Environmental Health Sciences Program

My main project during the summer was completing well water samples from newly constructed homes. Water sampling was part of the well permitting process, but because there has been a sudden increase in construction in Catawba County, the environmental health specialists began falling behind on water samples. I had great supervisors and a great team of environmental health specialists in the food and lodging and on-site division. I spent time with every staff member during the course of my internship and soon learned how knowledgeable everyone was. Everyone was very accommodating, friendly, and a pleasure to work with.

I helped with a project that Gaston County has been working on for five years through a grant given by the CDC. The project was called Healthy Wells. Healthy Wells focus was to make sure that the residents of Gaston County, that had private wells, had safe water for the resident to drink. They wanted to make sure that everyone had water that was not contaminated and considered undrinkable. What I loved about my internship was going to the different establishments, learning firsthand how the health inspectors do their jobs, and being able to expand my knowledge in environmental health.

My main project as an environmental, health, and safety intern was to completely redo and overhaul of the company’s safety data sheet database. What I loved about my internship was throwing myself out there and meeting and talking to new people in my field and in the corporate field including vice presidents, presidents, and CEOs.

My main project was CDC mosquito pooling to test for infected mosquitos. I set up to 8 mosquito traps a day to catch as many vectors as possible using CDC Gravid and CO2 Light traps. My favorite thing about my internship was the relationship I had with my coworkers. They never made me feel like a lesser employee because I was an intern and really made me feel welcome.

I was a Swimming Pool Technician and my main project was performing swimming pool inspections. What I loved about my internship was being able to gain confidence in my personal abilities out in the field while still helping and protecting the public.

I spent time within the U.S. Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps as a Junior COSTEP within the Indian Health Service. I assisted in conducting food health, safety, and sanitary surveys for the purposes of securing the health and wellness of tribal communities within the range of Reno District Office, serving tribes in Nevada, Arizona, and California. What I loved most about my internship was assisting the communities I visited as I feel I was able to make a difference. I helped to improve the health and wellbeing of the communities I visited and further educate tribal leadership and facility operators and management on what can be done in the future.

My main project focused on gathering both employee and guest accident reports from 2016 to 2021, adding them into our safety management software, and then analyzing that data to identify trends in accidents and injuries. My research assessed everything from work location and date of injury to specific rapid locations and the causes of those injuries. The most important thing I learned this summer was that organization and communication is key in this field. Effective communication of health and safety information is at the center of everything we do.

Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social, and psychosocial factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations.

Environmental health professionals protect human health and safety by:

• Maintaining a safe supply of food and drinking water;
• Discovering the mechanisms of environmentally related diseases such as insects, rodents, and other animal carriers of disease;
• Treating and disposing of solid and toxic waste;
• Reducing air, water, food, and noise pollution; and,
• Ensuring safe schools and workplaces by identifying, recognizing, and controlling hazards.

Students in environmental health have the opportunity to take courses such as:

• Water Quality and Wastewater Management
• Air Quality
• Food Sanitation and Protection
• Medical Entomology
• Environmental Toxicology
• Epidemiology
• Biosafety and Bioterrorism Prevention

Environmental health professionals work in many different areas of both the private and public sector. Some of the career paths our alumni have followed include:

• Environmental Health Officer for the U.S. Public Health Service
• Environmental specialist for state health departments
• Industrial hygienists
• Epidemiologists
• Safety Professionals

Not hard at all. More than 95% of environmental health graduates who are actively seeking a job have one at graduation or soon after. Environmental Health is an “underserved” field. Graduates are also well positioned for admission to competitive graduate school programs

Additionally, Environmental Health is an excellent “pre-professional” degree for such disciplines as medicine, physical therapy, dentistry, and other healthcare fields.

Yes! There are several scholarship opportunities that are available specifically for WCU Environmental Health majors in addition to a variety of WCU scholarships available to students across campus.