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Current Position Openings
NERL Post-Doctoral Program
Open application period: November 2, 2009 through January 30, 2010
How to apply for the positions.
(NOTE: Applicants may also be considered for other NERL Postdoctoral positions in addition to those specifically listed here.)
NERL is soliciting post-docs in a number of research areas.
Project numbers beginning with IO are solicited for research that has been identified as novel or emerging, as well as of high priority and highly dependent on integrated efforts across the NERL divisions. As such, these post-docs will be expected to conduct research as part of a team, within an integrated research plan. In most cases, the post-doc will reside within a division and at a location that provides the best opportunity for research mentoring, but will have the opportunity to work across the six human health and ecological research divisions.
Near Road Sources
| Project Number: | HEASD-10-1 |
| Division: | Human Exposure & Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) |
| Branch: | Exposure Measurements & Analysis Branch (EMAB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC |
| Title of Project: | Determining the Magnitude and Variability of Near Road Sources and their Contribution to Local Environs |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | The objective of this project is to gain a better understanding of the complexities of the multi-pollutant nature of the near-road environment in urban areas such as Las Vegas, NV; Detroit, MI; and potentially Research Triangle Park, NC. A series of longitudinal near-road research studies are underway or are being planned in these cities to collect data that will be used to evaluate the factors associated with mobile source air pollutants in the near-road environ. These research studies involve field data collection of outdoor air pollutants, human exposures, and human health effects, as well as physical modeling using wind tunnel simulations and numerical modeling. The goal of these studies is to apportion the contribution of mobile source air pollutants to the local environs influencing outdoor air concentrations, human exposures, and health. The project will navigate the complex issues associated with exposure assessment, source apportionment and potentially exposure-linked human health effects. |
| Major Research Area: | Clean Air Research - Particulate Matter, Air Toxics and Near Roadway Research |
| Scientific Project Area: | Statistical/spatial analyses of air pollution/exposure data analysis involving GIS, numerical modeling, and/or source apportionment modeling |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in environmental sciences, environmental engineering, or other related physical science discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Strong quantitative skills in a variety of disciplines that may include air pollution/exposure data analysis, GIS, numerical modeling, and/or source apportionment modeling. Consideration will be given to candidates who have demonstrated experience in research involving traffic-related air pollutants. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Alan Vette, Ph.D: vette.alan@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Biomarker Research
| Project Number: | HEASD-10-2 |
| Division: | Human Exposure & Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) |
| Branch: | Methods Development & Application Branch (MDAB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC |
| Title of Project: | Biomarker research: Developing systems biology approaches for exposure assessment using biological outcome variables (OV) |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | Systems biology is a key to understanding the environmental exposure to health outcome relationship. The work is comprised of making measurements of exogenous compounds, their metabolites, and the systemic response in the form of endogenous compounds. A main goal of this research project is to develop analytical data that are representative of some form of response or "Outcome Variable" (OV) that could take many chemical and biological forms. The initial focus will be on inflammation response and on electrophilic compound adduction to proteins. Both are markers of perturbation of the biological system, but do not necessarily reflect an adverse effect. Candidate OVs will be incorporated into population based exposure studies conducted via collaboration within, and external to EPA. This project will develop sampling, preparative, analytical, and data interpretation methodology. Laboratory tools will include wet chemistry, GC-MS, LC-MS and. LC-MS-MS. Collaborative analytical work may involve SELDI-TOF, and OrbiTrap mass analyzer instrumentation. The focus is on organic species such as aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, PCBs, pesticides, fuel constituents and their metabolic products expressed in blood, urine, breath, lavage fluid, etc. This work will develop "-omics" approaches for exploiting pattern shifts in protein (e.g. cytokines) expression and exogenous adducts in abundant proteins (e.g. albumin and hemoglobin). |
| Major Research Area: | Human Exposure |
