About our Department

Environmental Health, Science and Policy

Mission Statement

In 1996 the faculty of the Irvine campus of the University of California set an unprecedented record by receiving two Nobel Prizes in a single year. One of these was in (environmental) chemistry honoring the distinguished work of Professor Rowland on the effects of CFCs on the atmosphere. The Irvine campus, now ranked 12th among public universities nationwide, has great depth and strengths in the study of the total environment that students are able to draw on throughout their studies.

Our department has dual foci on the environment and health. We are concerned with environmental health as well as the conditions that support the health of the environment. The interests and expertise of our faculty are diverse and crossdisciplinary, extending across natural sciences, biological sciences and statistics/mathematics. In recent years we have forged strong linkages to eight units in the College of Medicine as well as other schools on campus. We have undertaken collaborative research projects, sharing of graduate students, writing co-authored papers, and teaching of courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

The range of courses, faculty and research programs in the department reflect the range and scope of questions being addressed. With regards to environmental health science, we are studying agents of disease, both bacterial and viral, and heavy metals in the environment through environmental biotechnology, transport media (air, water, and soil), exposure assessment, developing new biomarkers in animal models, humans and the environment. We have projects focused on environmental epidemiology (lead and manganese exposure of children) and social epidemiology (suicide, child abuse and violence). We are engaged in understanding the etiology of disease (Alzheimer's among adults, autism and attention deficit hyperactive disorders among children) as well as the role of alternative medicine. Likewise, we are attempting to understand the linkages to behavior (smoking or tobacco, exposure to heavy metals) of exposure to environmental hazards. With regards to environmental analysis, we are studying the geophysical parameters of recent tectonic activity, their relationships to the built environment and potential for natural disaster in California. We are concerned about limits of water resources, impacts to quality and derivation of both local and international policy.

Our department is a place to acquire many new skills and a place to acquire an appreciation of the complexity of health of the total environment, and a place for students to identify their professional missions and to launch successful careers in the academy, government or the private sector. Our students find employment in a variety of settings including academia, governmental environmental protection agencies, environmental consulting, medicine, health care, and public interest groups.

The overriding goal of our department is to advance knowledge of the interactions among natural and social environments as well as health and behavior. It is our mission to improve environmental quality as well as human health and welfare through rigorous problem-solving and training of the leaders in the new Millennium. We welcome those who will join with us in advancing our mission to share implementation of our discoveries. Welcome to the Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy.

Undergraduate Program

The Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy offers two undergraduate majors: 1) Environmental Analysis and Design; and 2) Applied Ecology. The undergraduate majors in the department begin their program of study with core courses in environmental analysis and design, environmental quality and health, natural disasters, and human environments. Advanced courses cover specialized topics in these fields, as well as in public health, epidemiology, toxicology, and geology. A number of advanced courses delve into aspects of important environmental issues and problems, such as public policy, population growth and management, and issues in biotechnology. Undergraduates also gain rigorous training in research methods and statistics.

A rich array of internships are available to undergraduates through the very popular Field Study sequence. Opportunities for Field Study internships are plentiful in Orange County in settings such as education, health, planning, and public policy. Opportunities to participate in faculty research projects enrich the undergraduate experience by providing competence in the research process, thereby readying students for future careers and graduate study. Graduates from our program have assumed positions in the private and public sectors or have continued their education at leading graduate institutions, where they have pursued advanced degrees in medicine, law, public health, the environmental sciences and policy, among other fields.

The Education Abroad Program for the Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy provides students the opportunity to study abroad. Expanding the context and content of learning by exposing students and faculty to the challenges of diverse languages and intellectual traditions, other approaches to knowledge, and different cultural assumptions. EAP develops internationally aware citizens and enhances the potential of students and faculty to understand, respond to, and contribute to a rapidly changing world.

Graduate Program

The Department offers a degree program that leads to the Ph.D. in Environmental Health, Science, and Policy. Graduate study in our Ph.D. program will provide students with a foundation for a primary, or major, specialization in one of four core areas: environmental biotechnology, environmental health science, epidemiology and public health, and environmental management and policy.

Graduate students in our doctoral program acquire a strong foundation in theory, research methods, advanced statistics, as well as in the classic and contemporary issues of their respective fields. Students collaborate with faculty on research from the very beginning of their graduate training and are encouraged to gain research experience with more than one faculty member. As their interests and skills develop, students pursue more independent research projects. With 10 full-time and 14 affiliated faculty to serve as mentors for approximately 50 graduate students, our students enjoy the benefits of a program with an excellent faculty-to-student ratio and with a strong sense of community. Because students work closely with faculty throughout their graduate careers, they regularly have opportunities to co-author conference presentations, journal articles, and book chapters.

For more information about the Ph.D. in Environmental Health, Science, and Policy, please see the Graduate Program webpage. Finally, if you have specific questions that remain unanswered, please contact Margaret T. Wyvill, EHSP Department Manager at mtwyvill@uci.edu.

Concentration in Environmental Biotechnology

The concentration in environmental biotechnology in developmental provides training in the use of microbial, genetic, or molecular applications for environmental monitoring, environmental cleanup, and public health prevention and diagnostics of environmental hazards.

Concentration in Environmental Health Science

The concentration in Environmental Health Science expands the conventional focus of this discipline to approach research questions in an ecological context.

Concentration in Epidemiology and Public Health

The concentration in Epidemiology and Public Health embeds traditional approaches in these fields within a framework of physical, natural, and social systems.

Concentration in Environmental Management and Policy

The concentration in Environmental Management and Policy explores the linkages between physical environmental problems and the social institutions that are both their cause and solution.

Research and Computing Facilities

The Department maintains research facilities and equipment to support students and faculty in all aspects of their research. The Department has several laboratories equipped with laboratory equipment for use in marine and environmental biotechnology, environmental health science, environmental geology, air pollution, and public health microbiology and ecology.

The School also maintains two microcomputer laboratories, which are equipped with Pentium computers, laserjet and color printers, scanners, and a wide variety of software programs including ArcView and ArcGIS (spatial analysis software), SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), SAS (Statistical Analysis System), SYSTAT, EQS, LISREL, and AMOS (structural equation modeling programs), and standard word processing, graphics, and speadsheet programs such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Corel WordPerfect. The computers are networked to the campus ethernet system to provide high-speed access to e-mail and the Internet.

Graduate students and faculty are given unlimited free access to these computers, and orientation sessions offered in the fall quarter each year provide introductions to much of the statistical software available. The Office of Academic Computing at UCI provides further resources for computing and statistical analysis, as well as workshops on a variety of topics. Their technical staff are also available to consult with students and faculty about individual needs.

The School of Social Ecology

The Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy at UCI is part of the interdisciplinary School of Social Ecology. For nearly 30 years, the School of Social Ecology has been training scientists to examine problems from interdisciplinary and contextual perspectives.

The School enrolls 212 graduate students and more than 2,000 undergraduate majors, making it one of the most popular undergraduate programs on campus. Across the School, five doctoral programs, three masters programs, and five bachelors programs are offered. Affiliated faculty from the School, and from other departments on campus, teach relevant undergraduate and graduate courses and serve on committees for EHSP graduate students.

