Your membership and contributions make our Section successful.  

So what does the Section do for you and your work?  Is the Section’s focus on traditional, more recent or emerging concerns?  Yes, yes and yes -- all.  The Section’s foundation encompasses traditional environmental and environmental health topics, such as clean air, water and soil along with how we address issues related to siting wells, septic systems and conducting food safety programs.

The following topic areas are often topic committees, and the names of the lead folks for each topic are included below.  You can contact any of them about engaging in the developing work.

Environmental Health/EH Workforce (Pat Bohan & Sarah Kotchian) issues have been a longtime concern and are sneaking up on us as baby-boomers begin to retire.  Between 2004-2012, 43 percent of the overall U.S. work force are eligible for retirement, and that certainly includes those in the EH eork force. Having criteria and other metrics toward training and assessing are critical – not to mention developing ways to encourage more undergrads and graduate students to major in EH.

More recent EH concerns include our promoting topic areas of the Built Environment/Smart Growth (Peter Ashley) toward good land-use planning for healthy communities to protect resources and promote active living via well-designed neighborhoods and social Environmental Justice (Liam O’Fallon & Sacoby Wilson) toward more participatory, healthier communities that addressing environmental public health disparities.  EH-related model building code & standards, with an emphasis on the built environment, are the focus of the efforts of Jake Pauls & Sarah Mack.

Emerging issues include Climate Change (John Balbus & Kyle Kinner) toward mitigation and public health response and Healthy Food Systems (Roni Neff, Jill Litt & David Wallingwa) encompassing the complete environmental public health aspects related to food production, distribution & consumption.  Of course, for those who have been working years on these topics, these are hardly “emerging.”  Yet, many of us are now examining them more closely. 

Are you interested in the nitty-gritty of the hows of the Section?  Want to contribute and are looking for a more time-defined task?  We are seeking volunteers to work on the following issues & General Committees: Awards, Budget & Fund-Raising, Communications (Newsletter & Webpage), Membership, Nominations and the 2011 Committee – planning for the environment section’s centennial year & celebration.  Lead members also exist for each of these and would welcome your involvement.  The Nominations Committee (jill.litt@UCHSC.edu) is also looking for members who want to run for Section positions – for Section Council; the offices of the chair, secretary, treasurer; and as Section representatives to APHA’s Governing Board.  If interested, you can look to others in the Section for mentoring and advice.  Please contact any of the members listed above or me about getting involved in any of the Topic or General Committees or other role within the Section, and you will be connected with the lead members and/or officers. 

What of the APHA organization? Where do Environment Section priorities fit?  Prominently! 

• Environmental public health work, with support from two APHA staffers, includes topics of the built environment, climate change, environmental public health tracking, work force development and soon, healthy food systems.  For more information, go to: http://www.apha.org/programs/additional/revitalizeenviro.htm.
• The 2008 Public Health Week Theme is "Climate Change: Our Health in Balance." http://www.apha.org/programs/healthweek/ 
• Additionally, Section members continue to play major appointed & elected roles in the organization of APHA.

In closing, I repeat my initial sentence: “Your membership and contributions make our Section successful.”  Thank you for what you already give, and please consider joining one of the committees – your participation may well be the tipping point toward our group’s sustained success.

Appreciatively,

Rebecca A. Head, PhD, DABT

Environment Section Chair

rebecca_head@monroemi.org