Become an environmental public health officer

My name is Margaret Elizabeth Coady. I work in environmental public health on a healthy housing team that supports environmental public health officers.

An environmental public health officer (EPHO) is someone who provides essential public health services to chief and council on a variety of public health related topics including indoor air quality, housing, septic and sewage, food quality, and safe water.

The day-to-day role of an EPHO is very exciting! It's always changing, it's always challenging - there's something new happening each day, and every day is vastly different from the last.

There are definitely challenges. Some days are harder than others, but with the ability to have great lines of communication with the people that you're serving - to be able to be available for them in times of crisis or need – the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Becoming an EPHO, as an Indigenous person, is incredibly important and has direct benefits back to your community. My grandpa Cliff always told me that women were the keepers of water, and working as an Environmental Public Health Officer has helped me bridge that connection. I feel a strong sense of responsibility and connectivity to my role as an Environmental Public Health Officer.

My education in public health has become more than just what I do. It's become who I am.

This is a career that supports and honours your land, water, air and community. You have the ability to create your own story of self-determination and can find your own path in environmental public health, supporting not only yourself, but the people around you, your community and the land.

My name is Shannon Imhoff and I've been an Environmental Public Health Officer with First Nations and Inuit Health Branch for 13 years

What got me involved in the field of environmental public health was my daughter become sick with food-borne illness. And with helping the local health inspectors with the investigation, it lead me into having interest with environmental public health.

Environmental Public Health Officers are important because we advocate for the public safety in everything that we do and everything that we look at.

It's our job to ensure when people go to restaurants, that the food they eat is safe. It's our job to help people live in a safe environment. And when people get sick we can try to help them determine where they are getting sick from and help them live a better life and have better health.

My job is different every day. I start with having a coffee in the morning, doing my morning chores that I have to do at home before I get ready to head off to work. Check my emails, any phone messages that I might have. See if there's anything urgent that I have to address or go look at. Then I'll go and pack all the equipment that I need for my visit in the vehicle and then I hit the road.

We do a little bit of everything. Water testing, water sampling, pest infestation investigations, food inspection, health and safety, indoor air quality, communicable disease investigation.

Some of the challenges with being an Environmental Public Health Officer would be sometimes you go out and do your work and the situations you see are hard. And when you're advocating to try to help people have better health and life then sometimes you feel like you're not getting anywhere but you just have to keep going because every little bit helps.

As an Environmental Public Health Officer, I find lots of fulfillment for myself in my job every day. Just with the work that I do. And I find that that's important for me to live a happy, successful life.

If you're considering becoming an Environmental Public Health Officer, you need to be compassionate, you need to be resilient, flexible, reliable, adaptable, you need to be a good problem-solver. The list of traits is endless.

We are always in need of Environmental Public Health Officers so if you are considering a career in this field – do it – there's no better time than now.

We are honoured to have been welcomed by Thunderchild First Nation and give thanks to the community for allowing us to visit and film. Thank You/Hiy Hiy

When I was a boy, my Kohkum used to take me down to the creek to pick sweetgrass. While she harvested the long blades of grass I would crouch down by the water's edge and watch the tadpoles wiggle about. Boy did I ever love to watch them swim!

When I grew older, I would often follow the same path down to the lake where my cousin and I would spend the whole day fishing. After catching just enough fish for our supper, we would make a tobacco offering, thank the Creator for the wonderful gifts then make our way back up to our Kohkum's house where she would prepare our catch for supper.

As we sat at the kitchen table, enjoying the delicious meal our Kohkum would often tell us how proud she was that we continued to practice our traditional way of life.

"There is nothing more important for the community than taking care of Mother Earth and the land, plants and animals that feed us," she would say.

One day, while my Kohkum and I sat on the porch braiding sweetgrass, a stranger dropped by for a visit.

"Who is that?" I asked curiously.

"That's an Environmental Public Health Officer," replied my Kohkum.

"What's an Environmental Public Health Officer?" I questioned.

"That's someone who helps keep communities like ours healthy by making sure our land, water, air, food and homes are safe!" answered my Kohkum.

"That's right," said the EPHO woman stepping forward. "We're kinda' like Mother Earth's modern day super heroes! Here to keep our environment safe."

"What are you doing here then?" I asked, somewhat confused. "Shouldn't you be out catching bad guys, or something?"

"I'm here to test your drinking water! By analyzing your water, I can make sure it's safe to drink! Water, like the land and the air that we breath, is just one of the important elements in our environment," she continued. "By taking care of our lakes, rivers and streams, we're taking care of the plants and the animals that live there."

"Clean water means healthy fish! Healthy fish means healthy food for the community!" added my Kohkum.

"Well I gotta be going now" shouted the EPHO as she hopped into her truck and drove away.

"Wow, being an Environmental Public Health Officer sure looks like a lotta' fun, doesn't it Kohkum?"

"It sure does!" replied my Kohkum. Later that evening, as I lay in bed staring up at the stars, I tried to imagine what it would be like to be an Environmental Public Health Officer, a superhero, flying across the country, assessing environmental threats and protecting Mother Earth and my community from environmental harm. As I fell off to sleep, I decided that the next time I saw the Environmental Public Health Officer I was going to ask her how I could become a superhero just like her!

The next day, my Kohkum and I went to our community's annual harvest feast, and as luck would have it, who did we find standing there, next to a pile of corn? The Environmental Public Health Officer!

I immediately ran over and asked her how I could become an Environmental Public Health Officer.

"It's simple," she said. "All you have to do is keep learning how to take care of the land from your Kohkum and your community.

"This knowledge is going to be one of your superpowers, so you should learn as much you can!

"Then you need to work on your people skills – get comfortable talking to lots of different people every day! Sometimes all at once!

"Oh! And don't forget to take science courses in high school. As Mother Earth's modern day super heroes, we need to understand how biology, chemistry and the environment are linked to human health!"

With support from my Kohkum and my teachers, I was able to finish high school with the science courses I needed. I then went on to university, where I received a bachelor's degree in Environmental Public Health!

Today, I'm a proud member of a select group of Indigenous superheroes known as Environmental Public Health Officer's! Together we roam the country preventing and managing environmental threats while keeping Mother Earth and our communities safe and healthy.

Thank you!