environmental health phd programs

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Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Health .

Program overview.

The PhD program in Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health provides students with specialized training and research experience in environmental epidemiology, exposure science, spatial epidemiology/GIS, climate and health, risk assessment, and toxicology, with an emphasis on environmental justice and community-engaged work. The program prepares graduates for careers in advanced research, teaching, policy, and leadership, and has been designed to ensure that students receive the training, research experience, resources, and support necessary to be successful. The average time to degree completion is 4.6 years.

Our program is one of a small number of academic units nationally that specializes in investigating exposure-related health outcomes in community settings. Faculty are engaged with policy makers, community organizations, and vulnerable populations, working across numerous countries and domestically at the national, state, and local levels. Our dedicated faculty are committed to providing trainees with research opportunities that are consistent with a student’s research interests and that draw from our department’s experience conducting rigorous, innovative, and socially engaged research. We are also committed to providing inclusive educational experiences for students from a range of backgrounds, and are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion both within our department and across the field of environmental health. Please see the section for our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for more information on our ongoing activities.

The Department of Environmental Health engages in a wide range of collaborative research. Major areas of interest include the health effects of air pollution and a changing climate, such as through the Center for Climate and Health at BUSPH; complex mixtures of chemicals, such as chemicals contained in consumer products as well as contaminants of water, food, and soil; non-chemical hazards such as noise, heat, and social stressors; and combinations of chemical and non-chemical exposures that accumulate or interact to harm health. Vulnerable populations such as children, military veterans, and people living in poverty in the U.S. and internationally are of special interest to us.

Students are engaged in research projects with faculty throughout the program. To gain research experience and identify a dissertation topic, students complete research rotations with faculty. All PhD students also serve as teaching assistants at least once during their time in the program and are involved with departmental activities such as seminar planning, journal clubs, and an annual department retreat.

Program Elements

Our PhD students engage in full-time coursework for the first one to two years of the program, a minimum of 32 credits (with prior relevant master’s degree) or 64 credits (without prior relevant master’s degree), depending on level of preparation prior to admission.

The EH PhD program requires coursework in environmental health, epidemiology and biostatistics. Coursework is organized as six required courses, additional courses in three different training areas, and electives.

Research Rotations

Our research rotation program allows students to become involved in research during their first year and is designed to assist students in the process of identifying a dissertation topic. Specifically, students participate in a research rotation during each of their first three semesters (fall, spring, summer). Students work with their advisor to select research rotations based on their interests, which provides opportunities to work with different faculty members and gain experience on different projects.

Teaching Opportunities

Our program is committed to providing doctoral students with opportunities to develop their teaching skills. Each year, our department offers teaching assistant opportunities associated with several different classes. Students are required to serve as a teaching assistant in at least one class during their time in the program, though most choose to do so more than once.

Seminar, Proseminar, Journal Club, Department Retreat

Our PhD students participate in a doctoral seminar (every week), a doctoral proseminar (monthly), a journal club (monthly) and an annual research retreat, all of which represent key elements of our program.

• The  Gijs van Seventer Environmental Health Seminar   provides trainees the opportunity to engage in an academic seminar addressing substantive topics in environmental health. 
• The Doctoral Proseminar (short for professional seminar) covers topics not typically addressed in traditional coursework but critical to professional development (e.g., grant writing, strategies for preparing a manuscript, strategies for managing data, etc.).
• The Journal Club allows students to gain experience reviewing and critiquing scientific journal articles, stay abreast of the literature in the field, and become more familiar with diverse topics across the field of environmental health.
• The annual EH Department Retreat is held each fall at an off-site location over 1-1½ days. The primary goals of the research retreat are to: enhance the cohesiveness of faculty and students while sharing ideas and developing new opportunities; provide trainees with an additional opportunity to discuss their research; allow trainees to hear about ongoing research projects both within and outside the department; and create an event that facilitates the social and professional transition of new trainees and new faculty members in the program.

