strategies to protect children from environmental hazards. He has also served as an advisor to various government bodies including the EPA and the U.N.’s World Health Organization. He is a member of the EPA’s Scientific Advisory Panel on Pesticides and the CDC’s scientific panels. He received his PhD from Yale University and has contributed significantly to the development of curricula and faculty searches at Yale-NUS College in Singapore. Wargo’s courses, including 'Environmental Politics and Law,' are accessible on the Open Yale website, with video lectures translated into 50 languages.

Research Interests

Experience