| Scientific Project Area: | Biomarkers |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in environmental science, toxicology, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, or other related scientific discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Methods development using blood, blood proteins, or other biological fluids, standards preparation, measurement of environmental contaminants, etc. as well as hands-on analytical instrumentation experience with GC-MS and LC-MS. A basic knowledge of statistics including regression analysis, ANOVA, and SAS (mixed models). Additional experience with LC-MS-MS, SELDI-ToF, and Orbi-Trap mass instruments, and hands-on experience with exposure studies and working with human subjects, is a bonus. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Joachim Pleil, Ph.D.: pleil.joachim@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Atmospheric Process Modeling
| Project Number: | HEASD-10-3 |
| Division: | Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) |
| Branch: | Process Modeling Research Branch (PMRB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC |
| Title of Project: | Atmospheric Process Modeling: Experimental and Computational Physical Chemistry |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | Integrating recent developments in computational and experimental physical chemistry into the atmospheric chemistry research program remains a key component in developing and maintaining chemistry models for assessing the impact of regulatory actions on human exposure levels, depositions of gases and particulate matter, and climate change. The research protocol consists of (1) conducting laboratory experiments, computational chemistry calculations, and field studies and (2) using the results of these studies and other peer reviewed data to develop and evaluate chemistry models that will be incorporated into gas phase and particulate matter air quality models including Community Modeling for Air Quality. For example see Edney et al: Formation of 2-methyl tetrols and 2-methylglyceric acid in secondary organic aerosol from laboratory irradiated isoprene/NOX/SO2/air mixtures and their detection in ambient PM2.5 samples collected in the eastern United States, Atmospheric Environment 39 (29): 5281-5289, September 2005 ( doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.05.031 ). These air quality models are used by EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation in making important public health regulatory decisions |
| Major Research Area: | Atmospheric chemistry (NAAQS attainment) |
| Scientific Project Area: | Experimental, computational, and field studies of fine particles with model development |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in chemistry, physics, or other related scientific discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Experience using experimental and computational physical chemistry techniques employed in atmospheric chemistry and familiarity with how the results of such studies can be used to develop chemistry models. Familiarity with (1) quantum chemistry software packages such Gaussian; (2) kinetic methods for measuring rate constants; and (3) analytical methods for analyzing inorganic and organic compounds that may include those based on mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Edward Edney, Ph.D.: edney.edward@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Weather-Hydrology Modeling
| Project Number: | IO-10-1 |
| Division: | Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division (AMAD) in collaboration with Ecosystems Research Division (ERD) and Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) |
| Branch: | Atmospheric Exposure Integration Branch (AEIB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC |
| Title of Project: | Coupled Weather-Hydrology Modeling for Air Quality, Ecosystem and Climate Applications |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | EPA is addressing multi-disciplinary science policy questions that impact air, water, and climate change. There is a growing need to connect atmospheric models with ecological models in a manner that minimizes uncertainty and potential for error to address biogeochemistry and ecosystem services and response of these services to emissions, land use and climate change. A key connector between atmospheric and ecological models affecting biogeochemical cycling is hydrology. The objective of this research project is to link a hydrology model to the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) meteorological model driving the Community Multiscale Air Quality model (CMAQ) and have it operate within that modeling system. The hydrology model needs to be national in scope and be able to be adapted to a 12-km grid size. The goal is to develop links between atmospheric and surface water fluxes, where atmospheric precipitation is predicted by the WRF model. This linkage is critical for ecosystem climate change assessments. The linked models will support ongoing nitrogen and exposure research by multiple program offices and be used for land use and climate change projections. Continuing research will explore how the surface water fluxes respond to land use/land cover change and to climate change. Additional research could be to address how best to connect the linked, modeled precipitation and hydrology to watershed and biogeochemical cycling water quality models for ecosystem assessments. |
| Major Research Area: | Ecosystem Services Research and Climate Change Research |
