Track 2) Environmental health, law and sustainable use of resources, politics of environmentalism, bioterrorism 

Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social, and psycho-social factors in the natural 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.

Nutrition, soil contamination, water pollution, air pollution, safe drinking water, noise pollution, light pollution, waste control, and public health are integral aspects of environmental health. Other fields in environmental health include environmental hazards, bioterrorism, chemical agents, hydrocarbons, natural disasters, and urban planning.

Research and graduate programs in environmental health, urban planning, environmental law, and natural hazards have natural overlaps in the preparedness of individuals, communities, and nations to respond to environmental health threats, whether they be ground water contamination, chemical spills, natural disasters, or major acts of terrorism. Through the Center for Environmental Science and affiliated programs we can prepare students for careers in atmospheric science, environmental health, law, and national defense.

Researchers in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (Pasken and Dannevik), in Public Health (Sterling), and in Public Policy (Cropf and Higgs) are all studying different aspects of the dispersal of pollutants in the atmosphere through populated areas. These pollutants include hazardous materials such as suspended particles, pollen, industrial chemicals, and bioterrorism agents. Other applications of the dispersal models are based on on improving the agroecosystem, and include analysis of soybean rust, an airborne fungi disease.

Some of our affiliated programs are offered through the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and others are offered the following institutes and collaborating centers:

Institute for Biosecurity 
Director: Dr. Gregory Evans (evansrg@slu.edu)
The center is part of a national network formed in 2000 by the CDC to fight bioterrorism (biological weapons, chemical and biological agents) and emerging infections (tuberculosis, HIV, new viruses). It is one of only ten centers in the country and its main task is to prepare emergency response teams, physicians, nurses, health administrators and public health and community officials to respond effectively to health threats.

  
Center for Environmental Education and Training (CEET) 
Director: Christopher King (kingcc@slu.edu)
The center provides training and education services to professionals in environmental health and safety, as well as to general workers and the community at large. In addition to regularly scheduled courses, the center provides customized training to business, industry and public agencies either at the University or on site. The center also offers consulting services in a number of areas, including environmental training/education, industrial hygiene, occupational health, and safety and risk assessment and compliance management.  

Health Communication Research Laboratory (HCRL) 
Director: Dr. Matthew Kreuter (kreuter@slu.edu)
The laboratory develops and tests printed materials and computer-based programs for health promotion and disease prevention. The HCRL’s mission is to enhance the health of individuals and populations through research, development and dissemination of innovative and effective health communication programs. Researchers believe well-designed, theory-based health communication plays an important role in informing, motivating and enabling people to take steps to improve their health.  

Heartland Centers for Public Health Workforce Development
(CPHWP) 
Director: Dr. Kathleen Wright (wrightks@slu.edu)
The Heartland Centers include the CDC Academic Center for Public Health Preparedness, HRSA Public Health Education and Training Center and the Center for Public Health Leadership Development. In general, the Heartland Centers goals include national objectives regarding workforce and resource assessment, competency based program development, incentive and certification development, technology mediated communications and programming, and evaluation and research to determine workforce competence and capacity improvement. Academic and practice partners in both Centers include the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Public Health Wald Center.

The Heartland Center for Public Health Preparedness is a part of the largest group of centers established in schools of public health to provide training and education to the front-line public health professionals who will respond to bio-terrorist and other emerging infectious diseases. The goal of the Heartland Public Health Education and Training Center is to provide competency-based training and education programs to the public health workforce. The Center for Public Health Leadership Development addresses the need to leadership training for all public health managers and administrators.

Environmental Health Laboratory

Investigations at the Environmental Health Laboratory emphasize characterizing sources, pathways, and controls for environmental contaminants that may lead to allergies, asthma, lead poisoning and other diseases that primarily affect children. Projects have included establishing evidence that large particle allergens, such as dust mite allergen, are inhaled from direct contact with textile surfaces. This project has implications for understanding relationships between allergen exposure and asthma sensitization. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has supported three grants at the laboratory including studies on the most effective means to remove lead from residential carpets and upholstery and hard surfaces, such as wood, tile, and linoleum. Co-Directors: Dr. Roger D. Lewis (lewisrd@slu.edu) and Dr. David Sterling (sterling@slu.edu).

The Concentration in Urban Development, Land Use and Environmental Law has an interdisciplinary flavor, and the Center for Environmental Science, students can branch out into other aspects of the environmental sciences, health, and policy. Students are encouraged to take courses in the graduate programs of the Department of Public Policy under the School’s policy of permitting six hours of graduate level work to count towards the law degree. In addition, the law course, Urban Issues Symposium, is an interdisciplinary course that is open to graduate students in architecture, business, public administration, public policy, social work and urban planning. Finally, the graduate course, Social Responsibility and the Professional, is an interdisciplinary course that is open to law students.

The Concentration requires certain courses, then requires 3 additional courses or seminars, for a total of at least 7 credit hours, from a list of electives. There is an additional requirement of a clinical opportunity, which serves as the capstone course for the Concentration. It is anticipated that students attending the full-time program will be able to complete the concentration requirements within the existing scheduling schema, including the registration priority system; and that students attending the part-time program who are able to take an occasional day/afternoon course will also be able to complete the concentration requirements.

Some of our research in the Center through the School of Law integrates the interdisciplinary nature of environmental law, including economics, earth and atmospheric sciences, chemistry, and biology. Our faculty have experience on both sides of the law table, having represented industry, and also environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, issues of the Environmental Protection Agency’s implementation of the Clean Air Act in St. Louis, relationship between state and federal regulators and voluntary versus regulatory approaches to environmental protection. One of our faculty (Doug Williams) has a specialty in federal wetlands regulation, a topic also of interest to students following following tracks 1 and 2 in water resources, and flood plain regulation.