Rufus Edwards

Rufus Edwards is a Professor of Environmental & Occupational Health and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Public Health. He specializes in air pollution exposure assessment, particularly from household combustion sources in low-income regions, and advises international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF on clean energy transition strategies.

• Education: Ph.D. in Exposure Measurement and Assessment from Rutgers and UMDNJ

His research focuses on

• Human exposures to air pollution (both indoor and outdoor)
• Household energy transitions and clean cooking technologies
• Climate-altering pollutant emissions from solid fuels
• Evidence-based policy development for pollution reduction
• Global health impacts of energy use

Recent publications analyze pollution dispersion patterns, stove emissions characterization, and health impact modeling across diverse regions including India, Mexico, China, and Kenya. His work integrates field measurements, computational modeling, and policy analysis.

Current projects examine emissions from transportation, wildfires, tobacco/vaping, and household solid fuel use in industrialized and less industrialized nations. He has conducted extensive studies in biomass stoves (Mexico, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Kenya), dung stoves (India, Nepal), and coal stoves (China, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia).