Harness the power of data to protect the environment and improve public health.
Including 400-hours of mentored research, BU’s MS in Climate and Health is a STEM-approved, 34-credit program that will prepare you for research positions in academic settings, government, hospitals, private industries, or to pursue doctoral education in climate and health, environmental health, and related fields.
Curriculum
The Master of Science (MS) in Climate and Health provides an in-depth understanding of the far-reaching health impacts of climate change, challenging students to harness the power of data to protect the environment and improve public health.
As part of the Population Health Research umbrella program, the curriculum emphasizes the development and application of quantitative research methods necessary to evaluate the benefits of climate mitigation and adaptation measures, including analytical methods for decision-making, statistical computing, geographical information systems (GIS), and large spatial data processing related to climate.
MS in Climate and Health Degree Structure
Our MS program provides comprehensive training in research methods, real-world experience through faculty-mentored research, and the opportunity to build a professional network in Boston and beyond.
After completing the Climate and Health degree, students are able to:
Critically evaluate research reports and publications.
Design data collection and management plans.
Analyze and synthesize research findings to inform evidence-based policies or recommendations.
Develop a scientific hypothesis and design a research study to test the hypothesis.
Communicate research results in technical and non-technical terms to potential stakeholders.
The MS in Climate and Health is a flexible degree program that can be structured according to scheduling needs with opportunities for either full- or part-time study. Climate and Health students also have the opportunity to complete some coursework online, further supporting the achievement of academic goals while maintaining a balance between work, education, and home life.
The Climate and Health degree can be completed in as little as 12 months through full-time study beginning during the summer term. All students (full and part time) will begin the program in July and must complete Essentials of Population Health Research, an online course, and Accelerated Training in Statistical Computing, which runs in late August over two weeks.
Part-time Schedule:
Students can also opt to pursue the MS in Climate and Health at a part-time rate, taking one to two courses per semester and completing the program in an average of 24 months. All students (full and part time) will begin the program in July and must complete Essentials of Population Health Research, an online course, and Accelerated Training in Statistical Computing, which runs in late August over two weeks. Please contact the program director, Andrew C. Stokes, PhD, for more information on part-time scheduling.
SPH '21
Quinn Adams
"With a vast array of public health job and research opportunities, pursuing a degree in public health in Boston was very attractive."
In the Department of Environmental Health, we are conducting research on the effects of climate on health, the health benefits of climate solutions, and air pollution as an important co-benefit of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Effects of climate on health
Consortium for climate risks in the urban northeast (CCRUN)
The overall goal of this NOAA-funded regional integrated science and assessment (RISA) project is to assess the multi-sectoral risks posed by climate for communities stretching from Philadelphia to Boston. The project includes experts on climate modeling, sea level rise, storm surge modeling, water, air pollution and human health. On the health sector team based at BUSPH, researchers are examining patterns of heat-related health risks across the region, providing data of use to policy makers as they target interventions to reduce health impacts. In related work, we are assessing current and future health risks related to wildfires in a changing climate.
PI: Kinney
MesoAmerican Nephropathy Occupational Study (MANOS) Investigating an Epidemic of Chronic Kidney Disease in Central America
Since 2009, BUSPH researchers have been studying an epidemic of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Central America, a disease particularly common among young male manual laborers. MANOS is a longitudinal investigation of occupational risk factors (e.g. pesticides, metals, heat and gene x environment interaction) among ~560 workers in multiple industries (sugarcane, corn, plantains, and construction) in Nicaragua and El Salvador.
PI: Scammell
Co-Investigators: Leibler, McClean, and Brooks
Quantifying the adverse health impacts of extreme weather events
Research in this area aims to provide novel insights into the health risks posed by extreme weather events that are expected to become more extreme and/or more frequent with continued climate change. Specifically, we seek to quantify the impacts of a wide array of climate hazards (including extreme heat, high air pollution, tropical cyclones, wildfires) and other disasters on the health of vulnerable populations (including children, pregnant women, older individuals, and those of lower socioeconomic means).
PI: Wellenius
Health benefits of climate solutions
Evidence to improve heat warning effectiveness in reducing morbidity and mortality
Research in this area aims to provide public health officials across the country with location- specific, health-based evidence as to the effectiveness of heat alerts, and to provide insights into how communities can improve heat action plans to better protect the public’s health on days of extreme heat. This line of research is funded by grants from NIH and the Wellcome Trust.
PI: Wellenius
Air Quality and Health Benefits Modeling for the Transportation and Climate Initiative
The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) is a regional collaboration of 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States and the District of Columbia that seeks to improve transportation, develop the clean energy economy, and reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. The goal of this project is to quantify the public health benefits of alternative TCI policy scenarios. Areas of emphasis include quantifying the health co-benefits due to increases in physical activity, determining the health equity implications of alternative policy options, and contributing to time-sensitive reports given direct connections with pending policy decisions.
