I'm Sam, from India, and I completed the full-time MSc Climate Change and Planetary Health at LSHTM in 2024-25. I chose LSHTM to better understand the links between climate change, the environment and health, and to explore how these could translate into real-world public health action.
What I valued most was learning that extended well beyond the classroom - through case-based work and interactions with peers from around the world. Modules such as Environmental Epidemiology, Environment, Health and Sustainable Development, and Planetary Health Research in Practice reshaped how I think about public health challenges and the role of evidence in informing policy and practice.
My research project examined the effects of climate change on food contamination and food safety - an area I have continued to build on, including presenting the work in academic and policy forums. I have also been involved in work on wastewater-based environmental surveillance, particularly exploring pathways to scale these approaches as part of more integrated disease surveillance systems in low- and middle-income countries.
Beyond academics, it was the LSHTM community that made the experience particularly distinctive. Conversations with peers in classrooms, at events and even at the Pump Handle brought perspectives that no curriculum could offer. Being in London also opened conferences and discussions across the wider climate and health field. LSHTM connected me to a global public health community, bringing together people working towards shared goals from very different starting points.
Since returning to India, I have continued working across public health practice and research, increasingly at the intersection of climate change, environmental health, disease surveillance and public health programmes. LSHTM did more than add a qualification to my journey - it changed the questions I ask, how I approach public health problems, and how I think about turning knowledge into action.