Brian Bossak

Associate Professor

Address: Silcox 309
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-5pm and by appointment
Phone: 953-1129
E-mail: bossakbh@cofc.edu


Education

Postdoctoral Training

  • Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Ph.D. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

  • Geography (Natural Hazards/Climate Change)

M.P.H. Emory University, Atlanta, GA

  • Environmental Health

M.A. University of Georgia, Athens, GA

  • Geography (Geographic Information Systems/Remote Sensing)

B.S. University of Georgia, Athens, GA

  • Geography (Climatology)

Research Interests

Spatial epidemiology/Medical geography

Climate change and health

Vector-borne disease

Applied GIS/Remote Sensing

Natural hazards/Public health preparedness

Water quality

Courses Taught

HEAL 215: Intro to Public Health

HEAL 345: Environmental Health

HEAL 350: Epidemiology

HEAL 460: Public Health Administration

Media

Dr. Bossak recognized for receiving a Fulbright Award during the 2022-2023 academic year, "CofC Named a Top Producer of Fulbright Scholars," by Mike Robertson, CofC Today, February 10, 2023.

Dr. Bossak contributed to a discussion about Health Infrastructure and the Coronavirus pandemic, "States with the Best Health Infrastructure for Coronavirus" by Adam McCann, WalletHub, May 26, 2020.

Dr. Bossak contributed to a discussion about America's Healthiest Cities, "2018's Healthiest & Unhealthiest Cities in America," by Richie Bernardo, WalletHub, February 12, 2018.

Affiliations

Carolinas Heat Health Coalition

Royal Society for Public Health (Fellow)

Royal Geographical Society w/Insitute of British Geographers (Fellow)

South Carolina Public Health Association

South Carolina Public Health Reserve Corps

Publications

Emery B, Fullerton H, Bossak B (2022). Resistance on the rise: Assessment of antibiotic-resistant indicator organisms in Shem Creek, Charleston, South Carolina. Dialogues in Health, DOI:10.1016/j.dialog.2022.100063 

Sugg M, Runkle J, Dow K, Barnes J, Stevens S, Pearce J, Bossak B, Curtis S. (2022) Individual Experienced Heat Index in a Coastal Southeastern US City among an Occupationally Exposed Population. International Journal of Biometerology, 66(8): 1665-1681. DOI: 10.1007/s00484-022-02309-y. Epub 2022 Jun 27. PMID: 35759147

Bossak B, Andritsch S. (2022) COVID-19 and Air Pollution: A Spatial Analysis of Particulate Matter Concentration and Pandemic-Associated Mortality in the US. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19(1), 592. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010592

Bossak B, Turk C. (2021) Spatial Variability in COVID-19 Mortality. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11), 5892. doi:10.3390/ijerph18115892 

Lynn MK, Bossak B, Sandifer P, Watson A, Nolan M. (2020) Contemporary Autochthonous Human Chagas Disease in the USA. Acta Tropica. DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105361 

Luque J, Becker A, Bossak B, Grzywacz J, Tovar-Aguilar JA, Guo Y. (2019) Knowledge and Practices to Avoid Heat-Related Illness among Hispanic Farmworkers on the Florida Georgia Line. Journal of Agromedicine. DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2019.1670312

Luque J, Bossak B, Tovar A, Davila C. (2018) “I think the temperature was 110 degrees!”: Work safety discussions among Hispanic farmworkers. Journal of Agromedicine. 15:1-11. DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2018.1536572

Lynn MK, Bossak BH. (2017) Analysis of a Secular Trend in Malaria Incidence: Venezuela, 1959-2015. J Glob Epidemiol Environ Health 2017: 54-59.

Welford, M, Bossak, B, Gibney, E. (2017) Archival Evidence of Secular Changes in Georgia Hurricanes: 1750-2012, in Hurricanes and Climate Change, Volume 3, J. Collins & K. Walsh, eds. Springer, 243 pp.

Bossak B, Welford M. (2015) Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of the Medieval Black Death, in Spatial Analysis in Health Geography, P. Kanaroglu, A. Paez and E. Delmelle, eds. Ashgate Press, 321 pp.