PI: Levy
Co-investigator: Kinney
Health benefits of green space in cities
This project aims to use Landsat 30 meter remote sensing data to estimate vegetation density, as well as population and baseline rates of cardiovascular mortality and low birth weight, to assess what health benefits can be achieved with exposure to green space in urban environments.
PI: Kinney
Co-Investigator: Lane
Building response capacity to extreme heat exposure in Chelsea and East Boston through Participatory Action Research
This project aims to characterize high-risk locations and populations for heat-related illness in Chelsea and the East Boston side of Chelsea Creek, along with mitigating community assets; to determine barriers and opportunities to maintain temperature control among vulnerable residents; and to impact city heat resiliency planning by engaging with city officials and other stakeholders.
PI: Fabian, Scammell
Co-Investigators: Levy, Kinney
Air pollution exposures and health risks
Few data exist to inform high-priority urban-health objectives such as quantifying existing health burdens at the neighborhood scale, identifying exposure reduction strategies for pollution hot spots, tracking air quality progress, and assessing the long term co-benefits of carbon mitigation strategies. This project utilizes newly available 1×1 km aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals from NASA MODIS satellite products which provides opportunities to construct higher-resolution fine particle (PM2.5) spatial fields for intra-urban public-health assessments.
PI: Kinney
Co-Investigator: Lane
Applications of low-cost sensors for long-term monitoring of PM2.5 and ultrafine particles in urban settings
While low-cost sensors can be valuable in assessing patterns of exposure to PM2.5 in cities, few sensors are optimal for monitoring long-term averages, the metric most relevant to air pollution-related health burden, and none can readily determine particle composition. This study is field-testing a low-cost passive sampler (University of North Carolina Passive Aerosol Sampler, UNC-PAS) to measure long-term mass and elemental concentrations of PM2.5 in urban areas, including a novel application for collecting ultrafine particles. The latter is being tested in conjunction with ongoing aviation impacts monitoring in Boston.
PI: Kinney
Co-Investigator: Lane
Community Measurements of Aviation Emission Contribution to Ambient Air Quality
This project is a long-term multidisciplinary and multi-university research project as part of an FAA-funded Center of Excellence, called the Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT, 2013-2023). This project, under ASCENT, focuses on air pollution, with efforts to determine the influence of flight activity on exposures and health outcomes. All work has the overarching aim to inform decisions about intervention strategies that improve public health at least cost, given impacts that include local air quality, noise, and global climate.
PI: Lane
Co-Investigator: Levy
Air Pollution and Urbanization Impacts on Cardio-Metabolic Health in India
As part of the Population study of Urban, Rural and Semi-urban Endovascular Disease and holistic intervention study (PURSE-HIS) researchers are using satellite-derived measures of air pollution and the built environment to examine the relationship with adverse health impacts in an 8,000+ person cohort. Additionally, this project is monitoring indoor air pollution among 1500+participants as part of a study to examine an air pollution intervention as the population transitions from solid fuel to liquid petroleum gas as part of a government subsidy program.
PI: Lane
The Asthma Simulation Tool for Housing and Medication Adherence (ASTHMA)
ASTHMA is a systems science grant that builds off a previous model of the effect of residential environmental exposures on pediatric asthma in low-income multi-family housing. ASTHMA expands to include asthma risk factors related to housing, energy, climate, the built environment and neighborhood stressors. It also links to electronic health records (EHR) at Boston Medical Center to build multidimensional pediatric asthma and lung function models.
PI: Fabian
Co-Investigator: Levy
Center for Research on Environmental and Social Stressors in Housing Across the Life Course (CRESSH)
CRESSH includes three fully-integrated research projects applying novel methods in epidemiology, exposure science, and cumulative risk assessment/disparities analysis, with strong community engagement across the Center. CRESSH focuses on multiple health outcomes across the life course with evidence for EHDs (birth outcomes, childhood growth rates, and cardiovascular mortality), in Massachusetts and within two low-income communities (Chelsea and Dorchester), as well as the influence of housing and the neighborhood environment on multiple exposures and health outcomes.
Patrick L. Kinney, ScD—Professor, Environmental Health
Dr. Kinney joined the BUSPH faculty in 2017 as the inaugural Beverly Brown Professor of Urban Health. He was trained as an air pollution epidemiologist at Harvard School of Public Health, and came to BU after two decades at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Read more.
Climate and public health researchers work on the front lines of some of the most pressing human health challenges of our time. As the ever-evolving issues pertaining to climate and health continue to be covered by news outlets daily, the demand for climate researchers and professionals is on the rise. Employment in the field of Environmental Health grew by 20% from 2013 to 2017 and is expected to continue to grow by 9% between 2017-2027 (statistics provided by Burning Glass Technologies).
With an MS in Climate and Health, graduates are prepared for doctoral study or to enter this rapidly growing field directly for successful public health research careers in academic settings, government, consulting firms, policy think tanks, and private industries.
To be admitted into this MS program, students must hold a bachelor’s degree from a recognized institution or be on track to complete one prior to enrollment. Students are not required to submit GRE test scores as part of their application.