by Leah Sherwood
Rachel Sandoval, a student in the Department of Community and Environmental Health, was awarded a $1,500 scholarship from the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) and the American Academy of Sanitarians (AAS).
Sandoval is a junior majoring in environmental and occupational health. She is considering a future career in epidemiology, a branch of medical science that analyzes the incidence, distribution and control of disease in a population.
“I am passionate about ensuring that people worldwide have access to clean water and means of combating preventable diseases, which is what led me to environmental and public health,” Sandoval explained.
The purpose of the NEHA and AAS scholarship is to encourage students to pursue a career in environmental or public health, and is awarded to those students pursuing academic degrees in a field directly related to the environmental health sciences. To be eligible students must either be enrolled in an Environmental Health Accreditation Council or attend a NEHA Institutional/Educational or Sustaining Member school.