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. Course work is highly interdisciplinary and includes civil or mechanical engineering, chemistry, geology, soil science, ecology, and public policy. Environmental and occupational epidemiology studies the causal relationship between environmental and occupational exposures and human health.
Epidemiologic inference requires in-depth knowledge of both subject matter and methods.
The curricula comprise epidemiologic methods, biostatistics, basic sciences, toxicology, and environmental health, and core public health. Environmental health policy provides broad, multidisciplinary training in environmental health issues, including occupational health, risk assessment, risk management, decision making, and policy analysis. The curriculum includes core public health, environmental health, research methods, biostatistics, exposure and risk assessment, environmental and occupational health policy, and policy economics. Ongoing research and internship experiences provide students with opportunities to synthesize and apply their academic experiences to potential professional settings. Environmental microbiology is the study of the occurrence, significance, and control of microorganisms in the environment that may affect human health, including environmental monitoring and control of microbial contamination.