Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

Fellowship Year: 2011

Academic Background: Yale University - MSc 2012- (Environmental Health Sciences)

Sarah Uhl is focused on improving the system for protecting people and the environment from toxic chemicals. As a master’s student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, she is studying the health effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Her research explores the degree to which factors such individuals’ age, race, and socioeconomic status are associated with their susceptibility to the metabolic and reproductive health effects of phthalates and bisphenol-A. Previously, Sarah spent four years working for the non-profit organization Clean Water Action. During that time, she spearheaded the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Connecticut, an alliance of citizens, health professionals, workers, environmental justice leaders, educators, scientists, and faith communities working to replace toxic chemicals in everyday products and industry with safer alternatives. Under Sarah’s leadership, the Coalition grew from 12 to 52 active, non-profit member organizations, and successfully campaigned for five pieces of groundbreaking state legislation. The legislation included modernized lead and asbestos standards for children’s products (2008), a first-in-the-nation phase-out of bisphenol-A from reusable food and beverage containers and infant formula and baby food cans and jars (2009), and the establishment of the Chemical Innovations Institute at the University of Connecticut Health Center (2010). Sarah had previously worked for Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund to coordinate the Connecticut Alliance Against Diesel Pollution. In 2007, the Alliance successfully advocated for $10 million in funding to retrofit all 3,400 polluting school buses in the state. Sarah earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College in Environmental & Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies.

Expertise: Environmental & Public Health, Environmental Policy & Law