, a 天美影视传媒 professor of electrical and computer engineering, has experienced sexual harassment and assault in the male-dominated field of engineering.

In her early days as an undergraduate, she was expected to meet male students’ sexual needs. In graduate school, she was subjected to sexist comments, and in her academic and industry career, she faced inappropriate physical contact in the field and at academic conferences.

鈥淚 thought things had changed,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淏ut then I still hear similar stories from women today.鈥�

Wilson is working to end the prevalence of sexual harassment in engineering. She and her colleague of Calvin University are co-authors of 鈥�,鈥� published in April by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

In addition, Wilson will be teaching a department-level class, EE397, to go along with the book in spring 2023.

鈥淭here are huge holes to understanding what鈥檚 going on in the workplace,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淭he book and the course are about raising student awareness and helping them understand how to strategize toward a better work environment no matter where they are in the hierarchy.鈥�

The book starts by setting the groundwork for why sexual harassment is wrong, describing its legal aspects and the harmful effects on victims. It then examines the groups impacted and what harassment looks like in the university and the workplace, before moving on to contemporary factors, such as COVID-19, U.S. presidents, and social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. It concludes by looking at solutions for tackling harassment, with a focus on civility training and other strategies that positively motivate people to do better and intervene if they see harassment occur.

This book isn鈥檛 a traditional textbook. It uses anecdotes to help connect students with the experience of sexual harassment.

鈥淚n the culture of engineering, there’s a lot of pressure to not speak about difficulty,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淚f you’re a good engineer and you’re underrepresented, you tough it out. How do we overcome that? I think it’s only by talking about it and by telling stories, along with the data.”

Wilson said there is an unwritten rule about harassment in engineering to just 鈥渟hut up and deal with it.鈥� This message is conveyed not only by the male-dominant majority but also by those who have advanced in the field while quietly enduring abuse. This tendency to keep things quiet explains why things haven鈥檛 changed, even as gender representation in engineering has diversified, she said.

Karen Thomas-Brown, the associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion in the UW College of Engineering, said Wilson’s and VanAntwerp鈥檚 book is effective for 鈥渦ndergraduate students who may have never experienced harassment or heard about the law. Students are going to be able to say, 鈥極h, so this is not just a bunch of women saying you shouldn’t do this to us. There are laws.鈥欌��

Thomas-Brown 鈥� who, as the lead of the college’s Office of Inclusive Excellence, plans to use a deliberate, data-driven approach to create change 鈥渢op-down and inside-out鈥� 鈥� is creating a suite of required college-level DEI courses, including a general course on diversity in society, a course on race, and a course on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in engineering.

A fourth course 鈥� on sex, gender and harassment, paired with Wilson’s and VanAntwerp鈥檚 book 鈥� will be added to the suite. Next spring’s department-level course will serve as a pilot, assessing what holes there might be in the book or course before rolling it out to the entire college.

Wilson is hopeful about the potential for change in engineering.

鈥淢ost people I know in this field 鈥� they want a good culture,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here’s a lot of kindness in engineering that is often hidden under our norms and our image. And I think that we should capitalize on that kindness and concern for society to build a better future internally.鈥�

She wants to create the change for her field that she鈥檚 undergone herself. Wilson has come a long way from the young woman who kept quiet about the harassment she experienced.

鈥淚 cannot emphasize enough how I’ve changed in the process of writing this book,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s much harder to shut me up. I’m much more outspoken. I am more willing to be culturally uncomfortable. I learned the only way I’m going to do my best and contribute to change is just to be who I am and speak. I have learned to keep speaking even when there鈥檚 silence on the other end.鈥�

A new 天美影视传媒 that tested 65 wines from America’s top four wine-producing states 鈥� California, Washington, New York and Oregon 鈥� found all but one have arsenic levels that exceed what’s allowed in drinking water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows drinking water to contain no more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic. The wine samples ranged from 10 to 76 parts per billion, with an average of 24 parts per billion.

But a concluded that the likely health risks from that naturally-occurring toxic element depend on how many other foods and beverages known to be high in arsenic, such as apple juice, rice, or cereal bars, an individual person eats. The highest risks from arsenic exposure stem from certain types of infant formulas, the study estimated.

