Workforce
Understanding the resource needs, funding demands, and work climate of the environmental health community is paramount to our mission. We partner with universities, local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal environmental health organizations to gather data and facilitate actions to address issues impacting the environmental health workforce.
Environmental Health Department Structure
Our 2022 literature review and report on the department structure for environmental health departments identifies the optimal structure, governance type, and funding sources for environmental health departments. It provides the foundation for what is known about the environmental health workforce in the United States and its territories and recommends:- Determining required environmental health services
- Setting staffing standards
- Establishing funding requirements
- Setting credentialing requirements
- Prioritizing workforce development
- Identifying partnerships
The full summary will be available soon in our Journal of Environmental Health.
Environmental Health Grand Rounds
The six-webinar series will highlight the workforce behind environmental health and highlight current and emerging environmental hazards, particularly for specific communities. Each session includes a panel discussion with environmental health professionals. These seminars are specifically chosen for undergraduate and graduate students studying environmental sciences and environmental public health.
Environmental Health Leadership Academy
We are training experienced environmental health professionals who aspire to become the future leaders of tomorrow. This intensive and interactive program focuses on management and leadership skill-building, successful leadership strategies, community partnership, emergency management, and other tools to better prepare the environmental health leaders of tomorrow.
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UNCOVER EH
We partnered with the CDC and Baylor University on this initiative to identify and describe key governmental environmental health workforce and practice elements. The initiative provides an understanding of the environmental health profession and helps inform environmental health workforce development initiatives, improve the practice, and establish uniform benchmarks and professional competencies.
American Indian & Alaskan Native Toolkits
These tools and guides can be used to help support American Indian and Alaska Native environmental health agencies. Browse the list below to find funding opportunities, educational resources, and programmatic support.
Toolkit
Environmental Health Workforce Act
We support the Environmental Health Workforce Act. The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to carry out certain activities related to the environmental health workforce and reporting on state-based practices for training and credentialing environmental health workers. The bill also specifies that environmental-health workers are eligible for public-service loan forgiveness.