Bossak B, Keihany S, Welford M, Gibney E. (2014) Coastal Georgia is Not Immune: Hurricane History, 1851-2000. Southeastern Geographer. 54(3): 323-333.

Vest J, Yoon J, Bossak B. (2013) Changes to the Electronic Health Records Market in Light of Health Information Technology Certification and Meaningful Use. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 20(2):227-232. doi:10.1136/amiajnl-2011-000769

Cooper H, Des Jarlais D, Ross Z, Tempalski B, Bossak B, Friedman S. (2012) Spatial access to sterile syringes and the odds of injecting with an unsterile syringe among injectors: a longitudinal multilevel study. Journal of Urban Health. 89(4): 678-96. doi:10.1007/s11524-012- 9673-y

Cooper H, Des Jarlais D, Tempalski B, Bossak B, Ross Z, Friedman S. (2012) Drug-Related Arrest Rates and Spatial Access to Syringe Exchange Programs in New York City Health Districts: Combined effects on the risk of injection-related infections among injectors. Health & Place. 18(2): 218-228. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.09.005

Bossak B, Keihany S. (2012) Georgia’s Historical Hurricane Project. Georgia Environmentalist. 34: 10-11.

Cooper H, Des Jarlais D, Tempalski B, Ross Z, Bossak B, Friedman S. (2011) Spatial Access to Syringe Exchange Programs and Pharmacies Selling Over-the- Counter Syringes as Predictors of Drug Injectors’ Use of Sterile Syringes. American Journal of Public Health. 101(6): 1118-1125. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.184580

Welford M, Bossak B. (2010) Body lice, Yersinia pestis Orientalis, and Black Death. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 16(10): 1649. doi: 10.3201/eid1610.100683

Bossak B, Welford, M. (2010) Spatio-Temporal Attributes of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases. Geography Compass. 4(8): 1084-1096. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2010.00355.x

Welford, M. and Bossak B. (2010) Revisiting the Medieval Black Death of 1347-1351: Spatiotemporal Dynamics Suggestive of an Alternate Causation. Geography Compass, 4(6), 561-575. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2010.00335.x

Welford M, Bossak B. (2009) Validation of Inverse Seasonal Peak Mortality in Medieval Plagues, Including the Black Death, in Comparison to Modern Yersinia pestis Variant Diseases. PLOS one. 4(12): e8401. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008401

Cooper H, Bossak B, Tempalski B, Friedman S, Des Jarlais D. (2009) Temporal Trends in Spatial Access to Pharmacies that Sell Over-The- Counter Syringes in New York City Health Districts: Relationship to Local Racial/Ethnic Composition and Need. Journal of Urban Health. 86(6): 929-945. doi: 10.1007/s11524-009- 9399-7

Bossak B, Welford M. (2009) Did Medieval Trade Activity and a Viral Etiology Control the Spatial Extent and Seasonal Distribution of Black Death Mortality? Medical Hypotheses. 72: 749-752.

Cooper H, Bossak B, Tempalski B, Des Jarlais D, Friedman S. (2009) Geographic Approaches to Quantifying the Risk Environment: A Focus on Syringe Exchange Program Site Access and Drug-Related Law Enforcement Activities. International Journal of Drug Policy. 20: 217-226.

Elsner J, Bossak B. (2004) Hurricane Landfall Probability and Climate, in Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present, and Future, R. J. Murnane &   K.-b. Liu, Eds., Columbia University Press, 464 pp.

Bossak B. (2004) “X” Marks the Spot: Florida is the 2004 Hurricane Bull’s-Eye. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 85: 541, 545. 

Elsner J, Bossak B. (2001) Bayesian Analysis of U.S. Hurricane Climate. Journal of Climate. 14: 4341-4350.

Elsner J, Bossak B, Niu X. (2001) Secular Changes to the ENSO-U.S. Hurricane Relationship. Geophysical Research Letters. 28: 4123-4126.