By taking the following survey, public health professionals can help a PhD student earn his wings while improving public health. The following is a brief description of the study: To build up evidence for what determines health department performance, The University of Minnesota has developed an online survey for state and local epidemiologists and environmental health professionals involved in foodborne disease outbreak response in the United States. The goal of the survey is to summarize the outbreak investigation training and work experience of anonymous foodborne disease outbreak responders. The Institute of Medicine has long recognized the need to figure out what factors affect a public health department’s performance. This need is especially great for programs that deal with public health emergencies, during which these programs are critical to mitigating and recovering from disasters. Foodborne disease outbreaks are regularly recurring disasters requiring public health action, including laboratory testing, epidemiological investigation, environmental inspection, and product traceback. Several factor have been proposed as determinants of public health performance during disasters. In focus groups conducted in 2010 by the University of Minnesota, state and local foodborne disease responders identified the following as predictors of performance: – Size of Jurisdiction – Disease Reporting Laws – Program Budget – Organizational Structure – Surveillance Processes – Staff Training – Staff Experience in Similar Disaster Response – Inter-professional Relationships, and more. If you are an epidemiologist or environmental health professional, please consider reviewing the survey consent and participating by clicking here. The survey will require 15-20 minutes. This survey has been approved by the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board (Study 1110E05746). If you have questions about the survey, please contact Evan Henke, PhD Candidate at the University of Minnesota, at henk0071@umn.edu.