Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Healthy people, healthy planet

The Gillings School's Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering 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
Using molecular approaches to understanding diseases caused by toxic substances in the environment
Overcoming environmental health challenges in developing countries

Message from the chair

Barbara Turpin, PhD

Professor and 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 United States. Our graduates are innovative problem-solvers who are particularly well-prepared to design and implement effective environmental health solutions... " More >

In Pictures

Michael Aitken, PhD, professor and former ESE chair was selected as a 2018 Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)

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Hemali Oza (BSPH 2018) is the recipient of the Hazen and Sawyer Award from the American Water Works Association. Hemali currently is continuing her studies as an graduate student.

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2018 sees a record class of 31 students graduate with bachelor of science in public health degrees in environmental health sciences.

Dr. Michael Piehler, joint professor of marine sciences and environmental sciences and engineering, has been named director of the UNC Institute for the Environment.

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Doctoral student Alex Gorzalski is the 2018 recipient of the Abel Wolman Fellowship, which is awarded by the American Water Works Association.

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Hannah Smith, an undergraduate student (pictured with department chair Dr. Barbara Turpin), is the first winner of the new departmental BSPH Distinguished Scholar Award.

Dr. Yue Zhang, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral scholar, was one of two recipients of a 2018 Travel Award for Young Investigators from the journal Atmosphere.

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