March 3, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
A self-described “mature” student, Ray Holberger arrived at USC with a wealth of experience in the field of environmental health sciences. Most of his career has taken place in New England and Canada, but he’s been in South Carolina for the past six years and is planning to continue serving his adopted state for the foreseeable future.
Originally from rural Massachusetts, Holberger knew he wanted to pursue a career where he could make a tangible positive impact on the world and people’s living conditions. He also knew that he needed an occupation that would give him plenty of opportunities to spend time outside doing fieldwork and exploring our natural and built environments.
With these goals in mind, he studied environmental sciences at McGill University in Montreal before spending a decade working on human health and ecological risk assessments of contaminated sites in British Columbia. In 2013, Holberger returned to Massachusetts to serve as the Environmental Project Manager for New Bedford – organizing risk-based cleanups of the city’s brownfields.
Six years ago, his wife was offered a faculty position with USC’s School of the Earth, Ocean & Environment, and they moved to Columbia. Holberger took a job with the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (previously known as the Department of Health and Environmental Control), first as an environmental health manager and then as the department’s environmental risk specialist.
“My background in environmental risk assessment gives me a keen appreciation for how our perception of ‘acceptable’ risks has implications for how we live and regulate our society,” Holberger says. “I’m interested in how scientific, policy, and regulatory frameworks interact to affect exposures to contaminants and overall environmental health. I’ve worked in jurisdictions across North America, and I’ve observed many different approaches to many different kinds of environmental issues.”
Holberger was pleasantly surprised to discover the opportunity to explore these areas further when he realized that USC offered a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences program right in his own city. The curriculum aligned closely with his research and professional interests, and he enrolled with department chair Geoff Scott as his mentor.
“Dr. Scott has helped fill several notable gaps in my knowledge of ecological risk assessment techniques. He has given me a far broader perspective in how the field developed over the course of his varied and illustrious career as an ecotoxicologist and administrator,” Holberger says. “He and numerous other Arnold School faculty members have been invaluable collaborators on a wide range of SCDES environmental initiatives.”
After graduating this year, Holberger is looking forward to serving the state using his more refined environmental risk assessment skill set. He’s also plans to foster continued collaborations between the Department of Environmental Services and the Arnold School.
Returning to school at this stage in life has been an enjoyable experience for Holberger, who cherishes the relationships he’s built with faculty and students. He also loves – and highly recommends – biking to and across USC’s beautiful campus and using this mode of transportation as often as possible, particularly given the agreeable weather the state offers.
Though Holberger first worked for the state agency and then became a student, he advises current students consider the opposite path as well:
“We are always looking for USC students to help with projects,” he says. “Internships with SCDES help students become familiar with how environmental science is practiced in a regulatory setting and can help set the stage for the next steps in their careers.”
