Grantee Research Project Results
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program
2015 EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study
CLOSED: FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY
This is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity.
Funding Opportunity Number: (See Section I.D. for descriptions)
| NUMBER | TOPIC TITLE |
| EPA-2015-STAR-A1 | Emerging Environmental Approaches and Challenges- Environmental Innovation (A1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-A2 | Emerging Environmental Approaches and Challenges- Information Science (A2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-A3 | Emerging Environmental Approaches and Challenges- Synthetic Biology for Environmental Purposes (A3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-B1 | Air, Climate and Energy- Clean Air (B1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-B2 | Air, Climate and Energy- Global Change (B2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-B3 | Air, Climate and Energy- Green Energy/Natural Resources Production and Use (B3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C1 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Adverse Impacts from Exposures to Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (C1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C2 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Environmental Health and Safety of Engineered Nanomaterials (C2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C3 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Computational Chemistry for Predictive Toxicology (C3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C4 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Communicating and Translating Emerging Science for Evaluating Impacts of Chemicals (C4) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-D1 | Human Health Risk Assessment- Public Health (D1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-D2 | Human Health Risk Assessment- Risk Assessment and Risk Management (D2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-E1 | Safe and Sustainable Water Resources- Drinking Water (E1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-E2 | Safe and Sustainable Water Resources- Water Quality-Coastal and Estuarine Processes (E2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-E3 | Safe and Sustainable Water Resources- Water Quality - Hydrogeology and Surface Water (E3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-F1 | Sustainable and Healthy Communities- Multidisciplinary Approaches To Optimize Decision Outcomes (F1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-F2 | Sustainable and Healthy Communities- Tribes and American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander Communities (F2) |
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 66.514
Solicitation Opening Date: April 8, 2015
Solicitation Closing Date: May 26, 2015, 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time (ET)
11:59:59 PM Eastern Time (ET) for submission of All Letters of Recommendation.
View research awarded under previous solicitations (Fellowships)
SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Synopsis of Program:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is offering Graduate Fellowships for master’s and doctoral level students in environmental fields of study. The deadline for submission of applications is May 26, 2015 at 11:59:59 PM. Subject to availability of funding and other applicable considerations, the Agency plans to award approximately 55 new fellowships in the Fall of 2015. The Fellowship Program provides up to $44,000 per year of support per fellowship. Master's level students may receive a maximum of two years of support ($88,000). Doctoral students may be supported for a maximum of three years ($132,000), usable over a period of five years.
This solicitation provides the opportunity for the submission of applications for projects that may involve human subjects research. Human subjects research supported by the EPA is governed by EPA Regulation 40 CFR Part 26 (Protection of Human Subjects). This includes the Common Rule at subpart A and prohibitions and additional protections for pregnant women and fetuses, nursing women, and children at subparts B, C, and D. Research meeting the regulatory definition of intentional exposure research found in subpart B is prohibited by that subpart in pregnant women, nursing women, and children. Research meeting the regulatory definition of observational research found in subparts C and D is subject to the additional protections found in those subparts for pregnant women and fetuses (subpart C) and children (subpart D). All applications must include a Human Subjects Research Statement (HSRS, as described in Section IV.B. Item 7 of this solicitation), and if the project involves human subjects research, it will be subject to an additional level of review prior to funding decisions being made as described in Sections V.C and V.D of this solicitation.Additional information can be found in Section I.A of the full announcement.
Guidance and training for investigators conducting EPA-funded research involving human subjects may be obtained here:
Basic Information about Human Subjects Research
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
Award Information:
Anticipated Type of Award: Fellowship
Estimated Number of Awards: Approximately 55 awards.
Anticipated Funding Amount: Approximately $7.2 million total for all awards
Potential Funding per Fellowship: $44,000 per year per fellowship. Master's level students may receive support for a maximum of two years for a total of up to $88,000. Doctoral students may be supported for a maximum of three years for a total of up to $132,000, usable over a period of five years. Cost sharing is not required.
If recommended to receive a fellowship, you should be contacted no later than August 1, 2015 and should subsequently receive your official notification of award by Fall 2015, for the fall term. Please note that this schedule may be changed without notification due to factors that were not anticipated at the time of announcement. The earliest anticipated start date for these awards is September 1, 2015.
Eligibility Information:
Students must attend a fully accredited U.S. college or university (located in the U.S. or its territories) for their graduate studies. Students must also be citizens of the U.S. or its territories or possessions, or be lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence. Resident aliens must have their green card at the time of application to be eligible. Do not provide the green card number with your application; however, you may be asked to provide it at a later time to verify eligibility with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service of the Department of Homeland Security.