| Scientific Project Area: | Linkage of air and water/ecological models |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in hydrology, or closely related field, such as meteorology, geology, environmental sciences, or other related scientific discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Background and training in hydrology and modeling. Experience with developing model code and applying the code is preferred. Demonstrated interest in applications. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Robin L. Dennis, Ph.D.: dennis.robin@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Reactive Nitrogen Modeling
| Project Number: | IO-10-2 |
| Division: | Ecosystems Research Division (ERD) in collaboration with Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division (AMAD) and Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) |
| Branch: | Regulatory Support Branch (RSB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Athens, GA |
| Title of Project: | Reactive Nitrogen Modeling Linking Air, Land and Water |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | The Ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) is focusing on understanding the impacts (e.g., eutrophication, anoxia, algal blooms) of Nitrogen biogeochemical cycling on ecosystem services (e.g., fish populations, biodiversity, recreational swimming/fishing, and water quality). This position will become part of the ESRP nutrients modeling team and the NERL air-watershed linkage team, investigating the importance of land-use and land-use change on the nitrogen cycle, with particular attention to the importance of bidirectional flux of Nr and linking atmospheric, waterbody and watershed models. |
| Major Research Area: | Ecosystem Services Research and Climate Change Research |
| Scientific Project Area: | Biogeochemistry and ecological modeling |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in environmental engineering/science, physical science (e.g., biogeochemistry, hydrology, geology), or other related scientific discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Understanding of biogeochemical cycles, particularly with focus on biochemical processes governing reactive Nitrogen (Nr), GIS, numerical fate and transport modeling, programming languages and the application of biogeochemical models (e.g., Biome-BGC, PnET, CENTURY/DayCent) |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Chris Knightes, Ph.D.: knightes.chris@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Bioinformatics
| Project Number: | IO-10-3 |
| Division: | Ecological Exposure Research Division (EERD) (one position) or Microbiological & Chemical Exposure Assessment Research Division (MCEARD) (one position) |
| Branch: | Molecular Indicators Research Branch (MIRB) or Biohazard Assessment Research Branch (BARB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Cincinnati, OH |
| Title of Project: | Application of Bioinformatics to Environmental Exposure Research |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | The overall goal of this research is to apply next generation sequencing and microarray technologies to enhance EPA's ability to characterize waterborne microbial and chemical exposures. One aspect of the research will focus on the characterization of microbial communities, as well as their interactions with chemical contaminants, in specific ecosystems (e.g. biofilms) using next generation sequencing and microarrays. Another aspect of this research will focus on the identification of endogenous vertebrate and invertebrate molecular markers of exposure to microbial and chemical contaminants. This project is expected to help the Agency use bioinformatics to better understand the relationship between the presence of these contaminants in the environment and their human and environmental health impacts. |
| Major Research Area: | Drinking Water; Water Quality |
| Scientific Project Area: | Pathogen Detection; Host Response to Contaminants |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in biology, statistics, mathematics, computer science, or a sub-discipline of one of these fields, or other related scientific discipline. |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Familiarity with basic molecular, cellular, and microbial biology. Experience developing statistical models and applying machine learning algorithms. Experience developing custom code with a statistical programming language, such as SAS, S-PLUS, R, SPSS, or MATLAB. Experience developing custom code with a general programming language, such as Perl, C, or Java. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Eric Villegas, Ph.D.: villegas.eric@epa.gov *These individuals may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. These individuals are not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Understanding Pathogen Characteristics
| Project Number: | IO-10-4 |
| Division: | Ecosystems Research Division (ERD) in collaboration with Microbiological and Chemical Exposure Assessment Research Division (MCEARD) |
| Branch: | Environmental Assessments Branch (EAB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Athens, GA |
