People, Planet, Health

A First-Year Ampersand Program

Explore Critically Important Relationships between People, Planet, and Health

From air quality to infectious diseases, climate events to environmental exposures, the connections between our planet and human health are becoming increasingly clear. Around the world, communities are facing challenges like extreme weather events, food and housing insecurity, and air pollution—affecting both individuals and public health. Addressing these urgent issues requires a deep understanding of the complex relationships between environmental change and human well-being. By studying these connections, we can work toward solutions that promote healthier communities and a more sustainable future. This Ampersand program applies an interdisciplinary lens to the local and global environmental challenges that have impacted human health in St. Louis and beyond. We will explore the different methods used by public health officials, research biologists, environmental scientists, veterinarians, and doctors to address these grand challenges. You will learn from local experts, examine patient case studies, build relationships with community partners, visit research labs and field sites where groundbreaking science happens, and work towards proposing your own project.

 

What will you get out of this program?

In the fall, you will take a 3-credit introductory course that introduces important concepts to people, planet, health, including topics across land, water, air, zoonotic disease, nutrition and food justice. You will gain exposure to many different types of jobs and problem solving from researchers, practitioners, and institutions through guest speakers and site visits. In the spring, you will take a 3-credit course on One Health, which dives more deeply into the important links between human, animal, and environmental health. You will also take a 1-credit seminar course that covers professional development skills, deeper dives with local researchers and practitioners, and skills for entering research and applied internship work. By the end of the semester, you will have prepared a two-page research or project proposal and be prepared to engage in optional summer or future academic year mentored internship research experience or internship experience with one of our community partners. Completion of this program provides two courses that count toward the introductory course requirements for the Environmental Analysis Major or Environmental Studies Minor through the Environmental Studies Program

How will this program help you define yourself and your goals?

  • Exposure to wicked global challenges & solutions: You will be introduced to local and global environmental challenges that impact human health. If you are interested in medical school, veterinary school, environmental studies, public health, or other science fields, exploring these challenges will be a critical component of your future work.
  • High impact teaching & learning: We use active classroom environments and collaborative, project-based learning to engage students in meaningful learning. Our program aligns with the Literacies for Life & Career goals of the College of Arts & Sciences as well as many pre-health competencies.
  • Cohort & community: You will build connections with each other, with faculty, with researchers, and with the community to deeper understand the importance of environmental challenges to human health.
  • Experiential learning: You will meet researchers and practitioners on site at different types of institutions working to address challenges around people, planet, health. You will develop a research grant or proposal that could lead to early engagement in research experiences and internships with meaningful impact.
  • Meaningful relationships: You will develop relationships with several faculty in science & public health who will serve as mentors and advisors and who may provide letters of reference in your future endeavors. You will join a broader community of other students, faculty, and community members interested in the connection between the environment and human health.
  • Exposure to career options and training: This program might benefit you if you are interested in careers in medicine, public health, veterinary medicine, epidemiology, environmental research

Learning Goals

Upon completion of the program students will be able to:

  1. Summarize the biological, chemical, and physical agents in air, water, soil, and food that can impact human health 
  2. Connect local and global environmental challenges to symptoms, diseases, and health concerns that impact humans, often unequally depending on socioeconomic factors. (PC Cultural awareness)
  3. Integrate environmental science knowledge with human health concerns to identify, diagnose, and communicate issues (LLC Integrative thinking, PC Critical Thinking)
  4. Convey the importance of the environment on human health while adapting communication style and content to appropriate audiences (LLC Communication Dexterity, PC Oral communication)
  5. Plan or participate in civic or community action to promote or advocate for environmental and human health (PC: Service orientation)
  6. Collaborate responsibly and equitably with fellow students, faculty, and community members recognizing and valuing the perspectives and needs of diverse stakeholders (LLC Collaboration and Leadership, PC Teamwork and Collaboration)
  7. Be prepared to participate in summer or academic year research, inquiry, or community engaged internship work (PC Scientific Inquiry)

Note: Above, “LLC” indicates alignment with WashU Literacies for Life and Career; “PC” indicates alignment with Premed Competencies for the Association of American Medical Colleges.

How to Sign Up?

