The OEHSAI was formed in October 2022 to foster an expanded organization to attract students across multiple professions studying in the field of Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH).  

The former student organization upon which this new OEHSAI was based was the I³HSA - Iowa & Illinois Industrial Hygiene Student Association.  This organization had a decades long legacy of social, educational, and service activities.  To This archive contains data from the previous organization with the goal of maintaining connection with the organization's alumni.  This archived space contains a bit of that history for continuity.  Look to the side for stories about I³HSA activities from past years.

Welcome

Welcome to the Iowa-Illinois Industrial Hygiene Student Association Homepage. The I³HSA is a student chapter of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). We are sponsored by the Iowa-Illinois Local Section, the regional chapter of the AIHA which covers parts of eastern Iowa and western Illinois. The student association is centered at the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the College of Public Health, University of Iowa (UI) and is a registered student body with the UI Division of Student Life.

Membership in the association is open to all industrial hygiene, safety, or related science students in the Iowa-Illinois region. Our primary purpose is to offer students an opportunity to further their professional experiences through various activities such as those described in this website.

I³HSA History

On September 24, 1998, seven graduate students in the Industrial Hygiene program at the department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health (now the College of Public Health) convened to discuss the formation of an Industrial Hygiene student chapter. We wanted the student chapter to fall under the purview of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). We discussed and approved a draft constitution that was modeled after that of the University of Michigan. We also elected officers for the association and voted unanimously to invite Dr. Stephen Reynolds and Dr. William Groves as advisors to the association. Our first office holders were Chandran Achutan, President; Alexis Grey, Secretary; and Matthew Nonnenmann, Treasurer. The name of the association was established as the Iowa-Illinois Industrial Hygiene Student Association (I³HSA), in accordance with our sponsoring section, the Iowa-Illinois Local Section. The seven founding members of the I³HSA are (in alphabetical order) as follows:

Chandran Achutan, Ph.D;  Stanislav Borin, MS; Alexis Grey, MS; Martin Jones, Ph.D; Joung Ae Lee, MS; Matthew Nonnenmann, MS; Jeremy Slagley, MS.

These founding members are active in the industrial hygiene profession (with Dr. Matt Nonnenmann now a faculty member teaching in the UI Industrial Hygiene program).

On January 27, 1999, the association was approved by the AIHA and we were recognized as a new student group at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce, 1999) in Toronto, Canada. Chandran Achutan represented the association at the function. We are also registered as a student body with the Office of Student Life, University of Iowa.

Over 15 years later, we are still actively engaged in educational and outreach experiences as a team.  Our current faculty advisor is Dr. Renee Anthony.  We meet before the first week of classes every Fall to recruit new industrial hygiene and other Occupational and Environmental Health students into the organization and identify service and networking events for the upcoming year.  See the "People" page to find out more about students currently in the organization.

The original approval of the I³HSA as an official AIHA student local section is provided here:  certificate.pdf

MISSION OF THE IOWA-ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE STUDENT ASSOCIATION

The mission of this organization is to: ignite students’ passion for Industrial Hygiene, cultivating in our graduates the ingenuity, curiosity, determination, and boldness that is required to become leaders in the field of Occupational Health and Safety.

VISION OF THE IOWA-ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE STUDENT ASSOCIATION

We believe that Occupational Health and Safety should be more than a job, it is a lifetime commitment.

Our vision for students in Industrial Hygiene is to develop in them the skills and knowledge that will allow them to continually improve all aspects of the occupational environment in which we operate, creating a healthier workplace for tomorrow.