Specialty Tracks

Environmental Chemistry

Environmental chemistry examines the interactions of pollutants with air, water, soil, and their exposures to humans and wildlife. The curriculum emphasizes the processes that control chemical behavior, transport, and fate as a function of environmental factors and chemical properties.

Current laboratory research focuses on understanding the processes that govern organic toxicant behavior in the aquatic environment. Fundamental research in the laboratory is also conducted to develop and test hypotheses of chemical behavior in the "real world."

The environmental chemistry laboratory participates in a large multi-agency effort that is developing a model for use in the Great Lakes that describes toxic chemical behavior. Additional projects concentrate on the relative roles of atmospheric versus non-atmospheric sources of chemicals to the Great Lakes and the state of Minnesota, to aid in the management and regulation of the ecosystem.

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Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology

Environmental and occupational epidemiology strives to understand the causal impact of environment and occupation on human health, because public health interventions are most likely to be effective when disease and injury etiology is understood. Epidemiologists develop studies to identify factors that cause diseases and injuries. The study of environmental and occupational epidemiology requires knowledge of both subject matter and methods. The curriculum emphasizes both, comprising epidemiologic methods, biostatistics, basic sciences, toxicology, and environmental health. Students may focus in one of three components: exposures related to cancer, exposures related to injury, or epidemiologic methods.

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Exposure Sciences

Humans are exposed to hazards in the home, in the workplace, and outdoors. They may be exposed through the air, water, soil, and food to chemical, physical, and biological hazards. If these exposures are of sufficient intensity and duration, they can affect the public health.

Students in the Exposure Science Program will study methods for the identification, measurement and simulation of human exposure and dose resulting from single and multimedia environmental exposures. Students will receive training on various aspects of exposure analysis such as measurements and modeling; chemical, biological, and physical principles required to analyze human exposure from single and multiple routes; mechanisms of exposure; development of molecular biomarkers; and genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic metrics that assess exposure in the context of health effects.

Although each student’s particular graduate program will be customized to their background and interests, all students learn about characterizing exposures to various kinds of environmental agents, about health effects associated with these exposures, and about methods for controlling such exposures in the workplace or general environment. The students will undergo training in theory, and to state-of-the-art techniques for air and biological monitoring, for characterizing aerosols, for mathematical modeling in uncertain environments, for designing control systems, and for science-based risk assessment. You will also benefit from specialized research areas represented among the EnHS faculty. Finally, by working with your EnHS advisor you will be exposed to the fundamental elements of scientific critical thinking - how to develop an idea into a research hypothesis, how to test the hypothesis with appropriate methods, how to make scientific inferences, and how to publish the results of your work.

Graduates will be well prepared for a research career in academia, government or the private sector.

Degree Options

At this time the Master of Science degree is the only degree option available. Students are admitted to the Graduate School's environmental health program.

Financial Assistance

Students choosing this specialty may apply for several competitive scholarships or traineeships available within the division. Students are also eligible to apply for graduate assistantships through funded research projects. An assistantship provides tuition reimbursement and salary support.

Primary Faculty

Gurumurthy Ramachandran, Ph.D., Professor
John Adgate, Ph.D. Associate Professor
Peter Raynor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Matt Simcik, Ph.D., Associate Professor
William Toscano, Ph.D., Professor
Bruce Alexander, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Deborah Swackhamer, Ph.D., Professor

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General Program

Students are admitted to the general program in environmental health when they are looking for a program of study that does not fit precisely with the specialty tracks defined in the EH major. Emphasis is on the development of a broad, solid foundation in environmental health, with a larger than usual number of elective credits to allow the student an opportunity to pursue their particular interests. Planning such a program requires careful discussion between the student and faculty advisor. Applicants interested in a global health concentration in EH should apply for the general program at this time.

It is occasionally possible for students to transfer into a specialty track after admission to the general program. This is viewed on a cases by case basis. Applicants to the general program should not assume that they will easily be able to transfer into another concentration. Degree options include MPH and MS.

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Global Environmental Health

Global environmental health considers the environment globally and its effects on human health around the world. Issues of water and air quality, food safety, and the effects of industrialization are considered, as well as major ecological problems such as deforestation and sustainable agriculture. Interactions between the physical environment and biological health risks are considered also. The effects of globalization of trade and the rapid movement of populations from one part of the world to the other are important “vectors” for the spread of disease globally. The global environmental health track provides key information for individuals looking to work in the field of global environmental health either overseas or in the U.S. Degree options include MS and MPH.

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Industrial Hygiene

Industrial hygiene (IH) is concerned with the health and safety of people at work, and the community at large. Specific concerns are with the recognition, evaluation and control of potential workplace hazards, including chemical, physical and biological agents; and the potential health threats to the community and the environment.

This highly ranked program is accredited by the Applied Science Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-412, Telephone 410-347-7700. The program is part of the NIOSH-funded Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety. Course work emphasizes core public health topics as well as industrial hygiene applications, study of airborne contaminants, physical agents, safety, and hazardous waste and materials management.

The field of industrial hygiene is highly multidisciplinary, drawing on all the major core scientific disciplines of physics, engineering, general and organic chemistry, biology, mathematics, statistics and others. The importance of the field has grown rapidly in recent years as society increasingly recognizes the need to maintain healthy and safe working environments. This has produced a climate where exciting and valuable career opportunities exist for well-qualified practitioners and researchers in industry, government organizations, and academic and research institutions.

Hazardous Substances Academic Training is a sub-specialty within the IH track that trains master's level professionals with an emphasis in hazardous wastes and hazardous materials health and safety management. Students in this area take all the IH required courses and in addition complete practicum and research project work in the field of hazardous materials or hazardous waste management.

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Environmental Infectious Diseases

The environmental infectious diseases specialty is concerned with the emergence of food-borne and infectious diseases in the United Sates and around the world. The environment, and changing conditions in the environment can have a great impact on the distribution and occurrence of infectious diseases. Global climate change is a growing concern regarding the potential expansion of tropical vector borne diseases. In evaluating the chain of infection, environment may play a key role in reservoir maintenance, as well as a route of transmission through food, water, and air. From basic principles of infection control to predicting the impact of emerging infections, this program will explore the environmental factors associated with infectious diseases.

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Occupational Health Nursing

Occupational health nursing (OHN) is concerned with the health and safety of people at work, their families, and the general community. Specific concerns include the development, management and evaluation of health services, programs, and policies designed to promote health and prevent work-related injuries and disease.

The OHN program is funded in part by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The program was competitively reviewed by NIOSH, using a peer review process involving occupational and environmental health colleagues, and received the best score in the nation (1997-2002). The curriculum includes course work in environmental and occupational health sciences and policy, epidemiology, research methods and statistics, management, and public and occupational health nursing.

The field has grown rapidly as employers and the government realize the need to protect the health and safety of the nations' work force. The ever increasing number of workplace hazards (including chemical, physical, psychosocial, and biological agents), the development of new governmental regulations, the concerns for escalating health care costs, and the tight labor supply have all converged into a heightened societal awareness of the need to maintain and promote the well-being of workers. Occupational health nurses are uniquely prepared to address this trend.

Agricultural health and safety training is a sub-specialty within the OHN track that addresses the need for additional education among nurses providing public health services, primary health care and other types of consultation to farming families and farm workers. Interested students complete a minor of 4-6 credit hours of specialized instruction and master's level research projects to supplement the general OHN curriculum. The minor emphasizes the etiology, risk factors, and prevention strategies for agricultural injuries and disease.