I chose EnHS because of my passion for the environment and climate justice. The places that we live, work, and play heavily influence health outcomes and examining that relationship is what led me to this program. With a public health interest in environmental justice, I wanted to select a program that blends science and public health concepts together.

My advice would be to connect early with faculty and peers from other divisions to learn more about what the field of public health has to offer. This program offers many opportunities for interdisciplinary work which helps shape you into a well-rounded candidate. I would also encourage new students to get involved in student organizations. These outside events can help you network, learn more about different careers, and help push for change within the School and in the community.

EnHS is all encompassing in Public Health and offers a wide range of career opportunities in various fields ranging from Infectious Disease, Epidemiology, Toxicology, Food Safety and lots more. The world needs advocacy in “One Health” issues; the challenges of climate change and infectious disease emergence influence health outcomes. It is imminent that more environmental health professionals are needed to ensure health promotion.

This is a great place to advance your career in Public Health, The school of public Health is among the top 10 schools of public health in the country, which was one of the motivations for me choosing the University of Minnesota. The EnHS unit has very supportive team that has offered a lot in my time here; in addition, gaining much knowledge and experience in a short while is very inspiring.

I chose EnHS because of the amazing faculty in the department. It has been such a great experience to learn from experts in the field who are also very passionate about teaching. Another reason that I chose EnHS was because of all of the research and work opportunities at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. EnHS and the School of Public Health as whole both do a great job of setting students up for success.

One great thing about the EnHS MS program is that there is quite a bit of room for electives in your schedule, so take advantage of that! Make time in your schedule for courses that really interest you and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself!

I chose EnHS because of my interest in the connection between human health and our environments. I was working in a clinic at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeing patients at high risk for serious infection due to their underlying conditions made me wonder what could be done upstream as many of these conditions are preventable and stem from lived environments. Additionally, while attending the University of Minnesota-Morris for my undergraduate degree, I became aware of how important it is to take care of the environment. Climate change puts a lot of communities at risk. With this program, I am able to combine my interests in climate and health.

That grad school isn’t as scary as it seems! It is a lot of work but with proper time management I feel there are more opportunities to do well. Being able to take more focused classes that you are interested in also helps.