Environmental and Occupational Health

Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) is concerned with the biological, chemical and physical factors affecting human health and the environment. The program provides a solid science-based education with practical applications for a safer and healthier environment. As a result, graduates work in a variety of high-demand jobs, such as air quality, water quality, food safety, housing, industrial hygiene, hazardous waste management, environmental consulting and radiation safety. Graduates also work in a wide range of settings, including private industry (aerospace, manufacturing, food production, biotechnology and many others), local government (city and county health departments), state government (Cal OSHA and Cal EPA), federal government (Public Health Service, EPA, OSHA, Department of Health and Human Services), unions, public interest groups, universities and lobbying organizations.

Courses are explicitly designed to give students the skills needed to succeed on the job. Local employers, many of whom have graduated from this department, routinely seek CSUN graduates as new hires. As one of the largest programs of its kind in the nation, the department has an extensive network of environmental and occupational health professionals dedicated to the protection of the environment and community, as well as worker health and safety.

The M.S. degree is designed to prepare the graduate for higher-level professional activities, including research, analysis and management of EOH systems.

A. Admission to the Program

The following criteria are used to evaluate prospective candidates for the Master of Science in Environmental and Occupational Health:

1. Overall GPA and science GPA.
2. Work experience in environmental and occupational health or a related discipline.
3. Other requirements, as required by University policy (e.g., UDWPE or TOEFL).
4. A statement of purpose (approximately 500 words) is required. This statement should address how the candidate discovered the field of environmental and occupational health and why the applicant wants to pursue this field.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above.
2. Completion of the lower division science core:
   1. One year of biology with laboratory
   2. One year of general chemistry with laboratory
   3. One semester of organic chemistry with laboratory
   4. College algebra and trigonometry, or pre-calculus
   5. One year of physics with laboratory
   6. One semester of biostatistics or statistics

B. Degree Requirements

1. Required Courses (23 units)

EOH 501A Environmental and Occupational Health Concepts I (3)
EOH 501B Environmental and Occupational Health Concepts II (3)
EOH 553 Administration of Environmental and Occupational Health Programs (3)
EOH 554 Critical Review of the Technical Literature in EOH (3)
EOH 555 Environmental and Occupational Health Exposure Assessment (3)
EOH 693A Supervised Field Training (2)
EOH 696A Research Design (3)
EOH 696B Seminar: Research Methodology (3)

2. Electives (9 units)

Each student’s program must include a minimum of 9 units of 500- and 600-level electives from the following.

EOH 556 Advanced Toxicology (3)
EOH 560 EOH Epidemiology (3)
EOH 569 Advanced Risk Analysis (3)
EOH 570 Occupational Ergonomics (3)
EOH 580 Environmental and Occupational Health Sustainability (3)
EOH 581 Occupational Health Programs (3)
EOH 582 Environmental and Occupational Health Policy Analysis (3)

A minimum “B” grade is required for all courses, core and elective.

3. Culminating Experience (3 units)

Choose one of the following:

a. Comprehensive Examination

EOH 697 Directed Comprehensive Studies (3)

Written, plus optional oral component. As preparation, student registers for EOH 697.

b. Thesis

EOH 698 Thesis (3)

After proposal is approved, student registers for EOH 698.

Total Units Required for the M.S. Degree: 35

For more information about this program, please contact nola.kennedy@csun.edu.