Keith Spangler, PhD

Scholarly, Research, and/or Practical Interests

Spangler specializes in spatial analysis, climate change, and social determinants of health, using methods and data sets from both epidemiology and geoscience to understand the health impacts of climate change and other environmental exposures. His recent research projects include:

• Building statistical models to assess hospitalizations and deaths associated with extreme heat
• Applying climate science and big-data analytic skills to derive and publish a data set of complex heat metrics spatially resolved to the county level
• Serving as quality assurance manager for data used in a community participatory research program on cumulative climate and chemical hazards in the Mystic River Watershed
• Developing novel, open-source geospatial methods to improve calculations of the social determinants of health at various scales.

Selected Publications

• Keith R. Spangler, Quinn H. Adams, Kate Hu, Danielle Braun, Francesca Dominici, and Gregory A. Wellenius. “Does Choice of Outdoor Heat Metric Affect Heat-Related Epidemiologic Analyses in the US Medicare Population?” Environmental Epidemiology (2023). doi: 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000261. PMCID: PMC10402938.
• Keith R. Spangler, Paige Brochu, Amruta Nori-Sarma, Dennis Milechin, Michael Rickles, Brandeus Davis, Kimberly Dukes, and Kevin J. Lane. “Improved, Open-Source Methodology for Calculating Access to Parks and Other Polygonal Resources.” Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology (2023). doi: 10.1016/j.sste.2023.100606.
• Spangler, Keith R., Shixin Liang, and Gregory A. Wellenius. “Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature, Universal Thermal Climate Index, and Other Heat Metrics for Contiguous United States Counties, 2000-2020.” Scientific Data (2022). doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01405-3. PMCID: PMC9206009.
• Spangler, Keith R. and Gregory A. Wellenius. “Spatial and Intra-Seasonal Variation in Changing Susceptibility to Extreme Heat in the United States.” Environmental Epidemiology (2021). doi: 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000136. PMCID: PMC8043727.
• Spangler, Keith R. and Gregory A. Wellenius. “Spatial Patterns of Recent US Summertime Heat Trends: Implications for Heat Sensitivity and Health Adaptations.” Environmental Research Communications (2020). doi: 10.1088/2515-7620/ab7abb. PMCID: PMC8294661.
• Spangler, Keith R., Kate R. Weinberger, and Gregory A. Wellenius. “Suitability of Gridded Climate Datasets for Use in Environmental Epidemiology.” Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2019). doi: 10.1038/s41370-018-0105-2. PMCID: PMC6559872.