Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences

Degree requirements

A 24-month program that bridges the scientific and health policy worlds and provides a broad perspective on environmental and occupational health. Students gain the expertise and skills to solve environmental health problems in a variety of settings, including government agencies, private industry and nonprofits. Includes a 160-hour, field-based practicum experience conducted under the guidance of a faculty adviser and practicum site supervisor.

As a student in the MPH in Environmental Health Sciences program, you will:

• Take six MPH core courses focused around cross-cutting themes in public health, including: ethics and equity; global and local perspectives; communication skills, systems thinking and leadership and collaborative skills; and the evidence-to-action-and-back cycle.
• Gain hands-on, real-world experience through a clinic-based practicum experience under the guidance of a faculty adviser and a practicum site supervisor.
• Take common core courses in environmental and occupational health sciences introducing foundational concepts and skills, including: risk assessment, management and communication; assessment and management of exposures to environmental hazards; and the core principles of toxicology.
• Learn about the policies and practices that prevent or control environmental hazards in a variety of settings and choose additional elective courses on topics that align with your interests.
• Complete a culminating experience (thesis or capstone project) showcasing your ability to integrate the skills you have learned to address an environmental or occupational health problem.

Culminating experience

Complete either a research thesis or a practice-based capstone project. Students choosing the thesis option formulate and test a hypothesis, then share and defend their results in a written thesis. Students choosing the capstone option participate in a supervised field study where they collect and analyze information, produce a practical solution to a real-world challenge and share their results through a project report and final presentation.

Tuition & funding support

Traineeships, fellowships, research and teaching assistantships and other funding opportunities can help students reduce costs of attendance.

Career support

DEOHS’s dedicated internship and career services manager provides DEOHS graduate students with:

• Personalized, one-on-one career advising for current students and recent graduates.
• Help with finding internships and jobs.
• Career development workshops.
• Networking opportunities.
• Employer information sessions with representatives from industry, consulting, government agencies and advocacy organizations.
• Access to a LinkedIn networking group, internal internship boards and public health job sites.

Career pathways

Our MPH graduates find careers in a range of private, public and nonprofit positions. Recent DEOHS graduates work as:

• Staff Scientist at Intertox, a scientific consulting firm.
• Research Coordinator at the University of Washington.
• Air Monitoring Coordinator at the Washington State Department of Ecology.