Qualifying Exam

After completing coursework, each trainee submits an application to the Doctoral Committee for approval to take qualifying exams. The application consists of a dissertation proposal in the form of a federal grant proposal and a copy of their unofficial transcript. The qualifying exam includes a written and an oral component.

Dissertation

Each student works closely with their advisor and dissertation committee while conducting their research and preparing their dissertation. The dissertation takes the form of 3 publishable papers, plus an abstract, introduction, and conclusion. Ultimately, students present their dissertation in a public forum that all individuals are welcome to attend.

We ensure that each of our admitted PhD students has all of the following:

• Full financial support, including stipend, tuition and fees, health insurance, a computer, and support for travel to scientific conferences;
• A faculty mentor with the experience and expertise necessary to train the student in their area of interest; and
• Research opportunities that are consistent with the student’s research interests that can serve as the basis for their dissertation.

A T32 training grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (PI: Claus Henn), in combination with traineeships through the BU Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (PIs: Levy, Templer, Hutyra), individual training awards, and individual research grants, provide the resources necessary to ensure that our PhD students receive full financial support for the duration of their program.

Review the PhD in Environmental Health Guidebook

Review the EH PhD Program Competencies

Upon completing the PhD in environmental health, students are able to:

• Communicate the basic characteristics of major chemical, physical and biological hazards and the properties that govern the hazards’ behavior in the environment;
• Explain the scientific characteristics (e.g., route of exposure, dose response, mode of action) of major chemical, physical, and biological hazards that result in human health risk;
• Explain and analyze genetic, physiologic, and social factors that affect the susceptibility to adverse health outcomes following exposure to environmental hazards;
• Critically evaluate and interpret the hypothesis, experimental design, methods and results presented in a paper from a technical journal article in an environmental health discipline (toxicology, epidemiology, exposure assessment, environmental policy);
• Identify data gaps and formulate testable hypotheses about critical questions in environmental health;
• Design and implement data collection strategies and rigorous evaluations to test hypotheses using novel or current techniques;
• Analyze and interpret environmental health data;
• Identify appropriate intervention strategies for specific environmental health problems;
• Prepare scientific manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed journals in the field of environmental health; and
• Communicate scientific results at national and/or international conferences in the field of environmental health.

Statement on Holistic Admissions

The admissions committee will be looking, as always, at the entire application in their evaluation including transcript, cumulative GPA, recommendations, personal statements, and research experience. GRE scores are not required and will not be considered by the admissions committee. We encourage applicants to include special circumstances as well as achievements that may not be apparent due to modified grading policies in their personal statements. This policy has been adopted to ensure that applicants are not differentially evaluated by admissions committees due to the varied impact of COVID-19 on individuals and/or due to the specific grading policies of their colleges/universities.

Profiles of Current Students

Recently defended, stephanie grady.

Stephanie’s research interests lie at the intersection of exposure assessment, spatial science, and place-based epidemiology. Her work investigated the health effects of built environment exposures on aging populations.

Leila Heidari

Leila applied an environmental justice and community engagement lens to her work on heat exposure and vulnerability. Using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches, she worked with collaborators in the department and at GreenRoots, a grassroots environmental justice organization, on the Chelsea and East Boston Heat Study (C-HEAT). Her dissertation work included the development, comparison, and contextualization of Heat Vulnerability Indices for Massachusetts and Boston, the evaluation of the C-HEAT Photovoice project through decision-maker interviews, and a mixed-methods characterization of individual-level experiences with heat. She was a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN).

Alina McIntyre

Alina’s research was part of the Chelsea and East Boston Heat Study (C-HEAT), a collaborative project between GreenRoots, Inc. and BUSPH. She was specifically involved in community-engaged heat and air pollution exposure research, when drew on environmental epidemiology, exposure assessment, and qualitative methods.

Emily Pennoyer

Fourth Years and Up

Quinn adams.

