Eliza Howe is a Senior year student at BYU, emphasizing Environmental and Occupational Health as she prepares for graduate education.
Howe first got into the public health as she was looking for a way to enter the health care field. After hearing that public health was a good way to be financially secure while keeping the option of not pursuing graduate education, she chose to study environmental and occupational health.
Initially, she was unsure how it would go. Her original hope was to become a health care provider, but that focus shifted to public health because of her desire to help at the root cause of problems.
“It focuses a lot more on the root causes of problems and solving them from the beginning, instead of just trying to patch up problems as they occur,” Howe said.
Advisers recommended she look into environmental and occupational health because it offered good job opportunities without requiring a graduate degree, something that appealed to her at the time.
She first discovered her passion for the field while taking Steve Thygerson’s Intro to Occupational Health and Safety class, which discussed different careers in EOH and what a typical day-to-day job could look like.
Howe explained, “It combines a lot of different disciplines, but you still work with people.”
One of her favorite aspects of the undergraduate program is the care and support she has felt from professors and other students.
The small, communal aspect of environmental and occupational health has been one of the greatest motivators for Howe, helping her stay engaged and receive the individual attention needed to grow as a student.
“It’s just how much the professors and other students care,” she said. “Everyone is kind of working together and everyone is motivating one another.”
Individual research and collaboration with professors are large components of the environmental and occupational health program. Howe is currently working with BYU professor John Beard on research examining the relationship between occupational metal and radiation exposures and mortality from Alzheimer’s disease.
That individual attention and support have helped her become a better student and have prepared her to apply for graduate school.
“I think BYU definitely has a solid program to help prepare students for graduate degrees,” Howe said.
As she finishes her bachelor’s degree, one of the things that keeps her grounded amid the commotion of tests, research, and papers is her love for helping people.
“Classes have shown me that public health is really about helping individuals achieve better health outcomes,” Howe said. “Whether that be in the workplace, like in my emphasis, or through a community, that’s something that really matters and is super important.”
Through finding her passion in public health with environmental and occupational health, Howe is currently applying to graduate programs to emphasize industrial hygiene.
Eliza Howe shows how caring for individuals drives public health forward at BYU and in the schools and workplaces where BYU Public Health students go on to make a difference.