Application Materials:
To apply under this solicitation, use the application package available at Grants.gov (for further submission information see Section IV.E. “Submission Instructions and Other Submission Requirements”). The necessary forms for submitting a STAR application will be found on the National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) web site, Forms and Standard Instructions Download Page . If you are not currently registered with Grants.gov, you need to allow approximately one week to complete the registration process. See Section IV for further information on application submission procedures.
If you do not have the technical capability to utilize the Grants.gov application submission process for this solicitation, see Section IV.A below for additional guidance and instructions.
The following application materials must be submitted:
- Application for Federal Assistance, Standard Form (SF) 424
- EPA Key Contacts Form (5700-54)
- Front Page
- Personal Statement
- Proposal Description
- Background Information:
Education & Relevant Experiences
Publications & Presentations
Course Work - EPA Human Subjects Research Statement (HSRS)
- Letters of Recommendation (sent by reference letter writers)
Applications must identify a single topic and corresponding Funding Opportunity Number (FON), as described in Section I.D. that is appropriately related to the proposed area of inquiry. If your application seems to fit under more than one topic/FON, you still must choose a single topic/FON for purposes of submission. Your application can be submitted to one, and only one, FON. In instances where more than one application is submitted, EPA will contact the applicant to determine which application(s) will be withdrawn.
Agency Contacts:
Further information, if needed, may be obtained from the EPAhttps://www.epa.gov/research-grants resources listed below. To obtain information most quickly, consult the Fellowship Handbook. If your question is not covered, then send a query to 2015FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov. You will receive a personal response through a return email. Information regarding this RFA obtained from sources other than those indicated below may not be accurate.
Technical Contact (Program questions, topics, etc.) email: 2015FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov with FON and ‘Attn: Technical Contact’ in the subject line.
Electronic Submissions Contact: (grants.gov, recommendation letters, etc.) email: 2015FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov with FON and ‘Attn: Submission Contact’ in the subject line.
Eligibility Contact email: 2015FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov with FON and ‘Attn: Eligibility Contact’ in the subject line.
I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
A. Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), invites applications for the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for graduate environmental study for master’s and doctoral level students. The deadline for submission of applications is May 26, 2015. Subject to availability of funding and other applicable considerations, the Agency plans to award approximately 55 new fellowships in the Fall of 2015. The Fellowship Program provides up to $44,000 per year of support per fellowship. Master's level students may receive support for a maximum of two years ($88,000). Doctoral students may be supported for a maximum of three years ($132,000), usable over a period of five years. This amount covers a monthly stipend of $2,250 for up to 12 months totaling $27,000 for the year, $5,000 for authorized expenses, and up to $12,000 for tuition and fees. The actual amount awarded will vary depending on the amount of tuition and fees and the number of months the stipend is required. These fellowships are intended to help defray costs associated with advanced, environmentally-oriented study leading to a master's or doctoral degree.
EPA recognizes that scientific, technical, engineering and mathematical (STEM) competence is essential to the Nation’s future well being in terms of national security and competitive economic advantage. For instance, the health and vitality of the economy is predicated, in part, on the availability of an adequate supply of scientists, technicians, engineers and mathematicians, to develop innovative technologies and solutions. In other words, this country must engage all available minds to address the challenges it faces. Minorities, persons with disabilities, and women historically have been under-represented in the STEM fields. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants, including women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to apply. At the same time, the EPA seeks to expand environmental conversations by including members of communities which have not equitably participated in such dialogues; therefore EPA strongly encourages such eligible applicants, including applicants from Minority Academic Institutions (MAIs), to apply.
For purposes of this solicitation, the following are considered MAIs:
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1061). A list of these schools can be found at White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities;
- Tribal Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1059(c)). A list of these schools can be found at White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education;
- Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1101a(a)(5). There is no list of HSIs. HSIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25% Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application for this grant; and
- Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1059g(a)(2)). There is no list of AANAPISIs. AANAPISIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is not less than 10 % students who are Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander.
Topic areas are arranged according to the Office of Research and Development’s suite of integrated, trans-disciplinary research programs organized around the sustainability paradigm, including Air, Climate & Energy (ACE), Chemical Safety for Sustainability (CSS), Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA), Safe and Sustainable Water Resources (SSWR), and Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC).