Quinn is interested in applying spatial and statistical methods to understand how climate hazards impact human health. She is particularly interested in action-oriented research and identifying strategies to reduce health impacts. Her work spans several aspects of climate and health. For example, her dissertation focuses on how extreme weather and climate change alter the distribution of vector-borne diseases. She has additionally been exploring the use of novel data sources to understand population responses to extreme heat events. Quinn is a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN).

Pilar Botana Martinez

Advisor: M. Patricia Fabian, ScD

Pilar is interested in doing research at the intersection between indoor environmental health and climate change, with an equity lens. She prioritizes research goals that are actionable and benefit overburdened communities. Her current work quantifies indoor heat exposure in urban heat islands, explores the resilience of buildings to overheating, and identifies barriers to an equitable energy transition in affordable housing. Before joining the program, Pilar worked in the fields of architecture and urban planning for 18 years.

Laura Buckley

Advisor: Jonathan I. Levy, ScD

Laura is interested in analyzing how climate change mitigation efforts impact public health, with the goal of supporting policies that promote equitable and healthy communities. Specifically, her dissertation seeks to understand how different strategies to reduce transportation emissions in the Northeast impact existing pollution exposure inequities between populations. She is also analyzing the health impacts of nitrogen dioxide exposure across Mexico. Laura is also a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN).

Jocelyn Fimbres

Jocelyn investigates the exposures related to the progression of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in El Salvador and Nicaragua. She is assessing the validity of new biomarkers in the progression of the disease through epidemiological and toxicologic tools. She is interested in the connection between the external and internal mediators of disease.

Samantha Hall

Advisor: Jessica H. Leibler, DrPH, MS

Samantha (Sam) is interested in the health of food workers and hopes to better understand effects of environmental and agricultural exposures on the human microbiome. Her dissertation work focuses on metal mixtures and bioinformatic techniques to understand relationships between metal exposure, disruptions in the urinary microbiome, and kidney health in a population at high risk of kidney disease. She is also a BU URBAN trainee and works with a community group (The Trustees of Reservations) advocating for policy changes to increase safety and accessibility of city-sourced compost for community gardeners.

Sean Mueller

Sean investigates the impact of air pollution associated with aviation activities. He is examining how aircraft operations contribute to ambient ultrafine particle (UFP) concentrations near Boston Logan International Airport and how piston-engine aircraft using leaded aviation gasoline contribute to pollution exposure in communities near General Aviation Airports.

Kathryn Rodgers

Advisor: Madeleine L. Scammell, DSc

Kathryn’s research interests include researching causes of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology, finding strategies to reduce exposures to consumer product chemicals, and translating science for policy change.

Jennifer Oliver

Jennifer investigates the relationship between early life exposures to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and pulmonary health in children. In collaboration with Project Viva co-investigators at Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Jen is evaluating the relationship between PFAS and pulmonary function and growth between childhood and adolescence. She is most interested in the use of advanced epidemiologic methods to explore underlying mechanisms of exposure-disease relationships, especially longitudinal analysis and mixtures analysis.

Third Years

Flannery black-ingersoll.

Advisor: Amruta Nori-Sarma, PhD

Flannery is interested in innovative environmental epidemiology methods for studying climate change effects on public health and policy implications. She is a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN).

Beverly is interested in the intersection of climate change, public health, and sustainability. She is particularly motivated to conduct projects that can support immediate and tangible interventions in communities. Currently, she is exploring the use of indoor environmental quality monitors as decision tools for schools. She is a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN).

Noelle Henderson

Noelle’s research interests include methodological approaches for assessing the effects of chemical mixtures, particularly for endocrine disrupting chemicals, on child health outcomes. She is also interested in investigating the effects of gestational exposures on reproductive and birth outcomes.