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Environmental Health, Science and Policy EHSP Home Faculty Graduate Students Recent Graduates Research Groups and Laboratory Faciltiies	Home About our Department Environmental Health, Science and Policy Mission Statement In 1996 the faculty of the Irvine campus of the University of California set an unprecedented record by receiving two Nobel Prizes in a single year. One of these was in (environmental) chemistry honoring the distinguished work of Professor Rowland on the effects of CFCs on the atmosphere. The Irvine campus, now ranked 12th among public universities nationwide, has great depth and strengths in the study of the total environment that students are able to draw on throughout their studies. Our department has dual foci on the environment and health. We are concerned with environmental health as well as the conditions that support the health of the environment. The interests and expertise of our faculty are diverse and crossdisciplinary, extending across natural sciences, biological sciences and statistics/mathematics. In recent years we have forged strong linkages to eight units in the College of Medicine as well as other schools on campus. We have undertaken collaborative research projects, sharing of graduate students, writing co-authored papers, and teaching of courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The range of courses, faculty and research programs in the department reflect the range and scope of questions being addressed. With regards to environmental health science, we are studying agents of disease, both bacterial and viral, and heavy metals in the environment through environmental biotechnology, transport media (air, water, and soil), exposure assessment, developing new biomarkers in animal models, humans and the environment. We have projects focused on environmental epidemiology (lead and manganese exposure of children) and social epidemiology (suicide, child abuse and violence). We are engaged in understanding the etiology of disease (Alzheimer's among adults, autism and attention deficit hyperactive disorders among children) as well as the role of alternative medicine. Likewise, we are attempting to understand the linkages to behavior (smoking or tobacco, exposure to heavy metals) of exposure to environmental hazards. With regards to environmental analysis, we are studying the geophysical parameters of recent tectonic activity, their relationships to the built environment and potential for natural disaster in California. We are concerned about limits of water resources, impacts to quality and derivation of both local and international policy. Our department is a place to acquire many new skills and a place to acquire an appreciation of the complexity of health of the total environment, and a place for students to identify their professional missions and to launch successful careers in the academy, government or the private sector. Our students find employment in a variety of settings including academia, governmental environmental protection agencies, environmental consulting, medicine, health care, and public interest groups. The overriding goal of our department is to advance knowledge of the interactions among natural and social environments as well as health and behavior. It is our mission to improve environmental quality as well as human health and welfare through rigorous problem-solving and training of the leaders in the new Millennium. We welcome those who will join with us in advancing our mission to share implementation of our discoveries. Welcome to the Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy. Undergraduate Program The Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy offers two undergraduate majors: 1) Environmental Analysis and Design; and 2) Applied Ecology. The undergraduate majors in the department begin their program of study with core courses in environmental analysis and design, environmental quality and health, natural disasters, and human environments. Advanced courses cover specialized topics in these fields, as well as in public health, epidemiology, toxicology, and geology. A number of advanced courses delve into aspects of important environmental issues and problems, such as public policy, population growth and management, and issues in biotechnology. Undergraduates also gain rigorous training in research methods and statistics. A rich array of internships are available to undergraduates through the very popular Field Study sequence. Opportunities for Field Study internships are plentiful in Orange County in settings such as education, health, planning, and public policy. Opportunities to participate in faculty research projects enrich the undergraduate experience by providing competence in the research process, thereby readying students for future careers and graduate study. Graduates from our program have assumed positions in the private and public sectors or have continued their education at leading graduate institutions, where they have pursued advanced degrees in medicine, law, public health, the environmental sciences and policy, among other fields. The Education Abroad Program for the Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy provides students the opportunity to study abroad. Expanding the context and content of learning by exposing students and faculty to the challenges of diverse languages and intellectual traditions, other approaches to knowledge, and different cultural assumptions. EAP develops internationally aware citizens and enhances the potential of students and faculty to understand, respond to, and contribute to a rapidly changing world. Graduate Program The Department offers a degree program that leads to the Ph.D. in Environmental Health, Science, and Policy. Graduate study in our Ph.D. program will provide students with a foundation for a primary, or major, specialization in one of four core areas: environmental biotechnology, environmental health science, epidemiology and public health, and environmental management and policy. Graduate students in our doctoral program acquire a strong foundation in theory, research methods, advanced statistics, as well as in the classic and contemporary issues of their respective fields. Students collaborate with faculty on research from the very beginning of their graduate training and are encouraged to gain research experience with more than one faculty member. As their interests and skills develop, students pursue more independent research projects. With 10 full-time and 14 affiliated faculty to serve as mentors for approximately 50 graduate students, our students enjoy the benefits of a program with an excellent faculty-to-student ratio and with a strong sense of community. Because students work closely with faculty throughout their graduate careers, they regularly have opportunities to co-author conference presentations, journal articles, and book chapters. For more information about the Ph.D. in Environmental Health, Science, and Policy, please see the Graduate Program webpage. Finally, if you have specific questions that remain unanswered, please contact Margaret T. Wyvill, EHSP Department Manager at mtwyvill@uci.edu. Concentration in Environmental Biotechnology The concentration in environmental biotechnology in developmental provides training in the use of microbial, genetic, or molecular applications for environmental monitoring, environmental cleanup, and public health prevention and diagnostics of environmental hazards. Concentration in Environmental Health Science The concentration in Environmental Health Science expands the conventional focus of this discipline to approach research questions in an ecological context. Concentration in Epidemiology and Public Health The concentration in Epidemiology and Public Health embeds traditional approaches in these fields within a framework of physical, natural, and social systems. Concentration in Environmental Management and Policy The concentration in Environmental Management and Policy explores the linkages between physical environmental problems and the social institutions that are both their cause and solution. Research and Computing Facilities The Department maintains research facilities and equipment to support students and faculty in all aspects of their research. The Department has several laboratories equipped with laboratory equipment for use in marine and environmental biotechnology, environmental health science, environmental geology, air pollution, and public health microbiology and ecology. The School also maintains two microcomputer laboratories, which are equipped with Pentium computers, laserjet and color printers, scanners, and a wide variety of software programs including ArcView and ArcGIS (spatial analysis software), SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), SAS (Statistical Analysis System), SYSTAT, EQS, LISREL, and AMOS (structural equation modeling programs), and standard word processing, graphics, and speadsheet programs such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Corel WordPerfect. The computers are networked to the campus ethernet system to provide high-speed access to e-mail and the Internet. Graduate students and faculty are given unlimited free access to these computers, and orientation sessions offered in the fall quarter each year provide introductions to much of the statistical software available. The Office of Academic Computing at UCI provides further resources for computing and statistical analysis, as well as workshops on a variety of topics. Their technical staff are also available to consult with students and faculty about individual needs. The School of Social Ecology The Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy at UCI is part of the interdisciplinary School of Social Ecology. For nearly 30 years, the School of Social Ecology has been training scientists to examine problems from interdisciplinary and contextual perspectives. The School enrolls 212 graduate students and more than 2,000 undergraduate majors, making it one of the most popular undergraduate programs on campus. Across the School, five doctoral programs, three masters programs, and five bachelors programs are offered. Affiliated faculty from the School, and from other departments on campus, teach relevant undergraduate and graduate courses and serve on committees for EHSP graduate students.
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Environmental Health, Science and Policy