Learn about our lab
In this video, get insights into the lab from Cynthia Curl, the principal investigator, as well as current students working alongside her. Closed captions and a video transcript are available.
The Lab
The Curl Agricultural Health Lab is located in the Environmental Research Building, Room 3106, and is a part of the College of Health Sciences.
The People
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Cynthia Curl, PhD, MS
“The goal of our research is to develop evidence-based public health messages about how various agricultural systems affect the health of both workers and consumers.”
Cynthia Curl earned her PhD (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences) from the University of Washington in 2014, and her MS from the same program in 2000. She earned her BA (Chemistry) from Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania in 1998.
Dr. Curl’s research interests are focused on environmental health and exposure science, with a particular emphasis on understanding exposures to agricultural chemicals and their effects on farmworkers, agricultural communities and the general public. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications on this topic, describing studies of the effectiveness of various agricultural re-entry periods on worker exposures, research on the “take-home” pathway of exposure on families of agricultural workers, and investigations of the effect of organic diets on pesticide exposures to the general public.
Dr. Curl joined Boise State University in the spring of 2015 as an Assistant Professor after earning her doctoral degree in environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington (UW). Dr. Curl also worked for several years as a researcher for the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center at UW. She also spent time working in both the private and non-profit sectors as an environmental consultant and as a researcher.
“The goal of our research is to develop evidence-based public health messages about how various agricultural systems affect the health of both workers and consumers.”
Cynthia Curl earned her PhD (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences) from the University of Washington in 2014, and her MS from the same program in 2000. She earned her BA (Chemistry) from Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania in 1998.
Dr. Curl’s research interests are focused on environmental health and exposure science, with a particular emphasis on understanding exposures to agricultural chemicals and their effects on farmworkers, agricultural communities and the general public. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications on this topic, describing studies of the effectiveness of various agricultural re-entry periods on worker exposures, research on the “take-home” pathway of exposure on families of agricultural workers, and investigations of the effect of organic diets on pesticide exposures to the general public.
Dr. Curl joined Boise State University in the spring of 2015 as an Assistant Professor after earning her doctoral degree in environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington (UW). Dr. Curl also worked for several years as a researcher for the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center at UW. She also spent time working in both the private and non-profit sectors as an environmental consultant and as a researcher.
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Meredith Spivak – Lab Coordinator
Meredith earned her BS in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. She worked at a medical facility for many years before completing her MS in Epidemiology from the State University of New York at Albany in 2018. She is currently an epidemiologist for the Center for Environmental Health and Safety at Boise State University, and oversees the Curl Agricultural Health Lab. Her research interests include environmental research, developmental origins of health and disease, and women and children’s health.
Meredith earned her BS in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. She worked at a medical facility for many years before completing her MS in Epidemiology from the State University of New York at Albany in 2018. She is currently an epidemiologist for the Center for Environmental Health and Safety at Boise State University, and oversees the Curl Agricultural Health Lab. Her research interests include environmental research, developmental origins of health and disease, and women and children’s health.