This solicitation provides the opportunity for the submission of applications for projects that may involve human subjects research. Human subjects research supported by the EPA is governed by EPA Regulation 40 CFR Part 26 (Protection of Human Subjects). This includes the Common Rule at subpart A and prohibitions and additional protections for pregnant women and fetuses, nursing women, and children at subparts B, C, and D. Research meeting the regulatory definition of intentional exposure research found in subpart B is prohibited by that subpart in pregnant women, nursing women, and children. Research meeting the regulatory definition of observational research found in subparts C and D is subject to the additional protections found in those subparts for pregnant women and fetuses (subpart C) and children (subpart D). All applications must include a Human Subjects Research Statement (HSRS, as described in Section IV.B. Item 7 of this solicitation), and if the project involves human subjects research, it will be subject to an additional level of review prior to funding decisions being made as described in Sections V.C and V.D of this solicitation.
Please note that surveys, interviews, and focus groups with individuals may constitute human subjects research.
The additional level of review is conducted by the EPA Human Subjects Research Review Official (HSRRO). In making a determination about conditional and later final approval, the HSRRO will apply both EPA Regulation 40 CFR 26 and EPA Policy Order 1000.17 Change A1, where human exposure research is interpreted as any intervention that manipulates subjects’ environment (i.e., modifies subjects’ exposure).
Guidance and training for investigators conducting EPA-funded research involving human subjects may be obtained here:
Basic Information about Human Subjects Research
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
B. Background
The STAR Fellowship program was initiated in 1995. Close to 1,800 STAR fellowships have been awarded since the inception of the program. The U.S. is projected to have considerable human resource needs in the science, engineering, and policy fields (Jackson 2002, National Research Council 2007). The STAR Fellowship program is part of the national effort to help meet those workforce needs, especially in the environmental arena (US EPA 2003). The goal of the fellowship program is to encourage promising students to obtain advanced degrees and pursue careers in an environmental field. This goal is consistent with the mission of EPA, which is to provide leadership in the nation’s environmental science, research, education, assessment, restoration, preservation, pollution prevention and sustainability efforts. The STAR Fellowship program has proven to be beneficial to the public by providing a steady stream of well-trained environmental specialists to meet society’s environmental challenges (National Research Council 2003). It has also provided new environmental research in engineering and in the physical, biological, health, and social sciences.
The specific Strategic Goal and Objective from the EPA’s Strategic Plan that relate to this solicitation are:
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development, Objective 3.1: Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities.
The EPA’s FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan can be found at: EPA’s FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan
C. Authority and Regulations
The authority for this RFA and resulting awards is contained in the Clean Air Act, Section 103, 42 U.S.C. 7403; Clean Water Act, Section 104, 33 U.S.C. 1254; Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442, 42 U.S.C. 300j-1; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20, 7 U.S.C. 136r; Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001, 42 U.S.C. 6981; and Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10, 15 U.S.C. 2609.
For fellowships with an international aspect, the above statutes are supplemented, as appropriate, by the National Environmental Policy Act, Section 102 (2)(F).
Research projects should focus on work supported under one of the above mentioned funding authorities. Projects that relate to other funding authorities, such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or CERCLA (i.e., Superfund sites and Brownfields) are generally not eligible for funding under this RFA. Applications dealing with hydraulic fracking will not be funded by EPA through this program.
Descriptions of the authorizing statutes are provided below:
CAA: Clean Air Act--Section 103:
Section 103 of the Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to make grants for research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys and studies relating to the causes, effects (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention and control of air pollution.
CWA: Clean Water Act--Section 104:
Section 104 of the Clean Water Act authorizes the EPA to make grants for research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution.
SDWA: Safe Drinking Water Act--Section 1442:
Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act authorizes the EPA to make grants for research, training, studies, and demonstrations relating to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of physical and mental diseases and other impairments of man resulting directly or indirectly from contaminants in water, or to the provision of a dependably safe supply of drinking water, including (A) improved methods: (i) to identify and measure the existence of contaminants in drinking water (including methods which may be used by State and local health and water officials), and (ii) to identify the source of such contaminants; (B) improved methods to identify and measure the health effects of contaminants in drinking water; (C) new methods of treating raw water to prepare it for drinking, so as to improve the efficiency of water treatment and to remove contaminants from water; (D) improved methods for providing a dependably safe supply of drinking water, including improvements in water purification and distribution, and methods of assessing the health related hazards of drinking water; and (E) improved methods of protecting underground water sources of public water systems from contamination.
FIFRA: Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act--Section 20:
Section 20 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act authorizes the EPA to make grants for pesticide-related research, development, monitoring, public education, training, demonstrations, and studies.