| Title of Project: | Understanding Pathogen Characteristics for Use in Fate and Transport Modeling |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | The relationships between the fate and transport of pathogens and watershed, in-water-column characteristics are not well understood. NERL is cultivating efforts to link its microbial source-to-receptor modeling (in watersheds and recreational waters) with bench-top, plot, and field-scale sampling in an effort to better understand the science behind the disposition, fate, and transport of pathogens in the environment. There is a critical need to understand and describe the dominant characteristics that govern the fate of pathogens (bacterial, viral and protozoan) and fecal indicators in the environment. Aspects associated with these characteristics include more in-depth understandings of 1) effects of microbial partitioning (between sediments, organics, biofilms, water, particulate matter, soil, etc.) on microbial exposure concentrations and persistence, 2) impacts of temperature, sunlight, sediments, DOM and/or oxygen on rates of microbial inactivation and growth, 3) pathogen densities and persistence in different types of waste forms (e.g., slurries and solids such as bedding and manure) by animal type, and 4) the relationships between loading and release rates at the source. Other important aspects include the 1) fate and transport behavior of microbes due to aging, viable and non-viable organisms, and oocysts; 2) relationship between nutrient and microbial transport; and 3) relationships between the different laboratory analytical methods used to determine the presence or absence of microbes. The results of these characterization studies will be used in various modeling programs that include purely statistical (e.g., regression analysis), deterministic, and sensitivity/uncertainty approaches (e.g., Monte Carlo, inverse modeling) that are used to forecast the disposition of pathogens in the environment to help ensure safe water conditions. |
| Major Research Area: | Microbial Fate and Exposures |
| Scientific Project Area: | Dynamics of pathogen and nutrient stressors in the environment to determine the association of risk with source (including application of QMRA modeling approaches). |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in environmental sciences or engineering (e.g., microbiology, environmental engineering, environmental health science, ocean sciences, biogeochemistry), or other related scientific discipline. |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Experience with culture and molecular microbiological methods, microbial kinetic studies, field sampling, biogeochemical instrumentation |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Marirosa Molina, Ph.D.: molina.marirosa@epa.gov *These individuals may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. These individuals are not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Interdisciplinary Approaches
| Project Number: | IO-10-5 |
| Division: | Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) |
| Branch: | Landscape Ecology Branch (LEB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Las Vegas, NV or Research Triangle Park, NC |
| Title of Project: | Interdisciplinary approaches to environmental science, demography, ecosystem change, and ecosystem services |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | This is a challenging environmental science project, with particular emphasis on quantifying the dynamic processes (e.g., temporal and spatial distribution) of humans in the landscape with a focus on ecosystem change. Particular emphasis will be placed on quantitative research methods, quantitative analysis, and novel approaches for describing and predicting population dynamics, as it relates to ecosystem functions, services, and change. This work will support priority EPA environmental modeling and assessment efforts for the EPA Office of Research and Development, Ecosystem Services Research Program. Close coordination with a diverse group of environmental scientists and geospatial/statistical analysts is required. |
| Major Research Area: | Human population dynamics analysis (including futures) and geospatial/demographic data analysis/synthesis |
| Scientific Project Area: | Environmental Science with a Demography emphasis |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in sociology, rural sociology, urban sociology, or other related scientific discipline, with a strong emphasis in the environmental sciences. |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Human Impacts on the Environment, Ecosystem Services Analyses, US Census Data Analyses, Geographic Information Systems Analyses, Multi-scale Demographic and Environmental Data Analyses |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Ricardo D. Lopez, Ph.D.: lopez.ricardo@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Human Exposure Assessments
| Project Number: | IO-10-6 |
| Division: | Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) in collaboration with Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) |
| Branch: | Exposure Modeling Research Branch (EMRB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC |
| Title of Project: | Use and interpretation of nationally-available data in community-based cumulative human exposure assessments |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | The research project will integrate, interpret, and apply existing nationally-available databases, models, and other relevant tools to estimate and communicate human exposures and cumulative risks in communities. This research will address needs in voluntary community programs such as EPA's Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program and Environmental Justice Showcase projects (see www.epa.gov/heasd/communities for more information) and for epidemiology studies such as the National Children's Study. The project will use spatial data analysis (GIS mapping tools) and focus on differential human exposure within communities and across communities. The incorporation of locally-collected environmental measurements may also be considered as part of this project. |
