Environmental Health Sciences - Program Learning Objectives

The learning objectives of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences include a comprehensive understanding of the effects of biological, chemical and physical hazards in the environment on human and ecosystem health, and the means of managing these hazards. These objectives are fulfilled through required courses and elective courses chosen in consultation with the academic advisor. Performance-based outcomes are obtained through course written and oral examinations and papers, a department comprehensive exam/internship (for the MPH), a thesis or major report/written comprehensive exam (MS), and ongoing interactions between the student and academic advisor. Fulfillment of the objectives is measured by the dissertation for students in the doctoral programs (DrPH, PhD in Environmental Health Sciences or Molecular Toxicology, and the DEnv). The MPH and DrPH programs focus on training expert professionals with a broader understanding of the synergistic relationship between applied environmental and public health issues. The MS and PhD programs educate professionals and innovative researchers in specialized areas of the field. The department also offers the DEnv degree, a unique interdepartmental degree program that provides students with a broad understanding of the environment and with the technical and managerial skills of environmental problem solving. The Department is also the home of the Molecular Toxicology Program, a doctoral program that utilizes the campus-wide ACCESS program to provide a sound grounding in laboratory techniques as well as the traditional in-depth original investigation.

The MPH Program

MPH graduates should be able to:

• characterize the biological, chemical and physical hazards affecting human and ecosystem health;
• apply knowledge of these factors in developing management strategies and making policy recommendations;
• critically read scientific and lay literature in the field of environmental health sciences; and
• conceptualize, design, implement, and evaluate programs and policies to protect and promote environmental health.

The MS Program

MS graduates should be able to:

• characterize the biological, chemical and physical hazards affecting human and ecosystem health;
• apply knowledge of these factors in developing management strategies and making policy recommendations;
• critically read scientific and lay literature in the field of environmental health sciences; and
• conceptualize, design, implement, and evaluate programs and policies to protect and promote environmental health.

The learning objectives for each track follow:

Air Quality

MS graduates specializing in air quality should be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of atmospheric transport;
• demonstrate an ability to predict downstream concentrations of pollutants from point sources;
• demonstrate an understanding of atmospheric chemistry and transformations;
• demonstrate an understanding of the properties and measurement methods of common air pollutants including gases, vapors and aerosols;
• demonstrate competence in environmental sample analysis;
• demonstrate an understanding of the health effects arising from exposure to air pollutants; and
• demonstrate an understanding of air pollution control technology.

Environmental Biology

MS graduates specializing in environmental biology should be able to:

• evaluate, identify and solve problems in the sampling and analysis of environmental media and their biota;
• demonstrate the existence of food chains and interspecies influences;
• identify and evaluate the impact of humans on ecosystems;
• identify when environmental pollution may lead to problems in environmental and public health; and
• understand the genetic, environmental and population influences in ecosystems.

Environmental Chemistry

MS graduates specializing in environmental chemistry should be able to:

• evaluate, identify and solve problems in the sampling and analysis of environmental and biological media;
• related chemical methods to assess the fate and transport of chemicals;
• have adequate laboratory skills to solve practical problems in identification and quantification of chemicals in environmental and biological media;
• critically evaluate and utilize environmental chemistry data and the published literature, and to develop models to predict adverse events;
• understand the role of environmental chemistry in environmental regulations; and
• integrate environmental chemistry approaches into the solution of public and environmental health problems.

Environmental Toxicology

MS graduates specializing in environmental toxicology should be able to:

• understand the critical processes involved with transport and fate of contaminants in humans, including absorption, distribution, excretion, biotransformation, as well as basic toxicologic process and organ system toxicity;
• understand the fundamental concepts of various fields that contribute to the field of toxicology including physiology, pharmacology, genetics, specialty areas in biology or medicine, biochemistry, and biostatistics;
• conceptualize how toxicology is integrated with the disciplines that comprise public health, especially environmental health; and
• critically read the scientific literature in toxicology.

Industrial Hygiene

MS graduates specializing in industrial hygiene should be able to:

• describe the work environment associated with common manufacturing processes and the potential hazards;
• demonstrate an understanding of the properties and measurement methods for gases, vapors, aerosols, physical agents, biological agents, and ergonomic/social stress factors in the work environment;
• demonstrate competence in environmental sampling, measurement, and analysis;
• perform instrument calibrations for direct reading instruments;
• characterize health effects arising from exposure to chemical and physical agents in the work environment;
• apply appropriate control technologies to reduce exposure to chemical and physical agents to safe levels; and
• demonstrate an understanding of the scientific literature in the field of occupational health.

Water Quality

MS graduates specializing in water quality should be able to:

• gain an understanding of the sources of natural and man-made chemicals in the aquatic environment;
• gain an understanding of the chemical behavior of aquatic water systems;
• develop knowledge and familiarity of the microbial world and its significance to water quality;
• gain an understanding of the various treatment options for drinking water, waste water, and water reuse;
• develop measurement skills through laboratory courses and projects and the ability to interpret analytical data obtained for various water bodies;
• to understand the standards and regulations available to protect water sources from chemical and microbial pollution;
• understand the national and international standards and regulations available to ensure protection of water bodies and human health;
• gain the skill and knowledge in the development and design of research projects and to follow the designs to completion through individually directed research; and
• enhance communication skills with water quality professionals through field study, project assignments and conference attendance.

Environmental policy/environmental management, though not a formal track, is also an important academic area that cuts across all the above tracks since it interfaces directly to public health.

The DrPH Program

In addition to the objectives listed under the MPH Program, DrPH graduates should be able to:

• understand the major theoretical orientations applied within the environmental health sciences;
• understand the major theoretical orientations applied within the environmental health sciences;
• comprehend the relationship between theory and research method in the environmental health sciences;
• supervise and conduct health research in multidisciplinary and applied settings; and
• act in an advisory role in the interpretation of public health data for the development and implementation of public policy.