SWDA: Solid Waste Disposal Act--Section 8001:
Section 8001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act authorizes the EPA to make grants for research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, public education programs and studies relating to: (1) adverse health and welfare effects from solid waste; (2) solid waste management programs; (3) resource recovery and conservation, and hazardous waste management systems; (4) production of usable forms of recovered resources; (5) waste reduction; (6) improved solid waste collection and disposal methods; (7) identification of solid waste components; (8) small scale and low technology solid waste management systems; (9) methods to improve performance of recovered solid waste; (10) improvements in land disposal practices; (11) methods for sound disposal of resources, including sludge and coal slurry; (12) methods of hazardous waste management; and (13) air quality impacts from the burning of solid waste.
TSCA: Toxic Substance Control Act--Section 10:
Section 10 of the Toxic Substance Control Act authorizes the EPA to make grants for research, development, monitoring, public education, training, demonstrations and studies directed toward the development of the fundamental scientific basis of screening and monitoring techniques used to detect toxic chemical substances and quantify the effects of toxic chemical substances and mixtures in the environment.
NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act --Section 102(2)(F):
For fellowships with an international aspect, the above statutes are supplemented, as appropriate, by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Section 102(2)(F) which authorizes support to foreign recipients and international work/travel by domestic recipients. (Note: NEPA cannot be the sole supporting statute for a proposed fellowship.)
Note that a project’s focus is to consist of activities within the statutory terms of EPA’s financial assistance authorities, specifically, the statute(s) listed above. Generally, a project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of air pollution, water pollution, solid/hazardous waste pollution, toxic substances control, or pesticide control depending on which statue(s) is listed above. These activities should relate to the gathering or transferring of information or advancing the state of knowledge. Proposals should emphasize this “learning” concept, as opposed to “fixing” an environmental problem via a well-established method. Proposals relating to other topics which are sometimes included within the term “environment” such as recreation, conservation, restoration, protection of wildlife habitats, etc., must describe the relationship of these topics to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.
Applicable Regulation: 40 CFR Part 46 (Fellowships)
D. Specific Areas/Topics of Interest
This Request for Applications (RFA) solicits applications from students to perform graduate level investigation towards protecting human health and the environment.
Applications are welcomed from students studying any academic discipline to the extent that the particular topic of proposed research is related to EPA’s mission and germane to one of the funding authorities listed above. This includes students studying in ecology, economics, engineering, modeling, the health sciences, physical sciences, earth sciences, exposure sciences, social sciences, informational sciences, mathematical and computer sciences, and environmental sciences. Applications are also welcomed from students who have not traditionally participated in environmental conversations or research, including those that attend Minority Academic Institutions (MAIs).
The mission of the EPA STAR Fellowship Program is to help ensure that the U.S. meets its current and projected human resource needs in the environmental science, engineering, and policy fields. Thus, the EPA is looking to fund students at the graduate level who are committed to meeting the challenges of today and the next generation by pursuing a career related to protecting human health and the environment. Proposals may come from students in traditional and interdisciplinary academic disciplines; from students studying in emerging fields that will require increased human capacity such as in the social and exposure sciences; from students utilizing multidisciplinary approaches and/or addressing multiple media; and, in areas which focus on environmental justice, environmental education, and/or building decision making capacity.
Selected candidates will have identified skills, achievements, and potential in concert with the STAR Fellowship program’s strategic goals: bolstering the environmental generation of tomorrow, bridging to diverse communities, and boosting excellent research and development that advance the protection of human health and the environment through education. Candidates will be evaluated for their demonstrated commitment to an environmental career, for their potential for success in the proposed area of inquiry, and for their proposal’s potential to have broader societal impacts. More specific information on the evaluation criteria are found in Section V.
This RFA solicits applications from students performing investigations in a variety of environmentally-related research topics which are described below. By providing financial support across disciplines, EPA expects to continue to assist in increasing the nation’s environmental workforce and ability to produce leading edge environmental research, and in advancing the nation’s environmental research and development enterprise (Executive Office of the President 2011).
Funding Opportunity Numbers (FON)/Topics
EPA will select students whose projects meet high standards of scientific excellence and creativity, have the potential to broaden the academic frontiers of protecting human health and the environment today and in the next generation, and fall within the purview of EPA’s authorizing statutes (see Section I.C. “Authority and Regulations” for more details).
Thus, EPA seeks to fund projects that address protection of human health and the environment from a wide variety of perspectives and approaches, focusing on the purposes of pollution prevention and/or control.
