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Office of Environmental Innovation Flier
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Office of Environmental Innovation
Environmental Assessment & Innovation Division
EPA Region 3, Philadelphia, PA
“The most successful people are those who are good at
Plan B.”
- James Yorke, creator of “chaos theory”
Our mission is to foster and channel innovation throughout all aspects of business here at the Mid-Atlantic Region. We view it is our job to come up with Plan B by:
- Scouting for new ideas and unrealized potential in existing programs and practices
- Acting as a center of innovation expertise, promoting & publicizing successful ventures
- Providing a safe haven for new initiatives to grow and flourish before launching
Our Value Proposition
The Mid-Atlantic Office of Environmental Innovation can help you develop and implement new and creative solutions to environmental problems. This includes improving the performance of traditional regulatory programs as well as creating new voluntary and non-regulatory approaches. The Office will help you generate, manage, and mainstream innovative changes; identify and explore emerging environmental issues; and evaluate promising new approaches to environmental protection. We are:
- experimenters - creating ideas and testing them through real-world application
- collaborators - engaging others to act on decisions and innovative approaches
- coaches - supporting managers and program staff on matters related to adoption and implementation of innovative approaches
- coordinators - tracking, monitoring, and communicating on regional and national innovation work, and facilitating linkages between programs and divisions
- implementers - conducting project management and oversight activities
Who We Are - What We Do
Associate Director
David Campbell (campbell.dave@epa.gov)
Administrative Assistance
Michele Monroe (monroe.michele@epa.gov)
Climate Change/Energy
Michael Dunn (dunn.michael@epa.gov)
Steven Donohue (donohue.steven@epa.gov)
Sustainability
Lorna Rosenberg (rosenberg.lorna@epa.gov)
Virginia Thompson (thompson.virginia@epa.gov)
Maryann Helferty (helferty.maryann@epa.gov)
Marie Holman (holman.marie@epa.gov)
Carolyn Mooney (mooney.carolyn@epa.gov)
Children's Health
Prentiss Ward (ward.prentiss@epa.gov)
Business Assist. Center
David Byro (byro.david@epa.gov)
Call Us at 215-814-2701
Climate Change and Sustainability Coordination
As the nation learns more about the expanding scope of the causes and impacts of climate change, many analysts and policymakers see the issue as a great "silo-buster." For example, the environmental impacts of coal mining, coal combustion for electricity, and coal ash storage or reuse, cuts across three divisional and regulatory boundaries within EPA. The same is true for the expansive set of challenges effecting sustainability. In short, all of the Region’s program offices are responsible for climate change and sustainability. EAID will continue to advocate this holistic vision and provide leadership, innovation, and collaboration during the development of cross-cutting Regional climate change and sustainability strategies - as well as supporting focused initiatives and program development within each division.
This important work will provide great opportunities for our Office’s other charge — cultivating a distributed innovation culture across all the Region’s business units. We call this promoting “i”innovation (small “i”) - these are the types of innovative and creative practices and activities that can occur in all of our day-to-day work without being the result of a so-called “Innovative” project.
Thinking Globally, Acting (Real) Locally
We need to change where we live. This is not a call to boost the sagging housing market—not that there’s anything wrong with that. What we need to change is what we expect, nay demand, from the buildings in which we sleep, work, and learn. The Mid-Atlantic Office of Environmental Innovation is actively advocating the multitude of benefits of green building and low-impact development. We are collaborating with a variety of stakeholders through our Local Governments Initiating Conservation for Sustainability (LOGICS) initiative to develop and deliver much needed resources regarding green building ordinances, green purchasing, energy efficiency and other concepts. Similarly, we are supporting a broader agenda regarding low-impact development and its benefits to community livability, stormwater management, and watershed protection.
Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
EPA's Mid-Atlantic Office of Environmental Innovation continues to provide national and Regional leadership on the issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment and disposal of unwanted medication. We are successfully collaborating with the private sector, nonprofit organizations, academia, many levels of government, and offices and divisions in EPA Region 3, Headquarters, and our Office of Research and Development. We have coordinated responses to national news stories and fostered partnerships among the many stakeholders concerned about pharmaceuticals. We are coaching local and state governments on steps they can take to reduce pharmaceutical waste. We are also leading the implementation of funded and supported pilot projects; conducting outreach to niche groups and the public; and serving as a nationally-recognized resource for organizations from Oregon to Pennsylvania to Florida.