Bryan Moy
Alumni Profile
Bryan Moy was part of the second Environmental Science cohort. After graduating in 2009 he ventured east to Columbia University, earning a Master's in Public Health in Epidemiology. He's returned to UCLA to start a doctoral program in Environmental Health Sciences.
Describe your experience as an Institute of the Environment and Sustainability student.
Looking back at my experiences as an undergraduate, it really was the students and the professors who made all the difference. Their excitement, passion, and common commitment towards understanding and protecting the processes of our world created an experience that has definitely instilled in me a sense of passion and pride to be an IoES graduate.
Discuss your current academic endeavor. Why did you choose this particular field to focus on?
Currently, I'm in the first year of my Ph.D. program in Environmental Health Sciences, with interests at the intersection of climate change, urban centers, and infectious diseases. My focus in Environmental Health Sciences stemmed from the Environmental Health Science courses I took as a requirement for my minor, and an awesome internship I received between my Junior and Senior year.
With the opportunity to apply my coursework in a research context, I applied as a guest researcher at the National Center for Environmental Health, one of the three primary centers of the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Working with the Associate Director for Global Climate Change, I was able to complete research projects on a variety of climate and health issues, focused within an urban context. With this internship I knew that this field was definitely right for me.
How is your present path related to health, the environment, and sustainability?
My interests lie at the intersection between climate change, urban infrastructures, and public health. More specifically, I'm interested in understanding how cities can be adapted in such a way as to mitigate the effects of climate change (such as through sustainable design, alterations to the built environment, etc.), and quantifying how these specific adaptations can aid in reducing negative health outcomes such as infectious disease ranges or decreases in anthropogenic constructs (such as the Urban Heat Island Effect), which can exacerbate natural weather phenomena such as Extreme Heat Events. By striving to create more sustainable cities, one could hope to achieve additional co-benefits not only to the environment, but also towards health.
Published: Tuesday, November 01, 2011
