Elisabet De Jesús-Otero

Elisabet De Jesús-Otero is a PhD student and graduate research assistant in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Climate, Meteorology, and Atmospheric Sciences. Her research sits at the intersection of meteorology and social science, focusing on risk communication, workplace safety, and language accessibility for Spanish-speaking communities during extreme weather events. As part of the Advancing Language Equity and Resilience in the Atmospheric Sciences lab, she analyzes how social vulnerabilities and unequal workplace protections shape how Spanish speaking immigrant workers perceive and respond to hazards. This project supports the development of enforceable workplace emergency preparedness standards that include multilingual communication and worker protections during extreme weather events. 

Additionally, it aims to inform future Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance, workplace preparedness policies, and National Weather Service outreach efforts targeting multilingual communities. In the future, she aims to translate scientific research into policy measures that improve preparedness, strengthen worker protections, and advance equitable hazard mitigation and public safety. 

She earned her Master of Science in meteorology from Saint Louis University and Bachelor of Science in environmental science from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. In 2024, she was selected for the prestigious National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration William M. Lapenta Internship. To contact De Jesús-Otero and read about her work, please visit the following link: https://linktr.ee/ed24illinois.