The two studies from UW electrical engineering professor appear on the cover of the of the .

“Unless you are a heavy drinker consuming wine with really high concentrations of arsenic, of which there are only a few, there’s little health threat if that’s the only source of arsenic in your diet,” said Wilson.

“But consumers need to look at their diets as a whole. If you are eating a lot of contaminated rice, organic brown rice syrup, seafood, wine, apple juice 鈥� all those heavy contributors to arsenic poisoning 鈥� you should be concerned, especially pregnant women, kids and the elderly.”

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that is toxic to humans in some forms, and can cause skin, lung and bladder cancers, and other diseases. As rain, rivers or wind erode rocks that contain arsenic, it leaches into water and soil. From there, the toxic metalloid can work its way into the food chain.

The UW study is the first peer-reviewed research in decades to look at the arsenic content of American wines. As a group, they had higher arsenic levels than their European counterparts, likely due to the underlying geology of U.S. wine growing regions.

The study looked at red wines, except from two areas in Washington where only white wines were produced, because they are made with the skin of grapes where arsenic that is absorbed from soil tends to concentrate.

Wilson also tested for lead, which is a common co-contaminant. The study found lead in 58 percent of the samples, but only 5 percent 鈥� all from New York 鈥� exceeded drinking water standards.

Washington wines had the highest arsenic concentrations, averaging 28 parts per billion, while Oregon’s had the lowest, averaging 13 parts per billion.

“There were no statistical differences among Washington, New York and California,” she said. “The only star in the story is Oregon, where arsenic concentrations were particularly low.”

Where possible, the study also compared wines grown in “new” vineyards and those that had been converted from other agricultural uses like orchards, where farmers likely used arsenic-based pesticides that were popular in the early 20^th century. It found some evidence that higher levels of arsenic in Washington red wines could be a result of pesticide residue.

Because the average adult drinks far more water (between 1.7 and 3.2 cups per day) than even core or frequent wine drinkers (roughly a half cup per day on average), it’s an imperfect comparison to gauge health risks based on the EPA drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion. That’s why Wilson also evaluated how much arsenic individuals can safely consume from all the sources in their diet.

In a companion study, she compiled consumption data for foods that have been shown to contain arsenic 鈥� juice, milk, bottled water, wine, cereal bars, infant formula, rice, salmon and tuna.

From that, she was able to determine how much of an arsenic “dose” an average child or adult would get from each food source and how close it would come to risk thresholds set by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for total arsenic consumption across a person’s diet.

For the core or frequent adult wine drinker, the arsenic consumed from that single source would only make up 10 to 12 percent of the total maximum recommended daily arsenic intake. But if that person also eats large quantities of contaminated rice, tuna or energy bars, for instance, that could push that individual鈥檚 arsenic consumption beyond levels that are considered safe.

A person who eats an average or large amount of contaminated rice would get between 41 and 101 percent of the maximum recommended daily dose of arsenic from that one source alone, the study found. A child who drinks apple juice could get a quarter of the maximum daily arsenic dose from that single source.

The food that posed the largest risk of arsenic poisoning was infant formula made with organic brown rice syrup, an alternative to high-fructose corn syrup. Wilson estimated that some infants eating large amounts of certain formulas may be getting more than 10 times the daily maximum dose of arsenic.

Based on recent studies that have found arsenic in numerous foods and beverages, Wilson recommends that U.S. wineries test for arsenic and lead in irrigation and processing water and take steps to remove those contaminants if levels are found to be high.

But rather than litigate against vineyards 鈥� as some have done 鈥� she would encourage consumers to evaluate their diets more holistically and speak with a doctor if they have concerns. that can detect high arsenic levels and tend to capture arsenic exposure over longer histories than other toxic chemicals.

“The whole idea that you would sue a winery for having arsenic in their wine is like suing someone for having rocks in their yard,” Wilson said. “My goal is to get people away from asking the question 鈥榳ho do we blame?鈥� and instead offer consumers a better understanding of what they鈥檙e ingesting and how they can minimize health risks that emerge from their diets.”

For more information, contact Wilson at denisew@uw.edu or 360-969-5959.