Student Experience

2022 was a year of growth, change and global recognition for the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), which secured top rankings in US News & World Report’s Best Global Universities 2022-2023 survey.  

Belen Salguero BS, Environmental Health Hometown Morton, WA Future plans A public health career focusing on worker health in marginalized communities

For Esther Min, the most effective public health science starts with listening to the needs of communities.

Greta Gunning BS, Environmental Health Hometown Seattle, WA Future plans A career as a public health scientist, likely at a public agency “It was great to see how prioritizing relationships could make a meaningful impact in public health.” - Greta Gunning

A new $2.3 million program funded by the US National Science Foundation will educate and equip young scientists to cultivate resilience to climate impacts such as flooding and extreme heat.

Learn more about NWCOHS funding for DEOHS graduate students in Occupational Hygiene, One Health and Occupational & Environmental Medicine At the marine mammal hospital Sealife Response, Rehab and Research (SR3) in Des Moines, Washington, this fall has been a busy one: the facility has

Last spring, a cohort of students in the UW Brotherhood Initiative toured Boeing sites in Everett and Renton with faculty members in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).

Isabel Nerenberg, MS student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), is one of two recipients of this year’s Russell L. Castner Endowed Student Research Fund, which supports student research in environmental health.

Claire Schollaert, PhD student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), is one of two recipients of this year’s Russell L. Castner Endowed Student Research Fund, which supports student research in environmental health.

Diana Marquez MS, Applied Occupational Hygiene Hometown Grandview, WA Future plans A career with Washington State Department of Labor & Industries “The most meaningful thing has been getting to change workers’ perspectives around the work we do in occupational health and safety.”

Everetta Rasyid, a MS student in Applied Toxicology at the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), recently spoke with us about her experience in the program and her summer internship with HP.

Communities in one of Washington’s most wildfire-prone regions share hard-earned wisdom about communicating the risks of wildfire smoke in a new report from a team of UW researchers, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Okanogan River Ai

Aaron Bentson-Royal, a MS student in Applied Environmental Toxicology at the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), recently spoke with us about his experience in the program and his internship this summer at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund and Emergency Management Division.

Aarti Tandon BA, Food Systems, Nutrition and Health Hometown Yorba Linda, CA Future plans To pursue medicine in environmental and occupational health. “I believe my research helps reduce gaps in fair and equal access for marginalized peoples.” - Aarti Tandon

PhD graduate Megumi Matsushita (left) with Professor Zhengui Xia.

Read more about our graduates and their future plans Families, friends, faculty and staff gathered Friday to celebrate 82 students graduating from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) in the department’s first in-person graduation ceremony in three years.

Shelley Stephan MS, Occupational Hygiene Hometown Irvine, CA Future plans A career as a research industrial hygienist.

Megumi Matsushita PhD, Environmental Toxicology Hometown Otsu, Japan Future plans A career in public service as a public health scientist “My goal is to use all the knowledge and training that I have accumulated over the years to help inform public health decisions.”

Amalawa Aiwekhoe BS, Environmental Health Hometown Everett, WA Future plans Continue his job at Boeing as an occupational health and safety specialist, eventually returning to DEOHS for his Applied MS in Occupational Hygiene.

Inna Antonchuk MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Hometown Rivne, Ukraine Future plans Continuing to work as a nurse as well as applying her public health training, perhaps with a government agency “I am very interested in immigrant occupational health but also in public health policy."

Nancy Carmona PhD, Environmental and Occupational Hygiene Hometown West Sacramento, CA Future plans Teaching, research and working on environmental health policy

Katy Burr MPH, One Health Hometown Seattle, WA Future plans Joining the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service program “I'm hopeful that my work will help to illuminate ways to keep people who work with animals safer at work.” - Katy Burr

 

 

Apply for the program In the earliest stages of life, our health is particularly vulnerable to environmental contaminants such as particulate matter in air and endocrine disruptors in food, water and household products.

Yoni Rodriguez MS, Occupational Hygiene Hometown Toppenish, WA Future plans Pursuing an MD/PhD in Environmental Health “My next step is to couple public health education with technology that monitors and removes environmental toxins in a safe, efficient and sustainable manner.”

Dorian Kenleigh MPH, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Hometown Pittsburgh, PA Future plans Continuing to advocate for workers, such as in the cannabis industry as a medical consultant.

Daaniya Iyaz MS, Environmental Health Hometown Born in Chennai, India; raised in Sammamish, WA, USA Future plans Working in public health in government or consulting.

In 2021, the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) welcomed new faculty, forged collaborations in climate and health, and continued our innovative, community-oriented environmental health research on areas including air pollution, COVID-19 and the far-reaching health impacts of wildfire smoke across Washington state. Explore our top stories below.

My PhD adviser approached me with an unexpected opportunity in June 2020. A colleague in Portugal was looking for students to study at his university in Lisbon as part of the US Fulbright Student program. This was something I had never considered. But completing a year of my PhD in Lisbon was not a chance I was going to pass up.