Environmental Health Sciences Launches MS Track in Data Science

The Department of Environmental Health Sciences has launched a new MS track, Environmental Health Data Science—believed to be the first program of its kind offered in the United States. Courses are taught by faculty who are recognized worldwide as leaders in the environmental health sciences and data science.

Most students will complete the MS over two years; there are also part-time and one-year options available. Applications for Fall 2023 are now being accepted (apply online).

“In recent years, environmental health scientists have increasingly generated findings using large and complex data sources. Understanding how to work with, analyze, and interpret this data in the context of environmental health has become a highly valued, yet uncommonly taught, skill set,” says program director Tiffany Sanchez, assistant professor of environmental health sciences.  

The curriculum was designed in partnership with the Department of Biostatistics. The goal of the program is to educate students in the field of environmental health and to provide important quantitative skills. Students training in this program will be prepared to work with and analyze these complex data sources, including geospatial modeling, advanced statistics, and data management.

"During their program, students will work on important environmental challenges that the world currently, and will continue to, face," says Sanchez. In addition to completing rigorous coursework, students do important research and apply the knowledge and outcomes to a culminating project—a thesis. The research project and thesis are meant to apply the skills that they have learned to an environmental health issue by working with complex data.  

Graduates will be well qualified for a variety of environmental health and data science careers. Departments of health, federal agencies, private companies, the military, and academic institutions are seeking employees with data science skills. 

"We're excited to identify and train our first cohort of future Environmental Health Data Science leaders and look forward to guiding them toward careers that can change the world," adds Sanchez.