A Fork in the Road for Environmental Health Workforce Development and U.S. Public Health.

I ntroduction It is widely understood by public health professionals that the practice of environmental health prevents disease. Accordingly, the profession is an honorable and noble profession that often is not fully appreciated until a public health crisis arises. With new and returning public health threats of environmental, domestic, and global significance gaining notoriety, interest in addressing these threats among our nation’s collegeentering population is on the rise as public health is one of 11 hot college majors according to U.S. News & World Report (Gandel & Haynie, 2013). Despite noticeable interest in the scientific aspects of the public health profession by current and entering students, the diversity of content delivered by various academic programs, as well as the lack of nationwide program availability, has drawn attention by health policy researchers (Tarasenko & Lee, 2015). To paraphrase Robert Frost and Rachel Carson, these entering and undecided college students driven towards a career in environmental public health stand now where two roads diverge. One road—a solid road to a career in disease prevention through environmental health—is built upon a foundation comprised of science and technical expertise. The other road—the road more frequently traveled—provides beautiful signage advertising the same career destination, but often leads to dead ends or arduous detours due to a weak foundation not capable of meeting the demands of an increasingly complex domestic and global environment. The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) Committee on the Future of Environmental Health (1993a) offers the following definition of environmental health: Environmental health and protection refers to protection against environmental factors that may adversely impact human health or the ecological balances essential to long-term human health and environmental quality, whether in the natural or human-made environment. Edi tor ’s Note : In an effort to promote the growth of the environmental health profession and the academic programs that fuel that growth, NEHA has teamed up with the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP) to publish two columns a year in the Journal. AEHAP’s mission is to support environmental health education to ensure the optimal health of people and the environment. The organization works hand in hand with the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council (EHAC) to accredit, market, and promote EHAC-accredited environmental health degree programs. AEHAP focuses on increasing the environmental health workforce, supporting students and graduates of EHAC-accredited degree programs, increasing diversity in environmental health degree programs, and educating the next generation. This column will provide AEHAP with the opportunity to share current trends within undergraduate and graduate environmental health programs, as well as their efforts to further the environmental health field and available resources and information. Furthermore, professors from different EHACaccredited degree programs will share with the Journal’s readership the successes of their programs and the work being done within academia to foster the growth of future environmental health leaders. Jason Marion is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health at Eastern Kentucky University. He is also the current president of AEHAP. Timothy Murphy is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health Management at The University of Findlay. A Fork in the Road for Environmental Health Workforce Development and U.S. Public Health Jason W. Marion, PhD Eastern Kentucky University Timothy J. Murphy, PhD, REHS/RS, DAAS The University of Findlay