Applications must identify a single topic and corresponding Funding Opportunity Number (FON), as described in Section I.D. that is appropriately related to the proposed area of inquiry. If your application seems to fit under more than one topic/FON, you still must choose a single topic/FON for purposes of submission. Your application can be submitted to one, and only one, FON. In instances where more than one application is submitted, EPA will contact the applicant to determine which application(s) will be withdrawn.The review assignments will be made based on the one FON that you indicate in your application. EPA staff will not assist in identifying a topic/FON. Applicants should review the relevant authorizing statutes listed in Section I.C. Additionally, see the glossary of statutes prior to the descriptions.
Note: Your planned course of study/project must focus on one of the following topics of environmental significance and your application should describe the relationship of the topic area to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.
The applicant’s project must focus on activities within the statutory terms of EPA’s financial assistance authorities; specifically, the statute(s) listed in Section I.C above. Generally, a project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of air pollution, water pollution, solid/hazardous waste pollution, toxic substances control, or pesticide control depending on which statute(s) is listed above. These activities should relate to the gathering or transferring of information or advancing the state of knowledge. Proposals should emphasize this “learning” concept, as opposed to “fixing” an environmental problem via a well-established method. Proposals relating to other topics which are sometimes included within the term “environment” such as recreation, conservation, restoration, protection of wildlife habitats, etc., must describe the relationship of these topics to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.
STAR GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP
TOPICS and FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBERS (FON)
| NUMBER | TOPIC TITLE |
| EPA-2015-STAR-A1 | Emerging Environmental Approaches and Challenges- Environmental Innovation (A1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-A2 | Emerging Environmental Approaches and Challenges- Information Science (A2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-A3 | Emerging Environmental Approaches and Challenges- Synthetic Biology for Environmental Purposes (A3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-B1 | Air, Climate and Energy- Clean Air (B1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-B2 | Air, Climate and Energy- Global Change (B2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-B3 | Air, Climate and Energy- Green Energy/Natural Resources Production and Use (B3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C1 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Adverse Impacts from Exposures to Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (C1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C2 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Environmental Health and Safety of Engineered Nanomaterials (C2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C3 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Computational Chemistry for Predictive Toxicology (C3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-C4 | Chemical Safety for Sustainability- Communicating and Translating Emerging Science for Evaluating Impacts of Chemicals (C4) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-D1 | Human Health Risk Assessment- Public Health (D1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-D2 | Human Health Risk Assessment- Risk Assessment and Risk Management (D2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-E1 | Safe and Sustainable Water Resources- Drinking Water (E1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-E2 | Safe and Sustainable Water Resources- Water Quality-Coastal and Estuarine Processes (E2) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-E3 | Safe and Sustainable Water Resources- Water Quality-Hydrogeology and Surface Water (E3) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-F1 | Sustainable and Healthy Communities- Multidisciplinary Approaches To Optimize Decision Outcomes (F1) |
| EPA-2015-STAR-F2 | Sustainable and Healthy Communities- Tribes and American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander Communities (F2) |
All projects should describe the relationship of these topic areas to the statutorily required
purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.
Funding Authority Statutes and Acronyms
| CWA | Clean Water Act |
| CAA | Clean Air Act |
| FIFRA | Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act |
| SWDA | Solid Waste Disposal Act |
| TSCA | Toxic Substances Control Act |
| SDWA | Safe Drinking Water Act |
Research projects should focus on work supported under one of the above mentioned funding authorities. Projects that relate to other funding authorities, such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or CERCLA (i.e., Superfund sites and Brownfields) are generally not eligible for funding under this RFA. In addition, applications dealing with hydraulic fracking will not be funded by EPA through this program.
In general, EPA aims to support research and demonstration projects that will seek sustainable solutions to protect the environment, strengthen our communities and foster prosperity.
The concept of sustainability is based on language in the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). This definition is reiterated in Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environment, Energy, and Economic Performance, stating that the goal of sustainability is “to, create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations.”
A sustainable future can best be accomplished using a systems-based or holistic approach that seeks to understand the interactions and impacts which exist among the three pillars of sustainability (environment, society, and economy), as well as identifies interactions among multiple decision sectors in an effort to better understand the consequences of our actions, anticipate unintended consequences and identify possible co-benefits. EPA is interested in investigations and studies that seek sustainable and integrated solutions, protect the environment, strengthen our communities and foster prosperity.
EPA is interested in supporting fellowships in the following topic areas that propose a trans-disciplinary approach, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences alongside natural science disciplines, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions of sustainability in the protection of the environment and human health. Note: Applications must be submitted to only one of the FONs below.
