Stormwater Research for Emergency Response and Recovery

Research Opportunity at the United States Environmental Protection Agency

Title:

Stormwater Research for Emergency Response and Recovery

Research Area(s):

• Water
• Emergency Response

Lab, Region/Center, Office:

Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER), Office of Research and Development

Opportunity Location:

Durham, NC or Cincinnati, OH

Opportunity Funding (Duration):

• National Science Foundation Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) Supplemental Funding Opportunity (6 months maximum)

Project Description:

This project is sponsored by EPA’s Homeland Security Research Program and focused on responding to the impact that rainfall has on the fate and transport of hazardous and infectious contaminants in and thru urban stormwater infrastructure. This includes lab-based research on technologies to decontaminate stormwater (e.g.,media-based filtration for catch basins), development of IoT samplers for flood events, and stormwater modeling case studies to optimize storage and operations of stormwater infrastructure after a contamination event. This project is intended to build resources available for stormwater utilities and EPA emergency responders responding to these contamination incidents. The participant can tailor their experience to one or more of these aspects of the project.

Fellowship Goal and Learning Objectives:

Goal: The fellow will learn to develop knowledge and tools to aid stormwater utilities and emergency responders respond to contaminated stormwater.

Learning Objectives:

• Conduct experiments, analyze data, and write peer-reviewed journal articles.
• Learn the use and operation of different analytical instruments and software code.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

Preferred Skills:

• Strong verbal and writing skills,
• Ability to work both as a part of a team and independently.
• Basic knowledge of stormwater quality analysis
• Programming Arduino microprocessors
• SWMM model construction and application

Qualifications:  Graduate student or Ph.D. in relevant fields (e.g., Civil/Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Agricultural Engineering).

Point of Contact or Research Lead:

Anne Mikelonis (Mikelonis.anne@epa.gov)