Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development (HHD) has launched a program area initiative in environmental health sciences to address critical population health challenges, both anthropogenic and climate-change driven.
The initiative will grow and connect environmental health expertise at the college and integrate that expertise with other resources in health and environmental science throughout Penn State. Anticipated results include the launch of new research projects and the expansion of educational offerings and student experiences in the environmental health sciences that advance Penn State’s land grant mission.
Key components of the initiative are an ongoing strategic faculty hiring as well as intentional efforts to build and interconnect an intellectual community focused on environmental health science.
Leadership
The program area is being led by Asher Rosinger, associate professor of biobehavioral health and anthropology and director of Water, Health, and Nutrition Lab.
Strategic Faculty Hiring
A strategic hiring initiative was launched in 2023. The following two new faculty members have joined the college in the 2024-25 academic year under this initiative:
- Xi Gong, associate professor of biobehavioral health and Institute of Computing and Data Sciences co-hire.
- Kyle Aune, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and Social Sciences Research Institute co-hire.
There is no active recruitment in 2024-25 academic year, but new positions are anticipated to be posted in 2025-26 academic year.
Environmental Health Sciences Community Events
In the 2024-25 academic year, the College of Health and Human Development environmental health sciences program area will be supporting two events.
Fall 2024
On Wednesday, October 9, 2024 from 12 noon–1 p.m. in 110 Henderson Building, in partnership with Penn State's Population Research Institute, the environmental health sciences program area will be co-sponsoring an invited talk by Sera Young, professor of anthropology and Morton O. Schapiro Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University.
Young will present “Water Insecurity Experiences: Bridging climate and health for better research and policy.”
Spring 2025
On January 30 and 31, 2025, the environmental health sciences program area will be hosting a 1.5 day climate/environment and health workshop. Further specific details about this event will be announced.
The Population Research Institute has an NIH supplement to develop a new research area in climate change and health led by Brian Thiede, associate professor of rural sociology, sociology, and demography. As one of the activities under that initiative—and in partnership with the College of Health and Human Development environmental health sciences program area, led by Asher Rosinger—will be a climate/environment and health workshop that will bring in 4-5 external experts to variously talk about the state of the field, data/methods, and policy issues, and then provide time for engagement (with a primary goal of stimulating collaborations among our faculty and potentially with some of the external experts).
The first day will largely be comprised of those 4-5 talks (plus times for Q+A and interaction during breaks), and the remaining half-day involving more breakout-group-type interactions for members of the college and across the University.
Resources
Penn State is a land-grant Research I university and a National Science Foundation top-25 ranked environmental sciences research institution. Consequently, there are tremendous existing environmental sciences resources and expertise to be leveraged to build innovative research programs related to human health. HHD is a research-intensive college, with the third highest extramurally supported expenditures at the University, and houses significant expertise in behavioral, social, and biological health determinants to compliment and synergize with a number of environmental health science research programs.
The University has an impressive array of research resources relevant to supporting research in environmental health sciences.