Susan Kaplan

Susan Kaplan is an environmental health lawyer, professor and writer. She has held policy positions in federal and state government, served as assistant director of an energy policy group at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, and taught environmental health policy in the public health programs of the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University. Her book, A Healthy Union: How States Can Lead on Environmental Health, was published by Island Press in fall 2025. A Healthy Union describes how and why environmental health protections eroded at the federal level and explores leading state environmental health policies across the country and political spectrum, along with lessons learned that professionals and advocates in any state can make use of to protect their community from pollution and toxic chemicals.