| Major Research Area: | Human Exposure |
| Scientific Project Area: | Interpretation of national databases in cumulative exposure assessments in communities |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in public health, environmental health engineering, exposure science, biostatistics, medicine, or other related scientific discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Experience or training in community-based risk assessment, public communication, risk communication and interpretation, geographic information systems and mapping, statistics, scientific writing and writing for the general public preferred. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Brad Schultz: schultz.brad@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Chemical Exposure Models
| Project Number: | IO-10-7 |
| Division: | Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) (one position) and Ecosystems Research Division (ERD) (one position) |
| Branch: | To be determined |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC (one position) and Athens, GA (one position) |
| Title of Project: | Development of the next generation of chemical exposure models |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | In support of research needs identified under the Managing Chemical Risks (MCR) research program, this project seeks to develop, evaluate, and test models that estimate the fate, transport, and environmental concentrations of persistent chemicals. Some chemicals that provide numerous benefits in consumer products (e.g., stain repellants, fire retardants, plasticizers) have been found to be ubiquitous in the environment due to their physical and chemical properties and have tendencies to bioaccumulate. It is critical to understand the key routes of human exposure across the chemicals’ lifecycle from manufacturing, consumer use, disposal and waste by-products. This requires a systematic, parsimonious modeling approach to estimate relative concentrations in indoor and outdoor environmental media as a function of all significant sources and the fate and transport of the chemical. It is anticipated that a generalized, adaptive modeling approach can be designed based on the chemical and physical properties and the manufacturing and consumer use factors that must be considered. This project will be complemented by ongoing research to identify and characterize the dominant pathways through which human exposure and dose can occur. Collectively, this information about the environmental concentrations and human exposure and dose pathways can then inform toxicological effect studies and chemical risk assessments and management. This will be a collaborative research effort with other Divisions within NERL, the National Center for Computational Toxicology, and other Laboratories and Centers within the Office of Research and Development. |
| Major Research Area: | Managing Chemical Risks |
| Scientific Project Area: | Development of environmental transport and transformation models appropriate for persistent chemicals in the environment |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in an environmental engineering discipline (e.g., chemical engineering, environmental engineering), or other related scientific discipline. |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Experience with conducting laboratory studies of contaminant fate and transport processes and the development of models based on experimental results. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Vallero, Daniel, Ph.D.: vallero.daniel@epa.gov or *These individuals may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. These individuals are not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Cumulative Risk Modeling
| Project Number: | IO-10-8 |
| Division: | Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) in collaboration with Ecosystems Research Division (ERD) |
| Branch: | Exposure Modeling Research Branch (EMRB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC (periodic travel to Athens, GA required) |
| Title of Project: | Integrated national modeling of human exposure to assess cumulative risk in communities |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | The research project will integrate, interpret, and apply a suite of models to estimate cumulative human exposures in communities for use in cumulative risk assessment and risk management. This will address (1) human health risk assessment problems in voluntary community programs, in particular EPA's Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program ( www.epa.gov/care) and the Environmental Justice Showcase projects (more information can be found at www.epa.gov/heasd/communities) and (2) human exposure assessment for epidemiology studies, in particular the National Children's Study. The project will apply or refine fate and transport models in 3MRA (http://www.epa.gov/ceampubl/mmedia/3mra/) and apply or refine human exposure models, in an integrated manner to solve public health problems. Modeling results will be developed that are applicable to diverse communities across the country and be suitable for incorporation in a cumulative risk assessment. |
| Major Research Area: | Human Exposure |
