Environmental and Occupational Health is the study of how human health and welfare are impacted by the natural and engineered environmental systems in which people live and work. The field has a technical focus, applying fundamental knowledge from chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics, to the assessment, prevention, and control of population risks from chemical, physical and biological agents. However, environmental and occupational health scientists also must recognize and incorporate the fundamental role of social context in the appropriate selection, design and implementation of interventions to improve population health. Some topics of the field include air and water quality, waste handling, foodborne illness, environmental degradation, pest management, ecosystems, urbanization, climate and geochemistry, toxicity and toxins, exposure science, population dynamics and epidemiology, risk assessment, environmental justice, and environmental and occupational law.

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Health with a concentration in Environmental and Occupational Health provides students with advanced preparation in the scholarship of the field of environmental and occupational health. Students develop fundamental research skills in the quantitative and qualitative sciences as well as specialized expertise in a specific area of interest. They apply those skills to the in-depth study of a specialized environmental and occupational health research question. Our students typically have Master of Science degrees in public health sciences, the natural sciences, or engineering. Some students also have substantial experience in the environmental or occupational health fields prior to enrollment.