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EPA'S ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS BRANCH: PLANNING FOR AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
Citation:
HAMMER, D. EPA'S ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS BRANCH: PLANNING FOR AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. Presented at OSU Department of Crop and Science, Corvallis, OR, September 24, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
The seminar will address two topics: 1) a brief overview of Dr. Hammer’s professional experiences that preceded his appointment with the Environmental Protection Agency; and 2) a summary of current projects being planned by the Ecological Effects Branch of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Western Ecology Division.
Description:
The seminar will address two topics: 1) a brief overview of Dr. Hammer’s professional experiences that preceded his appointment with the Environmental Protection Agency; and 2) a summary of current projects being planned by the Ecological Effects Branch of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Western Ecology Division. Dr. Hammer’s professional experience beyond the graduate degrees includes two years of mapping soils in the Pacific Northwest as part of the state of Washington’s Forest Land Grading Program in the late 1970’s. He spent nearly 20 years as a faculty at the University of Missouri, where his research included surface mine reclamation, soil spatial variability, forest site quality, native prairie restoration, and urban storm water runoff. Important EPA projects include: • 1)Potential risks of emerging technologies on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems? Includes plants, plant communities, wildlife, soil organisms “Technologies” includes introduced genes, chemical pesticides, nanoparticles: • Gene flow questions • What are potential methods to determine environmental consequences of gene flow? • Methods to measure gene flow and its consequences on plant communities • Molecular methods to confirm introgression of GM genes • Models that predict long-term ecological consequences of gene flow • Wildlife (Patch) questions • How does pesticide use impact wildlife? • How do stressor and species interactions impact wildlife? • Can pesticide impacts on wildlife be mitigated? • Nanoparticle questions • Do manufactured nanoparticles, in their various forms, impart toxicity to individual organisms, or change ecosystem structure or function, or the services ecosystems provide? • Linkages and secondary impacts to aquatic ecosystems • 2) Willamette Ecosystems Services Project (WESP) Provide a model-based approach that predicts responses of ecosystem services to probable future conditions. Identify critical knowledge gaps in the ecological processes underlying ecosystem services. Quantify ecosystem services, including their distribution, status, and responses to current and projected future conditions. Evaluate net benefits of bundled ecosystem services and tradeoffs among management actions that affect these services.