Greetings and welcome to the Department of Environmental Toxicology at UC Davis! We are the home of the Environmental Toxicology Undergraduate major, and home to world-class research laboratories. I am Andrew Whitehead, Professor and Chair of the department. Let me take a moment and tell you a little bit about our unit. Environmental Toxicology is a wonderful synthetic science, where we draw on knowledge from chemistry, biology, and other disciplines to understand how chemicals enter into the environment, how they move around and change once there, and how they affect the biology of organisms including humans and wildlife. Within this context we also consider how we should manage chemicals as a society. What I appreciate about Environmental Toxicology is that it draws from so many fields of knowledge, and that we may integrate and convert this knowledge into actions that improve environmental quality.
I am fortunate to share this department with a diverse and outstanding group of scholars and educators. We teach a huge diversity of courses, and run cutting-edge research laboratories so students can participate directly in research. Graduates from our program emerge as well-rounded scientists with broad and highly integrative training who are employed in a wide variety of careers in industry, government, and non-profit sectors. Many also extend their training in graduate and professional schools. I value how we can use this integrative training to solve urgent and important environmental challenges, and thereby manage humanity’s global footprint.
So… if you are interested in inter-disciplinary training, and in preparing for a career where you can make a difference for local and global environmental quality, then please spend some time looking through our website. Also feel free to reach out to our faculty and staff with your questions. UC Davis provides a progressive and vibrant community for living, playing, working, and studying. Come join us!
Andrew Whitehead
Department Chair and Professor
Environmental Toxicology