The PhD Program

Academic areas of concentration are the same as for the MS degree above. The PhD objectives include those listed under the MS areas of concentration. In addition, PhD graduates should be able to:

• understand the major theoretical orientations applied within the disciplines that comprise the environmental health sciences;
• comprehend the relationship between theory and research method in the disciplines that comprise the environmental health sciences;
• develop and conduct original research that contributes to the theoretical and scholarly understanding of the effects of environmental hazards on human ecosystem health, the development of the means for managing these hazards, or assisting in the policy formation process for choosing among these means; and
• publish at least two original articles in the peer-reviewed literature.

The DEnv Program

The Environmental Science and Engineering Program (ESE), an interdepartmental doctoral program administratively housed in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, offers the professional degree, Doctor of Environmental Science and Engineering (DEnv).

DEnv graduates should be able to:

• demonstrate ability to analyze broad aspects of an environmental problem, including such matters as its history, previous research and techniques, future directions and possible social, economic and political impact when relevant;
• acquire practical experience in the environmental science and engineering field;
• quantify and measure necessary parameters, perform critical evaluations, edit and process technical and socioeconomic information;
• obtain a comprehensive understanding of effective technical writing skills, including the essentials of grammar, punctuation, syntax, content, organization and format needed to produce well written journal articles, research reports, memoranda, letters and resumes; and
• demonstrate ability to conduct in-depth analysis of an environmental problem by producing a scholarly dissertation.

In addition to these general objectives, DEnv graduate have specific objectives depending on their area of concentration.

Water Quality and Hydrology

DEnv graduates concentrating in water quality and hydrology should be able to:

• understand the physical/chemical mechanisms, as well as biological degradation and accumulation involved in the transport and fate of pollutants in aquatic environments;
• understand the modeling techniques for multimedia mass transport of pollutants between phases;
• analyze the components of the hydrologic cycle, including precipitation, infiltration, surface water runoff, groundwater and evapotranspiration;
• understand the biological, chemical and physical bases of water quality and pollution; potability and chemical and biological aspects of treatment and reclamation; and
• understand the analysis and design of water and wastewater treatment systems.

Air Quality

DEnv graduates concentrating in air quality and should be able to:

• develop a conceptual and factual understanding of five major air pollution problems: photochemical smog, acidic deposition, air toxics, accumulation of greenhouse gases, and depletion stratospheric ozone; and
• conceptualize and have a specific knowledge base in terms of a Alifetime and fate@ framework, which provides an integrated and coherent basis for applying atmospheric chemistry and meteorology to these key air pollution problems.

Applied Ecology

DEnv graduates concentrating in applied ecology and should be able to:

• apply ecological theory and principles to solve environmental problems, including impacts to biodiversity, restoration of degraded habitats and mitigation of environmental impacts; and
• understand quantitative methods for assessing the ecological impacts of human activities.

Environmental Planning, Management, and Law

DEnv graduates concentrating in environmental planning, management, and law should be able to:

• understand applicability and limitations of quantitative methods for evaluating health effects an environmental impacts of human activities;
• demonstrate mastery of statistical methods for environmental characterization and basic concepts of risk assessment, resource economics, and multi-attribute decision analysis;
• demonstrate mastery of basic concepts of environmental planning: decision-making for remediation, siting, planning and other land uses; acquisition and analysis of data on valuation of environmental preferences; analysis of environmental justice and related emerging issues; and
• understand the legal basis of U.S. environmental policies, the legal consequences of public decision-making strategies, and methods for analysis of environmental issues under laws and regulations in the U.S.

Environmental Toxicology

DEnv graduates concentrating in environmental toxicology should be able to:

• understand the environmental aspects of toxicology with an emphasis on humans; and
• understand the critical processes involved with transport and fate of contaminants in humans: absorption, distribution, excretion, biotransformation, as well as basic toxicologic process and organ system toxicity.

The PhD Program in Molecular Toxicology

The Molecular Toxicology Program is an interdepartmental doctoral program administratively housed in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Faculty from a variety of departments and schools at UCLA, including Biological Chemistry, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Medicine, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, joined forces to create this PhD program.

Specialties within the PhD program in Molecular Toxicology include, but are not limited to, reproductive and developmental toxicology, genetic toxicology, gene-environmental-nutrition interactions, toxicokinetics and metabolism, genetics and molecular biology, and carcinogenesis. There is a particular emphasis on mechanisms of toxicity, since it is now widely accepted that understanding mechanisms will provide the means for accurately determining risk.

New chemicals have been the basis for most of the technological developments during the past century, and there is no question that society has reaped enormous benefits from the creation and growth of the chemical industry. However, major health and environmental problems have also been the legacy of the synthesis of new chemical species. The discipline of toxicology, which seeks to characterize and elucidate the mechanisms of the problems related to exposure of chemical agents, has also developed from a purely descriptive to a mechanistic science, whose objective is to understand the basis of toxin action, predict the toxicity of new chemical entities, and protect organisms from them. Toxicology has used the basic disciplines of chemistry, biochemistry, and cell biology to advance understanding of toxicological phenomena, and the growth of the sophistication of toxicology has paralleled the increase in knowledge derived from the basic chemical and biological sciences.

PhD graduates from Molecular Toxicology should be able to:

• demonstrate thorough knowledge of the principles of toxicology;
• critically evaluate research literature in molecular toxicology;
• identify areas of research opportunities in Molecular Toxicology and their impact on the field;
• devise experimental approaches to address these research opportunities; and
• devise, develop, execute and report on a research project relevant to molecular toxicology.