CAPT Justin Gerding, DHA, MPH, REHS, CPH, DAAS

CAPT Justin Gerding began his career in environmental health (EH) in 2002 after graduating from Ferris State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental health and safety management. While a student, he completed a JRCOSTEP assignment with the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), serving with the Indian Health Service in Fort Duchesne, UT (2001) and leading to a career with the USPHS. His initial assignments were with the Indian Health Service in Dillingham, AK (2002–2004) as a field EH specialist and Elko, NV (2004–2007) as a service unit sanitarian. He later completed an assignment with the U.S. Coast Guard in Norfolk, VA (2007–2010) as an EH officer.

Currently, CAPT Gerding is assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health, where he leads the EH Practice Team in the Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch. In this role, CAPT Gerding manages the branch’s efforts to strengthen EH programs and services and advance EH practice at the state, tribal, local, and territorial levels.

CAPT Gerding’s more recent accomplishments focus on advancing and strengthening the EH profession, practice, and workforce. He was the CDC lead for the UNCOVER EH initiative, an unprecedented assessment of the nation’s EH workforce and practice. This initiative provided highly valuable information for setting benchmarks and goals for improving the EH workforce and practice. Results were reported in impactful publications in the Journal of Environmental Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, and American Journal of Public Health. He was integral in the development, implementation, and management of programs supporting numerous internship opportunities for EH students. This includes the Summer Program in Environmental Health and the National Environmental Public Health Internship Program. He led development and implementation of the Environmental Health Capacity cooperative agreement program, a mechanism for building health department EH program capacity to detect, prevent, and control EH hazards through data-driven, evidence-based approaches.

CAPT Gerding deployed as an EH responder for national disasters and emergencies from Hurricane Katrina (2005) to Hurricane Maria (2017) and as Chief of Staff for the CDC COVID-19 Response State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Task Force (2020).

CAPT Gerding is engaged in professional organizations including the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), American Public Health Association, and the American Academy of Sanitarians. He is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist with NEHA (2003), Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners (2008), and a Diplomate of the American Academy of Sanitarians (2013).