The MPH program, with a concentration in Environmental Health, prepares students to move into the front lines of public health. The curriculum first gives a firm grounding in environmental health science and policy, and then allows students to tailor further coursework to their interests in environmental epidemiology, environmental exposures and risk assessment, community-based environmental health and justice, or global health and sustainability. A final academic project and hands-on experience in a work setting complete the MPH concentration in Environmental Health. Our graduates find rewarding careers in public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and research and consulting settings.

All EH concentrators must take EH 765 to meet the MPH core course requirement. It is strongly recommended that concentrators in Environmental Health take the 4-credit core courses in Biostatistics and Epidemiology (that is, BS 703 Biostatistics and EP 712 Epidemiologic Methods).

Concentration Requirements (minimum 16 credits)

All concentrators must take:

• EH 768 Introduction to  Toxicology

In addition to EH 768, Environmental Health concentrators are required to complete at least 12 credits from the following list of courses:

• EH 710 Physiologic Principles for Public Health
• EH 713 Molecular Biology and Public Health
• EH 714 Public Health Response to Emergencies
• EH 745 Wastewater and Health/Sustainable Sanitation
• EH 757 Environmental Epidemiology
• EH 771 Topics in Environmental Health
• EH 780 Great Calamities and  Their Consequences in Public Health
• EH 783 Application of Environmental Health
• EH 804 Exposure Assessment
• EH 805 Scientific Basis of Environment and Occupational Health Standards
• EH 806 Development and the Environment
• EH 807 Urban Environmental Health
• EH 811 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Public Health
• EH 818 The Built Environment: Design Solutions for Public Health
• EH 840 Intermediate  Toxicology
• EH 866 Risk Assessment Methods
• EH 871 Advanced  Topics in Environmental Health
• EH 914 Doctoral Seminar
• EH 961 Directed Studies in Environmental Health
• EH 962 Directed Research in Environmental Health
• PH 825 The Role of Human and Environmental Factors in Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases

Courses from other concentrations that carry Environmental Health credit:

• EP 752 Cancer Epidemiology
• EP 755 Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Other courses (not for concentration credit):

• EH 708 Introduction to Environmental Health

Areas of Emphasis

Although students do not formally declare an area of emphasis within the Environmental Health concentration, most students choose
to focus in one of the following optional areas. For more information, see the concentrator guide.

• Environmental epidemiology
• Environmental exposures and risk assessment.
• Community environmental health and justice.
• Global ecology, environmental sustainability, and health.

Culminating Courses

The following classes are considered culminating courses in Environmental Health; students must declare the culminating experience in one of these classes:

• EH 757 Environmental Epidemiology
• EH 804 Exposure Assessment
• EH 840 Intermediate  Toxicology
• EH 866 Risk Assessment Methods
• EH 961 Directed Studies in Environmental Health (when completed for 4 credits and approved specifically as a culminating course)

At the end of each semester, the department holds a seminar session in which students completing a capstone course present their projects to one another and to the faculty involved in the students’ work. The students’ work will be graded on a pass/fail basis. In this final seminar, students explain their work and its significance to people with different perspectives and situate their work within the broader framework of environmental health.

The Master of Science (MS) in Environmental Health prepares graduates to work as program or project managers, as staff scientists or research associates. As awareness of environmental influences on human health increases among policymakers and the public, opportunities for graduates to make a difference are expanding. These opportunities are found in state and federal agencies, town governments, nonprofit organizations, environmental consulting firms, university settings, and industry. Students focus in one of four substantive areas: environmental epidemiology; the environmental health aspects of urban and community health; toxicology and risk assessment; or exposure assessment.

MS Requirements

MS candidates must complete a total of 48 credits (12 courses), with a minimum grade of B in each required course. The degree must be completed in 5 years.

All students take a common set of six courses:

• EH 765 Survey of Environmental Health
• EH 710 Basic Human Physiology
• EH 768 Introduction to Toxicology
• EH 804 Exposure Assessment
• EP 712 Epidemiologic Methods
• BS 723 Introduction to Statistical Computing

Students also take a set of three courses required for their chosen area of focused study. There is some overlap in the course requirements of the four areas of study, all of which draw on this list of courses:

• EP 854 Modern Epidemiology
• EH 807 Urban Environmental Health
• EH 757 Environmental Epidemiology
• BS 805 Intermediate Statistical Computing & Applied Regression Analysis
• BS 852 Statistical Methods for Epidemiology
• SB 818 Qualitative Research Methods
• EH 811 GIS in Public Health
• EH 840 Intermediate Toxicology
• MS 753* Cell Biology
• EH 866 Risk Assessment Methods
• EH 962 Research in Environmental Health

*in the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences of the Boston University School of Medicine.

Students must participate in an integrative experience that has three components; the research or internship experience, a paper in which the student conducts a rigorous analysis of the work conducted, and an oral presentation of the paper in a departmental seminar. Students are expected to complete the integrative experience for zero credit during the summer.

The doctoral program in Environmental Health, which leads to the PhD degree, gives students specialized training and research experience. The doctoral program prepares them for roles as research scientists in environmental and occupational epidemiology, exposure assessment, risk assessment, toxicology, urban environmental health, or environmental and occupational health policy. It also prepares them for management and staff positions in organizations concerned with environmental management and regulation as well as with public policy affecting environmental or occupational health. Graduates of the doctoral program continue the department’s tradition of rigorous, innovative, and socially engaged research.

Most doctoral students choose one of the four established areas of study within the department: environmental epidemiology, urban and community environmental health, toxicology, or exposure assessment and risk assessment. Alternatively, a student may design an individualized set of requirements if the student’s desired program of study is not otherwise achievable.

All students must meet the same set of degree requirements and may draw on the course offerings of the Department of Environmental Health and other departments within the School. All doctoral candidates also participate in research rotations through which they clarify their research interests.

Doctoral students take part in a weekly seminar series that focuses on topics chosen each semester by the department’s faculty and students. Recent topics include gene—environment interaction, obesity, immunotoxicology, exposure assessment, and environmental health law. A proseminar offers an informal setting in which students may present on their own evolving research interests or hold sessions on a range of topics intended to help them move successfully through the doctoral program.

To receive the doctoral degree, candidates entering the doctoral program must complete the equivalent of 64 credits, 16 graduate-level courses, complete three research rotations, pass a qualifying exam, and complete a dissertation. Candidates who have already earned the MPH or a related master’s degree must take eight graduate-level courses (32 credits) beyond the master’s degree and complete a dissertation; at least 16 credits of the coursework must be in environmental health. Those not completing the requirements for the MPH degree can receive the doctoral degree without earning a master’s degree. If the requirements for the MPH degree are completed, the degree will be awarded while the doctoral degree is in progress.

Dissertation

Students must complete their coursework and pass their qualifying examination prior to beginning their dissertation. Students working on their dissertations must register for continuing study, EH 980, each fall and spring semester until the dissertation is defended orally and accepted. EH 980 is ungraded and zero credits; students pay the equivalent of 2 credits per semester plus student health insurance. Students are certified with full-time status.

The dissertation demonstrates to the student’s thesis committee that the degree candidate has designed, performed, and reported on substantial independent research in his or her chosen field. It is an original research effort judged to meet the publication standards of peer-reviewed journals in the candidate’s field of concentration. Students must adhere to dissertation submission deadlines and requirements. The Program Director is Michael McClean, mmcclean@bu.edu.