- Emerging Environmental Approaches and Challenges (A)
EPA-2015-STAR-A1- Enviromental Innovation (A1)
Applications in this topic area are for interests in, and investigations at the intersection of, sustainability and innovative technology development, and utilization. More specifically, this category is for applicants whose graduate environmental study and/or project have a component involving the identification, development, and field demonstration of innovative environmental technologies, methods, or management approaches. Innovation is the process of making changes; a new method, custom or device. Innovation can take the form of wholly new applications or applications that build on existing knowledge and approaches for new uses. Disruptive innovations are of special interest. Applicants are encouraged to consult with their business/management school and appropriate faculty about how best to make innovation the focus of their proposed research as it relates to the statutes listed above.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, research on the following: using “open innovation” R&D practices to identify and create green technologies; demonstrating technologies built on green engineering principles that can help solve environmental problems; developing and utilizing green technologies; exploring the innovative aspects of increasing the sustainability of recycling in the United States and developing countries; investigating how policy and non-federal regulatory approaches increase the demand for innovative environmental technologies, etc.
Projects may also focus on trans-disciplinary approaches, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions of sustainability in innovative efforts as they pertain to environmental and human health protection.
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
EPA-2015-STAR-A2- Information Science (A2)
Applications in this topic area are for environmental interests with a focus toward data-driven discovery and decision-making. Taking a lesson from the predictive power of “Big Data”, this category aims to tease out the math and computer-oriented techniques that could help inform synergistic environmental thinking and decisions for pollution prevention and control efforts. Some examples of these techniques include but are not limited to:
- generation of new data through technologies that enhance monitoring and measuring environmental phenomena (e.g. high-throughput assays that register changes in metabolic pathways);
- integration of data across multiple sources and institutions (e.g. semantic web applications based on shared ontological structures), and
- analysis of data associations through advanced algorithms (e.g. randomized data sampling to generate underlying probability distributions).
Projects may include applying informatics to environmental health, public health, ecosystem services, and/or environmental economics; broadening environmental decision-making and policy-development at the State, Local, and/or Tribal levels by using more expansive information processing techniques; engineering newer informational systems and technologies for environmental protection, etc.
Proposals in this topic should focus on facilitating environmental research and management by developing ways to access and/or integrate databases of environmental information, and developing new algorithms enabling different environmental datasets to be combined in order to test sustainable environmental hypotheses.
Projects may also focus on trans-disciplinary approaches, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions of sustainability in the information sciences as they pertain to environmental and human health protection.
Note: Proposals related to American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander communities and/or Tribes may also be well suited for the Tribes and American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander Communities FON/Topic (F5).
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
EPA-2015-STAR-A3- Synthetic Biology for Environmental Purposes (A3)
Synthetic biology (Synbio) is a) the design and construction of novel biological functions and systems and b) the re-design of existing natural biological systems for useful purposes. Applications in this topic area are for interests in Synbio techniques that focus on environmental purposes and uses related to pollution prevention/control.
Projects submitted to this topic area may include, but are not limited to, techniques for pollution related issues (e.g., prevention, control, mitigation), biofuel production, chemical detection, etc.
Note: Proposals related to Nanotechnology or American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander communities and/or Tribes may also be well suited for the Nanotechnology FON (C2) or the Tribes and American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander Communities FON/Topic (F5).
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
-
Air, Climate and Energy (B)
EPA-2015-STAR-B1- Clean Air (B1)
Applications in this topic area are for interests in and investigations on the science of air quality and pollution. Proposals may focus on air pollution assessment, monitoring, transport, transformation, control, prevention, management, and modeling.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, studying secondary formation of air pollutants, spatial temporal heterogeneity of particulate matter (PM) size fractions and components, studying the atmospheric science of air pollution mixtures, as well as trans-disciplinary approaches, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions as they relate to clean air.
Authorizing statutes: CAA
EPA-2015-STAR-B2- Global Change (B2)
Applications in this topic area are for interests in and investigations on the science of global change, particularly climate variability and change in the U.S. Proposals in this topic focus on global change impacts and mitigation of these impacts on air quality, water quality, ecosystems, human health, and socio-economic systems.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, examining the impacts of global climate change on air quality, water quality, aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems, or human health; modifying air or water quality management systems or decision support tools to respond to risks posed by climate change; understanding the environmental consequences of potential climate mitigation strategies; as well as trans-disciplinary approaches, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions as they relate to global climate change.
