This domain considers the interface between the environment and human well-being, with particular focus on the triad that ties human health to the environment through the elements of food and infectious agents. Each of these elements is influenced by planned and unplanned environmental disturbances. For example, agricultural practices shift the balance between beneficial and harmful ingredients of food. Use of insecticides presents dilemmas with regard to the environment, economics, and human health. The distribution of infectious diseases is influenced by the climatic conditions that permit vectors to coexist with humans, by deforestation, by urbanization, and by human interventions ranging from the building of dams to provision of potable water.

In designing interventions that aim to prevent or reduce infectious contaminants in the environment, or to improve food production and nutritional quality, not only is it important to understand methods of intervention, but also to understand social forces that influence how humans respond to such interventions.