Dr. Kristen Good, MEM

Principal Scientist & Co-Founder

Kristen Good

Dr. Kristen Good is an epidemiologist and public health professional with a scientific background in risk assessment, toxicology, exposure assessment, and environmental sciences. With 15+ years of professional experience spanning academia, private industry, and government, Dr. Good is passionate about identifying data-driven, scientifically-supported solutions to complex problems and communicating those solutions to stakeholders and the public.

As Deputy Chief of the Health Equity Branch at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) since 2020, Dr. Good serves as the leading technical authority in occupational health and indoor air quality. She manages multi-million dollar initiatives including the Clean Air for Schools Program (which provided over 45,000 HEPA air cleaners to 500+ K-12 schools) and the Wildfire Smoke Preparedness Program. She also led the state's COVID-19 Industry Response Team from 2020-2022, advising on workplace prevention and outbreak response across hundreds of workplaces.

Prior to CDPHE, Dr. Good spent several years as a human health risk assessor in private-sector consulting, focused on toxic tort litigation related to occupational exposures to asbestos and benzene, and conducting risk analyses for federal programs including USDA's National Organic Program and the U.S. EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and Superfund Programs.

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Areas of Expertise

  • Environmental epidemiology & exposure reconstruction
  • Occupational health surveillance, outbreak investigation, and emergency response
  • Wildfire smoke, indoor air quality, and extreme heat preparedness
  • Human health risk assessment (IRIS, Superfund, toxic tort litigation)
  • Expert testimony and regulatory guidance development
  • COVID-19 workplace safety and communicable disease prevention
  • Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu incident response and worker protection
  • Chemical-specific risk assessment (asbestos, benzene, dioxin, chromium)

Education

  • PhD – Colorado State University (2015 – 2018)
    Environmental Health (Epidemiology): research on residential energy, air pollution, and health in low-income countries.
  • MEM – Duke University (2009 – 2011)
    Environmental Management (Toxicology & Environmental Health concentration)
  • B.Sc. – Boston College
    Biology, minor in Environmental Studies

Notable Projects & Leadership

  • Clean Air for Schools Program (2023): Led design and implementation providing over 45,000 HEPA air cleaners to 500+ K-12 schools and 1,000+ early childhood centers, plus a network of 2,400 indoor air quality monitors across 369 schools. Awarded CDPHE Divisional "Star Award" and nominated for Departmental "Exemplifying Public Health Award."
  • Wildfire Smoke Preparedness Program (2024-2027): Project Director focused on education and training for building management to ensure clean indoor air during wildfire smoke events, with emphasis on disproportionately impacted populations.
  • COVID-19 Industry Response Team Lead (2020-2022): Managed workplace outbreak investigation and response for hundreds of non-healthcare workplaces across food manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and distribution sectors. Coordinated with Governor's Office and multiple state departments on policy development.
  • Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu Response (2024): Served as occupational health lead and Incident Safety Officer for outbreak response among dairy and poultry farm workers, focusing on worker protections and health equity.
  • Indoor Air Quality Assessment Program (2021-2024): Directed in-depth indoor air quality measurements and ventilation inspections for 53 facilities statewide, serving high-risk and disproportionately-impacted occupational settings.

Awards & Recognition

  • Nominee, "Exemplifying Public Health Award," CDPHE (2023)
  • Divisional "Star Award," CDPHE (2023)
  • Executive Director's Performance Award, CDPHE (2020)
  • Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) Fellowship, Colorado State University (2017–2018)
  • Colorado State Senate testimony on mold exposures and wildfire smoke (2025)
  • Multiple peer-reviewed publications in Environmental Science & Technology, JAMA, and other leading journals

Select Publications & Reports

  • Good, K.M. (2025) Colorado's 2025-2029 State Health Improvement Plan, Air Quality and Climate Change Adaption Priority Areas. CDPHE.
  • Tanner K, Good KM, Goble D, Good N, et al. (2023) "Large Particle Emissions from Human Vocalization and Playing of Wind Instruments." Environmental Science & Technology, 57(41), 15392-15400.
  • Neophytou AM, Lutzker L, Good KM, et al. (2023) "Associations between prenatal and early-life air pollution exposure and lung function in young children."Environmental Research, 222:115415.
  • Metz A, Bauer M, Good KM, et al. (2022) "Investigation of COVID-19 Outbreak among Wildland Firefighters during Wildfire Response, Colorado, USA, 2020."Emerging Infectious Diseases, 28(8).
  • Good N, Fedak KM, et al. (2021) "Respiratory aerosol emissions from vocalization: Age and sex differences are explained by volume and exhaled CO2."Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 8(12), 1071-1076.
  • Bond T, Fedak KM, et al. (2021) "Quantifying proximity, confinement, and interventions in disease outbreaks: A decision support framework for air-transported pathogens." Environmental Science & Technology, 55(5): 2890-2898.
  • Waltenburg MA, Fedak KM, et al. (2021) "COVID-19 among workers in food processing, food manufacturing, and agriculture workplaces." Emerging Infectious Diseases, 27(1):243-249.
  • Fedak KM, Good N, Walker E, et al. (2019) "Acute effects on blood pressure following controlled exposures to cookstove air pollution in the STOVES Study."Journal of the American Heart Association (JAMA), 8(14): e012246.

Note: The majority of Dr. Good's published reports are under her prior name "Kristen M. Fedak."

Get in Touch

Email: kristen.good@redspire.us

For inquiries about exposure assessments, occupational health consulting, expert witness services, or partnering with the RedSpire team, connect directly with Kristen.