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA
EPA-2015-STAR-B3- Green Energy/Natural Resources Production and Use (B3) (focusing on multimedia pollution prevention)
Applications in this topic area are for interests in and investigations on the science and engineering of sustainability as they pertain to green energy production or the extraction and use of natural resources. Proposals may focus on 1) the benefits and impacts of green energy production on air quality, water quality, ecosystems, human health, and socio-economic systems, or 2) the impacts of natural resource extraction and use on air quality, water quality, ecosystems, human health, and socio-economic systems. Note:
Applications dealing with hydraulic fracking will not be funded by EPA through this program.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, examining the links between green energy or natural resource production and use on air quality, water quality, aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems, or human health; as well as trans-disciplinary approaches, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions as they relate to dimensions of green energy production and use.
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, SDWA, SWDA
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Chemical Safety for Sustainability (C)
EPA-2015-STAR-C1- Adverse Impacts from Exposures to Endocrine Disrupting Compounds(C1)
Applications in this category are for interests in and investigations of potential for adverse environmental and human health impacts associated with exposures to exogenous EDCs. Proposals in this topic focus on the science to characterize impacts associated with real-world exposures to large sets of chemicals.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, application of bio-informatics, computational biology, and computational exposure science approaches to measure, mine, model, and interpret emerging high and medium throughput data streams. The objective of research in this area is to build the science for efficient and effective measurement and prediction of exposures and impacts of EDCs.
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
EPA-2015-STAR-C2- Environmental Health and Safety of Engineered Nanomaterials (C2)
Applications in this topic are for interests and investigations on human and environmental health impacts associated with exposures to engineered/manufactured nanomaterials. Proposals in this topic focus on how to characterize engineered/ manufactured nanomaterials-ENMs (including nano-bio and other emerging compounds) in complex biological and environmental media and how to efficiently evaluate and predict potential for risks across the material life cycle associated with use of ENMs in consumer products.
Projects may include, but are not limited to: developing methods to characterize ENMs in biological and environmental matrices, identifying critical intermediate properties of ENM that are predictive of potential risks; and evaluating alternative testing schemes for predicting impacts of ENM as used in real-world conditions.
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
EPA-2015-STAR-C3- Computational Chemistry for Predictive Toxicology (C3)
The intersection of recent advances in high-throughput screening (HTS), mechanistic toxicology, computational chemistry and cheminformatics provide the foundation to identify influential chemical determinants of adverse biological impacts of chemicals. Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of how information on chemical properties, structure and function can be used to rapidly evaluate chemical risks. Proposals in this topic focus on elucidating chemical features predictive of potential for adverse environmental and human health impacts.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, development of methods for rapidly measuring chemical properties for chemicals outside the domain of current methods, development and evaluation of quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models for predicting adverse environmental and human health endpoints, and novel computational approaches to link upstream chemistry with downstream biology incorporating considerations of transformations in real-world biological and environmental systems.
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
EPA-2015-STAR-C4- Communicating and Translating Emerging Science for Evaluating Impacts of Chemicals (C4)
As the pace and complexity of emerging science increases, there is a critical need for demonstrated and evaluated approaches to translate and communicate this science within the research community, and to policy and decision makers so they can understand and act on state-of-the-art information. Applications in this category are for interests in and investigations of science translation to foster uptake by researchers in the wider scientific community, as well as to inform public and private sector policies and decisions on chemical use. Proposals in this topic focus on development and evaluation of methodologies and tools for communicating and translating emerging science on impacts to human health and the environment from exposures to chemicals.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, development of:
- Strategies and tools for integrating, communicating and translating complex data for evaluating safety and potential adverse impacts of chemicals (including high throughput toxicity data, computational toxicology results, computational chemistry predictions, exposures across the lifecycle of chemicals and products, adverse outcome pathway information, etc.) to stakeholders (including the wider scientific community, science journalists, industry, NGOs, and public policy makers)
- Approaches for translating and delivering emerging data and tools to high level non-federal policy and decision makers through verbal, written, visual, and electronic media.
- Metrics for evaluating effectiveness of communication/translation of science and/or for quantifying the impact of science on decisions. The objective of research in this area is to build the methodological basis and evaluation metrics for efficient and effective translation and uptake of new scientific information to support non-federal policy, decisions and actions related to chemical regulation and use.
Note: Nanotechnology related proposals may also be well suited for the Nanotechnology FON/Topic (C2).
