State and Territorial Environmental Health Directors (SEHD)

The State and Territorial Environmental Health Directors (SEHD) peer group is an organized peer network within ASTHO whose membership includes environmental health leadership from U.S. state, territorial, and freely associated state health agencies. These leaders direct and oversee programs including but not limited to food and water safety, built environment, vector-borne disease, tattoo and body art, toxicology, and environmental epidemiology. Originally convened in 2005, the SEHD peer group strives to advance the practice of environmental public health with the following goals:

• Develop a national identity and unified voice for state environmental public health practice.
• Enhance relationships and communication among states and partners.
• Provide a forum for discussing key and emerging environmental health issues.

ASTHO regularly engages the SEHD peer group through monthly calls, regional calls, and the SEHD Annual Meeting. The calls provide opportunities for SEHDs to discuss best practices, new initiatives in their jurisdictions, and major topics of interest.

Each year, the SEHD Annual Meeting convenes the peer group to enhance capacity and build partnerships for environmental health programs in the jurisdictions. The meeting aims to increase knowledge of current and emerging environmental health topics through presentations and roundtable discussions, as well as strengthen peer-to-peer relationships through networking and resource sharing opportunities.

To learn more about the SEHD peer group, please email the Environmental Health team at environmentalhealth@astho.org.