As part of Boston University’s Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, the Environmental Health certificate helps you to understand public health toxicology and evaluate the public health risks associated with exposure to environmental hazards. State-of-the-art tools and a practicum experience build proficiency in assessing and researching public health disparities as a future environmental health sciences professional. This 16-credit MPH certificate program is STEM approved; visit the ISSO website for details.
With your training in environmental health sciences, you are prepared to pursue a career as a researcher, a scientist in the field, and an environmental advocate in government positions, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector.
As part of the Environmental Health certificate program, MPH students expand their knowledge of the environmental health sciences as they:
Collect and analyze environmental data and articulate the characteristics of major chemical, physical, and biological hazards.
Interpret measured or modeled concentrations or doses of hazards compared with risk-based and non-risk-based criteria and guidelines.
Evaluate the influence of susceptibility based on a hazards’ biological mode of action, and vulnerability on health risks for major environmental determinants of human disease.
Identify defensible intervention and prevention strategies to improve health through reduction in exposures to environmental hazards.
Critically assess articles related to environmental impacts on health, analyzing the strength and validity of the hypothesis, study design and methods, results, conclusions, and public health significance of primary research studies.
Sample Course Titles
Methods in Environmental Health Sciences
Toxicology for Public Health
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Public Health
MGH Community Health Associates Graduate Student Intern—Hepatitis C study, Massachusetts General Hospital
Research Assistant—obesity study, Boston University School of Public Health
Investigated health risks associated with artificial turf fields and playgrounds at Boston University School of Public Health
Examined PCB concentrations in New Bedford Harbor Quahogs for Human Risk Implications, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Integrative Learning Experience (ILE)
Integrated into the MPH program, students explore environmental health science by writing a policy memo for a defined stakeholder group. Through this experiential learning opportunity, the student will work on a case study either from a project-based class (e.g., Exposure Assessment, Risk Assessment) or an idea developed independently, in either case approved by the certificate director.
The Master of Public Health program’s Environmental Health Functional Certificate offers students a career-focused specialization centered on public health toxicology. For more information about MPH degree requirements and admissions, request information to learn more.