We asked each of our scientists to give us their thoughts on their professions and what they think the future holds for humanity.

What would you recommend for students wanting to pursue a similar career?
I think students of environmental epidemiology need to reach out and gain experience outside their immediate field. They should spend time on the "front lines" in an occupational or public health setting to learn about real world exposures from people experiencing them. I also recommend that students spend time in a laboratory and get their hands dirty producing the data they will use in their research.

What do you like best about your profession?
I love its flexibility. The epidemiologic method applies everywhere, even to the study of which buildings will collapse in an earthquake, or which cars will buckle in a collision. And I find it immensely satisfying that what I am doing may actually help populations become healthier; the community is for me what the individual patient is for the clinician.

What makes you most fearful for the future?
I am increasingly fearful about the role of industry in national science programs, such as NIH and EPA. Without independent, unbiased review of grants, science that challenges the status quo will not be funded.

What makes you most hopeful for the future?
I am encouraged by the increasing numbers of consumer groups and environmental advocates who are giving people the ammunition they need to demand information on risks from exposures to which they are involuntarily subjected.