| Scientific Project Area: | Integrating exposure models to assess cumulative human exposure in communities across the U.S. |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in public health, environmental health, environmental engineering, exposure science, statistics, or other related scientific discipline. |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Experience or training in community-based risk assessment, exposure modeling, environmental epidemiology, public communication, risk interpretation, statistics, scientific writing and writing for the general public preferred. |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Timothy Barzyk, Ph.D.: barzyk.timothy@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Alternative Exposure Assessment Approaches
| Project Number: | IO-10-9 |
| Division: | Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) in collaboration with Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division (AMAD) |
| Branch: | Exposure Modeling Research Branch (EMRB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Research Triangle Park, NC |
| Title of Project: | Evaluation of Alternative Exposure Assessment Approaches for Air Pollution Epidemiological Studies |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | This research project will involve analysis of results from various studies that have applied alternative exposure assessment approaches in epidemiological studies, including air quality modeling, integration of monitoring and modeling data, GIS-based modeling, and human exposure modeling. The goal will be to identify which exposure assessment approaches are most appropriate for different pollutants, study domains, population groups, exposure scenarios and epidemiological study designs. The project may also involve application of various exposure assessment approaches in collaborative air pollution studies between EPA/NERL and other organizations to test hypotheses that emerge from the initial analysis of exposure assessment/epidemiological studies. |
| Major Research Area: | Human Exposure |
| Scientific Project Area: | Exposure Assessment to Air Pollutants |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in environmental science/engineering, exposure science, epidemiology, public health sciences, or other related scientific discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Application of exposure assessment in air pollution epidemiological investigations and/or application and evaluation of models used for exposure assessment, including air quality, human exposure, and GIS-based models |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Janet Burke, Ph.D.: burke.janet@epa.gov *This individual may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This individual is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |
Microbiological Methods
| Project Number: | IO-10-10 |
| Division: | Microbiological and Chemical Exposure Assessment Research Division (MCEARD) in collaboration with Ecosystems Research Division (ERD) |
| Branch: | Biohazard Assessment Research Branch (BARB) |
| Geographical Location of Position: | Cincinnati, OH |
| Title of Project: | Microbiological Methods to Assess Pathogen Densities in Watersheds |
| Brief Description of Research Project: | The loadings of septic seepage and zoonotic pathogens (viral, bacterial and parasitic protozoan) following overland and in-stream transport and their potential infectious status (fate) are thought to be poorly indexed by traditional fecal indicator bacteria. The goal of this collaborative project with the Athens-based field work is to provide parameter estimates to enable Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) modeling to estimate the relative importance of certain source/pathway combinations, to aid pathogen mitigation/management in watersheds. Using representative microorganisms (for viral, bacterial and parasitic protozoan pathogens) at the bench-, plot- and field-scales, relative fate and transport of each will be described and contrasted to traditional fecal indicators. Sampling methods to capture both inherent microbial variability, as well as method uncertainties (such as microbe viability/infectivity state and recoveries by matrix type), will be separately captured where possible, to aid in model interpretations by the companion post doc undertaking more field-based overland/sediment pathogen transport studies. Key variables to capture microbial behavior for different source types (e.g. farm manures, septic systems) and watershed configurations need to be described for various modeling efforts to address the relative importance of different media (e.g., flowing versus non-flowing waters, bed sediment, groundwater, freshwater and marine, etc.) and fate and transport characteristics (e.g., inactivation, partitioning, temperature, sunlight, sedimentation, etc.). |
| Major Research Area: | Modeling and assessment of chemical and non-chemical (e.g., microorganisms) stressor impacts related to ecosystem and human exposures. |
| Scientific Project Area: | Modeling of conventional and non-conventional pollutants in water-based environments |
| Educational Requirements: | Ph.D. in environmental sciences or engineering (e.g., microbiology, environmental engineering), or other related scientific discipline |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Experience with culture and molecular microbiological methods, microcosm studies, field sampling, statistical analysis |
| Scientific Contact/ Principal Investigator*: | Nick Ashbolt, Ph.D.: ashbolt.nick@epa.gov or *These individuals may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. These individuals are not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, set start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply. |