Michael Méndez of UCI has recently received a 2 year $400,000 grant for the purpose of researching the treatment of immigrant farmworkers during extreme wildfire hazards in the Sonoma County. Méndez explains that these workers are expected to labor in hazardous conditions, therefore putting their health and lives at risk. Most of the farmworkers do not have access to health care nor qualify for unemployment if they were to get hurt or sick. Scientists from NCAR will install air quality sensor detectors as well as interview the workers in order to get a sense on how this vulnerable population is affected, and in turn create better policies that will protect these individuals.

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