Environmental Health Sciences
Help mitigate the effects of environmental agents on human health.
Professionals in environmental health sciences analyze the health impact of environmental pollutants and identify emerging threats to human health. Using state-of-the-art research methods, they design and implement solutions to environmental problems to meet the public health needs of society. They work to understand and minimize the adverse effects of environmental agents on human health.
As an environmental health sciences graduate student at UMass Amherst, you’ll apply multimodal research methods to characterize the impact of pollutants, toxicants, and other agents on human health. Your work can contribute to solutions for a host of real-world environmental issues. You’ll work with energetic faculty, gaining opportunities for laboratory-, field- and community-based research in the U.S. and abroad.
Our environmental health sciences programs prepare students to be leaders, with the technical knowledge and skills for expanded roles in the research assessment of environmental exposures. You’ll get hands-on experience using advanced skills in:
- Sampling and analysis of pollutants in the environment
- Epidemiological studies focused on risks of environmental exposures
Explore our programs
Jump in faculty research funding for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences from 2017 to 2022
Our environmental health sciences graduate degree employment rate is 100%.
Research Areas
Benefits list
Cross-Disciplinary Study
Our programs combine quantitative and qualitative approaches to measure and mitigate the effects of environmental stressors on human health. Professionals in our field collaborate with biostatisticians, epidemiologists, biologists, chemists, policy makers, and engineers to improve health for all.
Cutting-Edge Research
Our research is conducted in state-of-the-art laboratories and supported by funding from federal agencies including the NIH, the EPA, and foundations like the Health Effects Institute. Our work has a global reach, extending to India, Russia, Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh, England, and Canada.
CEPH Accreditation
Every program in the department of Environmental Health Sciences, like every other department within the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, is fully accredited by the Council of Education for Public Health, a key benefit of attending UMass.
Featured faculty
Laura Vandenberg
Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
Focus on endocrine disruptors, hazard assessment, developmental biology, endocrinology
Alicia Timme-Laragy
Focus on developmental toxicology, oxidative stress, Nrf and Ahr transcription factors, glutathione
Richard Peltier
Focus on aerosols, exposure, chemistry, measurements, and fieldwork.
Raphael Arku
Focus on air pollution, environmental exposure assessment, global health, health inequalities, spatial epidemiology, climate change, and sustainable development
In the news
SPHHS Announces 2024 Research Day Award Winners
The School of Public Health and Health Sciences held its annual Research Day on April 17, 2024, in the Campus Center Auditorium.
In the Media: News Roundup (March 22, 2024)
SPHHS researchers comment in multiple media outlets on health-related topics.
In the Media: News Roundup (February 23, 2024)
SPHHS researchers comment in multiple media outlets on health-related topics.
Environmental Health Sciences
Helping to mitigate the effects of environmental agents on human health.