October 1, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Lisa Rose has lived around the country (and even overseas), but she’s made her home in the Midlands, and she plans to stay. It’s the perfect place to make an impact in her area of expertise: using environmental health sciences to fight the opioid epidemic.
“The introduction of illicit fentanyl into our country has not only majorly increased drug overdose rates among those who struggle with addiction but has also accidentally poisoned many individuals, including children,” Rose says. “I, myself, have lost loved ones due to this tribulation and consider it an extremely important public health risk.”
With a background in working for state and federal agencies, Rose is aiming to work within the government to make an impact in this area. Her Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences (ENHS) degree is the perfect capstone to making it possible.
Originally from Long Island, New York, Rose has moved many times – both as a child and then as an adult with the U.S. Army Reserves. During her six years as a soldier, she also went to school – first earning a bachelor’s degree in environmental management at the University of Maryland and then enrolling in a master’s program in the field at Unity Environmental University in Maine.
As she wrapped up her tenure with the Reserves and was immersed in her master’s program, Rose was selected as a Soil Conservation Trainee with the Natural Resources Conservation Services. This prestigious position launched Rose’s career in the environmental health agency space, and she accepted a position as an environmental program analyst with the Missouri Geological Survey (Department of Natural Resources) before transitioning to an environmental health manager role with the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (then known as the Department of Health and Environmental Control).
These experiences involved protecting groundwater and analyzing water samples, which helped Rose discover her passion for how the environment impacts human health. Once she realized her new hometown offered a Ph.D. in ENHS, she made the pivot to pursuing a doctoral degree.
“USC had exactly what I was looking for, a doctorate program that incorporated environmental science and public health,” Rose says. “Both the ENHS department and the Arnold School have been nothing but welcoming to me, especially as a mother with a lot of responsibility on my shoulders.”
In the 18 months since she began her program, Rose has gained experience with two graduate research assistantships and has found wonderful support from USC’s Veterans and Military Services. She’s found mentors in the department’s former graduate director and new graduate director, Dwayne Porter and Daniel Kilpatrick. Their environmental justice work drew me to the program, and their passion for their work never wavers, she says.
With support from faculty and driven by her own passion for the topic, Rose plans to conduct a community-based pilot study using wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor and address opioid hazards for her dissertation project. By analyzing wastewater samples for opioid metabolites, including fentanyl, she and her team can get a better understanding of the impact of these drugs on specific communities. Based on these findings, local decision makers can implement mitigation strategies, such as installing Narcan vending machines, which can save lives in the areas where they are needed most.
