Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Hannah Smith, undergraduate student in environmental sciences and engineering (pictured with department chair Barbara Turpin, PhD), is the first winner of the new departmental BSPH Distinguished Scholar Award. Graduate student Gabriella Gallo won the Environmental Sciences and and Engineering Achievement Award and graduate student Alexandra George won the George C. Bunker Award.

Message from the Chair

"We’re the nation’s only Department of Environment Science and Engineering in a school of public health, and Gillings is the top public school of public health in the U.S. Our graduates are innovative problem-solvers who are particularly well prepared to design and implement effective environmental health solutions... " More >

Barbara Turpin, PhD

Professor and Chair

Our department focuses on the interface between people and the environment.

Uniquely situated in a school of public health, our interdisciplinary programs in air quality and atmospheric processes, human exposure and health effects, and sustainable water resources draw from faculty expertise in the physical and life sciences, engineering and policy. Our research strengths include:

Characterizing exposures to contaminants in air, water, soil and workplaces;
Developing engineering and policy solutions to environmental risks;
Molecular approaches to understanding diseases caused by toxic substances in the environment; and
Overcoming environmental health challenges in developing countries.

Our Alumni

Barbara Turpin, Chair and 2017 ESE Distinguished Alumna Marla Smith-Nilson

Marla Smith-Nilson (MSEE 1994), founder and Executive Director of Water1st International, is the 2017 Environmental Sciences and Engineering Distinguished Alumna. She accepted her award and presented a seminar – Solving Global Water & Sanitation Problems with Lessons Learned as an ESE Student – on April 6, 2018 at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. Visit our Environmental Sciences and Engineering Alumni page for more details.

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Institutes and Friends

The Water Institute at UNC
Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems
Superfund Research Program
Engineers Without Borders
ENVR Student Organization (ENVRSO)
Chancellor’s Science Scholars
ESE Design Center
Biomarkers Mass Spectrometry Sub-Core
Expand List

Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) Lab
UNC Institute for the Environment
UNC Environmental Resource Program (ERP)
UNC Department of Marine Sciences
UNC Institute of Marine Sciences
UNC Curriculum in Toxicology
Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS)
Occupational and Environmental
Exposure Science (OEES) Program
North Carolina Occupational
Safety and Health Education
and Research Center (NC OSHERC)
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology
Center for Galapagos Studies

News Spotlight

William Gray

William G. Gray, PhD, retired professor and current research professor, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Read More
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