Stand out in the crowd .
unique coordination with organizations that represented consumer product safety , local first responders , and healthcare providers . Dr . Wiant empowered the staff to participate in Local Emergency Planning Commissions , to learn and use GIS to map old landfills , and to work directly to represent local interests where Superfund sites impacted communities . These efforts were supported by hiring engineers and occupational health staff ( i . e ., certified industrial hygienists ) to address community hazards .
During my career in environmental health at the local government level , I have had the pleasure of holding positions with responsibilities in food safety , water quality and wastewater , childcare , household chemical waste , hazardous waste , air quality , and emergency preparedness , along with leadership roles as the environmental health director and agency deputy director . Each position provided an opportunity to collaborate with peers to learn , grow , and engage . Currently , I am an environmental public health consultant .
As community needs and interests change , so has the scope of the environmental health practice . It also varies widely with large agencies having up to 20 or more programs and small agencies only able to provide core programs . Working to assure compliance with sound science-based regulations is foundational for food safety , water quality , and other programs . Working to influence land use cases to address healthy eating , active living , environmental injustice , and local hazards is an important role as well . Explaining that all these issues are encompassed by environmental health is the real trick .
NEHA and our members currently face the ongoing evolution of the food industry and must continue to engage with many partners to assure food safety . We also must find ways to keep and gain new funding and provide support for our communities . We should become more prepared for emerging issues such as harmful algal blooms and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ( PFAS ) in our water , wastewater , and biosolids . We must strengthen our risk communication skills to be prepared to engage with citizen science using low-cost tools to gather air and water quality data in our communities . The Spark ! Leadership Series and Environmental Health Leadership Academy offered by NEHA are terrific programs to build skills and interface with experts and peers .
Here are a couple of issues I hope you will see as priorities for our profession and NEHA :
• Assure support for and recognition of environmental health practitioners and the key roles they play in protecting communities from adverse health impacts .
• Reinforce and enhance the value and recognition of the Registered Environmental Health Specialist / Registered Sanitarian ( REHS / RS ) credential .
• Encourage an active role for environmental health professionals as evidence-based policy advocates as we work in all our environmental programs and to address environmental justice , sustainability , and climate change . I see governmental environmental health professionals as the most can-do part of the public health system . We have great partners in industry and academia that we must continue to actively work with and support where possible .
Environmental health professionals have more contact with the community than any other element of the environmental public health system . We need to capitalize on the contacts and community members ( e . g ., the regulated community , local agency contacts , the public at large ) we interact with to demonstrate the value of our work . As I reflect on the work we do , I like to say , “ Public health is an important part of environmental health .”
President
@ neha . org
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July / August 2023 • Journal of Environmental Health 7