Communication as an essential component of environmental health science.

Edi tor 's Note : This is the first of two columns this month about the Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response (EHTER) Awareness Level course. NEHA strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmental health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we feature a column from the Environmental Health Services Branch (EHSB) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in every issue of the Journal. In this column, EHSB and guest authors from across CDC will highlight a variety of concerns, opportunities, challenges, and successes that we all share in environmental public health. EHSB’s objective is to strengthen the role of state, local, and national environmental health programs and professionals to anticipate, identify, and respond to adverse environmental exposures and the consequences of these exposures for human health. The services being developed through EHSB include access to topical, relevant, and scientific in­ formation; consultation; and assistance to environmental health specialists, sanitarians, and environmental health professionals and practitioners. The conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not neces­ sarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ricardo Beato is a project officer for the CDC HIV prevention program; previously, he was a health communication specialist at the National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR). Jana Telfer is the associate director for Communication Science at NCEH/ATSDR.