Texas presents a unique landscape for studying environmental health, featuring five distinct temperate zones—ranging from humid-hot to cool and dry—along with severe weather extremes including heat waves, flooding, hurricanes, and vector-borne diseases. Houston serves as a critical focal point for observing the impacts of climate and environmental change on human health. Concurrently, the expansion of data science tools opens significant avenues for translating climate and health education into scalable solutions.
Rice University is uniquely positioned to address these challenges given its strong academic foundations across Earth Science, Engineering, Environmental Humanities, and Health, combined with its direct proximity and active connections to the Texas Medical Center.
Building upon the interdisciplinary expertise of the CCEH faculty, our education programs (Environmental Health Minor, Internships in Climate, Health and Society) address a crucial gap in our current curriculum by establishing foundational literacy at the intersection of climate dynamics, data analytics, and public health. New courses will directly prepares students for emerging pathways in environmental public health, epidemiology, climate impacts, and environmental policy, serving as an essential building block for our expanding academic offerings in climate and health.