Environmental Health Sciences

Environmental and Molecular Epidemiology, Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, and Medical/Health Physics

Students must earn a total of 4 capstone credits. To fulfill this requirement, EHS students have three options that include:

1. A Topics course - P9300 (4 credits)
2. Essay Option 1 - Master’s Essay courses, Research I - P9361 (2 credits) and Research II - P9362 (2 credits), or
3. Essay Option 2 - Critical Literature Review - P9360 (4 credits).

These credits should be earned during one of the student’s final two semesters in the program.

To learn the details of each option please choose from among the items in the pulldown menu:

1) P9300 - Topics in Environmental Health Sciences  (4 credits)

This course serves as a capstone experience for students who are completing their course work and should be taken in a student’s final semester. A seminar style course, it focuses on one particular aspect within the field of EHS (or a particular disease) and has three major objectives.

• First, by reading original research papers, students receive an in-depth look at various aspects of the topic of interest. This can include examining the normal biology, pathophysiology, epidemiology, and genetic susceptibility factors of the topic/disease. It can also include utilizing biostatistical methods to analyze data, and examining exposure characterization, exposure assessment, and/or public health policy issues. Students complete a core list of weekly readings and are assigned sub-topics to explore independently. These topics form the basis for a report to the class. In addition, experts may be invited to discuss particular aspects of the topic; in such instances students will read the expert’s original research papers in advance.
• Second, working in pairs, students must devise an original, testable hypothesis that addresses an area of major uncertainty concerning that topic. Hypotheses are discussed and refined through interaction with students and faculty in the classroom, and through tutorial sessions with the course instructor.
• Finally, students must design a set of studies that allow their hypothesis to be tested, and present the design, proposed methods, and statistical analyses both in a seminar and as a written proposal. Recent semesters of the course have focused on Parkinson’s Disease (Graziano), asthma (twice, by Graziano and Kinney, separately), and Cholera (Despommier), to name a few.

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2) Essay Option 1: Research Master’s Essay in Environmental Health Sciences I - P9361 (2 credits) and II - P9362 (2 credits)

Students who choose this option to fulfill their capstone requirement, must take each course (P9361 and P9362) in two separate and sequential semesters, during the student’s final two semesters.

The data used for the Master’s Essay may be primary data generated by conducting laboratory or epigenetic studies. Alternatively, a topic approach can be used to conduct a new analysis of pre-existing data. The paper must include a hypothesis that is included as part of the abstract (1-2 pages), a table of contents, an introduction (10-15 pages), methods, results, and a discussion (total of 20-30+ pages). There should be no less than 15-20 references.

i) P9361 Research Master's Essay in Environmental Health Sciences I (2 credits)

In order to register for this course, students must receive advance permission from the faculty member with whom they intend to work. The approval form must be completed by the student and signed by the advisor and the academic program manager.

For Research Master’s Essay 1, students must develop a proposal in consultation with their advisor. The essay may represent empirical research or a fresh analysis of existing data (see detailed table below). Midway through the course, students should meet with their faculty advisor to review the proposal progress. The following guidelines are recommended to help promote meetings between advisor and student:

Fall draft proposal deadline: end of October
Spring draft proposal deadline: by midterm break

By the end of the semester, students must submit a final proposal to the assigned faculty to receive a grade.

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ii) P9362 Master's Essay in Environmental Health Sciences II (2 credits)

After the successful completion of P9361, students should register for P9362 to perform their research and carry out the writing of the essay under the guidance of their Master’s Essay advisor. The approval form must be completed by the student and signed by the advisor and the academic program manager.

In collaboration with their advisors, students also need to identify a suitable second reader for the final thesis. (This can be either a Columbia or non-Columbia faculty member). The Master’s Essay advisor and the selected co-reader will review the Master's Essay.

The following guidelines are recommended to ensure that students are progressing at an appropriate pace and are meeting with their advisors to discuss the essay.

Fall draft essay deadline: end of October
Spring draft essay deadline: by midterm break

The final version of the Master’s Essay should be submitted to the advisor and second reader a minimum of 2 weeks before the end of the semester, but preferably earlier.

NOTE: For students who plan to enter the doctoral program, the Master's Essay in Environmental Health Sciences is strongly recommended.

Master’s Essay Option 1: Detailed Guidelines

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3) Essay Option 2: P9360 Critical Literature Review
(4 credits)

This capstone option entails a critical analysis of the literature on a topic relevant to Environmental Health Sciences, and includes an investigation of multiple studies related to the field and a critical analysis of the data. The essay topic should explore inconsistencies or contradictions in a specific area of research. Structurally, the paper should contain an abstract (1 – 2 pages), a table of contents, a literature review (30 – 50 pages) and a discussion and conclusion section (total of 7 – 15 pages). There should be no less than 20 references.

Students that select this option must take Critical Literature Review (P9360) in their final semester.

Master’s Essay Option 2: Critical Literature Review Detailed Guideline

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Please contact Alysa Turkowitz to review samples of formal essays on file.