The sign-up process with priority review for first-year programs and seminars begins on Monday, May 19, 2025, at 12 p.m. (CT). To participate in priority review, please submit your application in the first 24 hours after applications open or by Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at 12 p.m. (CT). The link to the application form will be available on the First-Year Programs homepage during that time. You will need your WashU Key to apply. For each of the Ampersand Programs you wish to rank in your top four choices, you will need to complete a separate statement of interest (no more than 500 words) answering a program specific question. For People, Planet, Health the 2025 application questions are: In 250 to 500 words, please answer the following 1) What is your motivation to join PPH?; 2) What is an environmental health issue that is important to you and why?; 3) How do you see the PPH experience fitting into your educational and professional goals?; 4) What strengths and/or background experience will you bring to the PPH program?

First-Year Programs homepage

Courses

This program is a one-year (fall/spring) program for first-year students, that includes preparation to be able to engage in scientific inquiry in a research lab or a community-engaged Impact Internship following the first academic year.

 

Fall Semester

ENST 1210 People, Planet, Health

First year students in the People, Planet, Health Ampersand program will explore the connection between earth’s changing environment and its impacts on human health through an interdisciplinary lens. Students will investigate how the air, land, water, and food on our planet have changed over time and the consequences this has had on human health. Students will analyze patient case studies, explore the interdisciplinary nature of the field through site visits and guest lectures, and collaboratively apply concepts of systems thinking to address a local environmental health challenge.

 

Spring Semester

ENST 2220 One Health: Linking the Health of Humans, Animals, and the Environment

This course combines diverse disciplines into the interdisciplinary field of “One Health”. Students will work collaboratively with professionals in project-based learning modules to understand the how and why biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental pollutants threaten the health of animals and humans. Class lessons will consist of lectures, clicker-based discussions, and case-study discussions.

ENST 2230: Research & Practice in Environmental Health

The interdisciplinary and complex nature of environmental health necessitates collaborative problem solving to address the challenges that lie ahead. This 1 credit seminar will introduce the fundamentals of research design, examine methods used by environmental health practitioners, and critically evaluate scientific evidence. Students will discuss primary literature, hear from guest speakers, and write their own grant proposal, while exploring different areas of expertise and potential career trajectories within environmental health. Pre-requisite: ENST 1210: People, Planet, Health.

Optional Summer or Academic Year Experience

We hope that many of the cohort will apply for a paid summer research or internship experiences with Environmental Studies Impact Internship Program, Tyson Research Center, Center for Environment, Living Earth Collaborative, the St. Louis Zoo, the Missouri Botanical Garden or other organization. Most of these offer a mentored cohort experience and professional development programming. Ampersand students will enter the regular applicant pool with other students, and are not guaranteed a position or preference, but we hope the program will prepare them to submit compelling applications and be positioned for success in the experiences.

Environmental Studies

Program Team

Katherine Bowman

Katherine is trained as a wildlife biologist, public health practitioner and epidemiologist. Her scholarly work in mosquito-borne disease modeling has connected public health to environmental health through vector-borne diseases. She brings applied experience and perspective to her teaching from her work implementing statewide programs in tick surveillance, mosquito and tick monitoring and control, and disease testing in both Missouri and Illinois. She is passionate about student-centered, inquiry-based, inclusive and engaged learning experiences that invite students deepen their critical thinking skills through exploring complex, real-world challenges.

 

 

 

Amber Burgett

Amber is an assistant dean in the college of arts and sciences and works with pre-health students as they explore career options and prepare to apply to professional schools. Her PhD is in aquatic ecology and she has studied the impacts of land use and agricultural runoff on amphibian communities. She has taught courses in environmental science, Introduction to Biology, Biology in a changing world, and behavioral ecology. She strives to empower her students with the interdisciplinary thinking needed to tackle the grand challenges that impact human health, but also the health of our planet.

 

 

 

 

Eleanor Pardini

Eleanor is a plant population ecologist who teaches courses on ecology, academic writing, and science communication. She has experience teaching population modeling, herd immunity, and how to effectively communicate about complex issues like vaccines and climate change. As Director of Undergraduate Studies for Environmental Studies Program she works to align meaningful learning experiences for students with the program vision, mission, and learning goals. She is passionate about creating engaging and inclusive learning experiences to train students to become interdisciplinary systems thinkers and strategic science communicators.