Emily Leonard

Emily is interested in applying environmental epidemiology methods to investigate how chemical mixtures affect reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric health, with an emphasis on vulnerable populations. Her dissertation work will focus on metal mixtures and novel exposure science methods to understand the relationship between metal exposure and childhood neurodevelopment.

Second Years

Jonathan lee.

Jonathan is broadly interested in investigating the design of the built environment through a public health lens, particularly in relation to climate change and health equity. Specific research interests include how transportation systems, land use decisions, and urban designs impact health and how to use public health as a catalyst for change. He is a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN).

Erin is interested in researching the health and ecological impacts of the oil and gas industry to understand climate mitigation strategies, health-informed decarbonization plans, and adaptation efforts that can benefit both human and ecosystem health. She is a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health.

Margaret Quaid

Advisor: Maria Argos, PhD

Margaret is interested in the effects that environmental exposures have on gene expression through epigenetic modulation. She has worked previously with PFAS exposures and is interested in working with a variety of environmental exposures, including heavy metals.

First Years

Grace betts.

Advisor: Anoop Jain, DPH/DRPH

Grace is interested in investigating the climate and health co-benefits and equity implications of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, especially those related to the built environment and urban planning and policy. This includes the monitoring and evaluation of these strategies to better understand their public health benefits across contexts, such as levels of urbanicity or population subgroups. She is a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN).

Lydia Lichtiger

Advisor: Junenette L. Peters, ScD

Lydia is interested in environmental and social influences on health and exposures experienced during early life. She is specifically interested in studying the combined effects of exposure to air pollution and psychosocial stressors on child health.

Charlotte Robbins

Advisor: Kevin James Lane, PhD, MA

Charlotte is interested in participatory mixed methods approaches to understanding the effects of climate change on human health. She is a trainee in the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN)

Niouma Semega

Niouma's research interests encompass the innovative application of geospatial analysis and biostatistics to address racial disparities in environmental health. Her work aims to understand and mitigate the adverse health effects experienced by underserved populations, focusing particularly on critical issues such as air pollution, climate change, and vector-borne diseases. By integrating data driven methodologies, Niouma seeks to uncover the complex relationships between environmental factors and health outcomes, ultimately contributing to more equitable and effective public health interventions.

Selene Vences

Selene’s research interests include investigating the environmental mechanisms and community-level drivers of Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology, health effects of the built environment, and occupational exposures on human health throughout the life course, using mixed methodologies to generate targeted interventions and implement policy changes.

Post-Graduate Positions

Our graduates successfully obtain positions as postdoctoral research fellows and faculty members at academic research institutions; as senior scientists at environmental consulting companies, nonprofit organizations, and other private industries; and as senior scientists at regulatory health and other government agencies.

The  BUSPH Career Office is available for students interested in learning more about career paths, networking and navigating the job search process.

Below is a summary of the institutions and organizations where graduates of our program have obtained positions.

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships

Harvard School of Public Health, Brown University School of Public Health, Dartmouth Center for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research, Michigan University School of Public Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Léa-Roback Research Centre on Health Inequalities, Michigan Public Health Institute, Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Yale University Climate & Energy Institute, Channing Laboratory at Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Students & alumni can access the Fellowships section of the SPH Career Library

Positions in Academia

Boston University School of Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Northeastern University, University of California – Irvine, Dickinson College, East Tennessee State University, University of Southern Maine, Clark University, Brandeis University, University of California, Berkeley

Government Agencies

Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Minnesota Department of Public Health, California Department of Public Health, United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Environmental Protection Agency

Students & alumni can access the Government Agencies section of the SPH Career Library

Environmental Health & Engineering, Abt Associates, Global Health Solutions, The Lifeline Group Students & alumni can access a list of Consulting Firms in the SPH Career Library

PhD in Environmental Health Admissions Requirements

Learn more about the PhD in Environmental Health's full admissions requirements and application deadlines.

For inquiries regarding the PhD program, please contact Dr. Kevin Lane , Interim Director of Doctoral Training for the Department of Environmental Health.

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