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
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Human Health Risk Assessment (D)
Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of human health risk assessment, including understanding exposures and health effects that can lead to protection of human health. Proposals in this topic focus on advancing the field of risk assessment, including cumulative risk research; community-based risk assessment research; exposure assessment; susceptible subpopulations and lifestages research; and tools for risk management decisions.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, studying exposures and health effects of environmental contaminants (especially unique exposures from cultural practices, unique geographic regions, or environmental justice communities) and cumulative risks posed by exposure to mixtures of contaminants (and/or a combination of chemical, physical, biological and social/psycho-social stressors); providing new insights into how environmental contaminants may affect vulnerable populations (e.g., children and older adults) and susceptible populations that are at high risk of suffering the adverse effects of environmental factors (e.g., minority, low-income and indigenous populations, populations with pre-existing medical conditions, populations that are linguistically isolated, etc.); what key factors impact exposures of these subpopulations; developing and evaluating novel exposure assessment tools (e.g., methods, models); evaluating alternative exposure metrics in epidemiologic studies; evaluating the effectiveness of State, Local, and/or Tribal policy, regulatory and risk communication actions to reduce health risks resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants; applying health impact assessment on State, Local, and/or Tribal policy policies, projects or programs dealing with environmental health issues, etc.
Subtopics—applicants to this topic area must choose one of the subtopics below:
EPA-2015-STAR-D1- Public Health (D1)
(e.g. environmental epidemiology, biostatistics, human exposure, health economics, health physics, health impact assessments, etc.)
EPA-2015-STAR-D2- Risk Assessment and Risk Management (D2)
(e.g., cumulative risk research; community-based risk assessment; exposure assessment; susceptible subpopulations and lifestages research; tools for risk management decisions; intervention strategies; environmental health communications and education; environmental justice, etc.)
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
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Safe and Sustainable Water Resources (E)
EPA-2015-STAR-E1- Drinking Water (E1)
Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of drinking water quality. Proposals in this topic focus on protecting drinking water sources, producing and distributing safe drinking water, managing health risks associated with exposure to waterborne contaminants, and promoting the safety and sustainability of drinking water resources and drinking water infrastructure.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, developing assessment tools to characterize the occurrence of waterborne contaminants in drinking water supplies and quantify the extent of exposure from drinking these sources; adapting management and monitoring strategies to protect surface and ground water sources of drinking water; developing treatment technologies and/or understanding their efficacy; characterizing microbial ecology within distribution systems; as well as trans-disciplinary approaches, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions as they relate to drinking water quality.
Authorizing statutes: SDWA
Water Quality (E2, E3)
Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of water quality. Proposals in this topic focus on assessing, protecting, and restoring surface and ground water quality, aquatic ecosystems, watershed management, and source control management.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, developing better tools and technologies for assessing, monitoring and managing the impacts of nonpoint source pollution; developing approaches, tools, technologies, and models to characterize and manage the combined effects of multiple stressors on aquatic life and water quality; studying harmful algal blooms; adapting management strategies to assess surface and ground water quality; determining causes of impairments; developing sustainable and innovative tools to manage, restore, and protect these resources; as well as trans-disciplinary approaches, integrating elements of the social and economic sciences, so as to expand the importance of social and cultural dimensions as they relate to water quality.
Subtopics—applicants to this Water Quality topic area must choose one of the subtopics below:
EPA-2015-STAR-E2- Coastal and Estuarine Processes (E2)
(e.g., harmful algal blooms, acidification, pollution impacts on fisheries, water quality monitoring, hypoxia, intervention strategies, impact on eco services)
EPA-2015-STAR-E3- Hydrogeology and Surface Water (E3)
(e.g., waterborne disease, sewage effluent, drinking water purification, etc.)
Authorizing statutes: CWA, SWDA, SDWA
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Sustainable and Healthy Commumities (F)
EPA-2015-STAR-F1- Multidisciplinary Approaches to Optimize Decision Outcomes (F1)
Proposals in this topic focus on using systems-based approaches to identify and account for unintended consequences and co-benefits that cross decision-sectors as well as developing innovative solutions that minimize environmental impacts while reducing costs of implementation for communities. Projects may showcase multidisciplinary training that combines, for example, environmental sciences with economics, public health with ecosystem services, or engineering of the built environment (e.g. architecture or transportation) with community public health. Projects should also focus on how data, methods, models, and tools may be used by states, communities, and tribes to understand the net costs and benefits of decision alternatives or to develop and promote innovative solutions that build on natural and social capital to improve community well-being. Additionally, understanding of systems approaches such as acquired through the study of systems ecology or operations research is considered invaluable.
Projects may also focus on, but are not limited to, promoting an understanding of the linkages between human and environmental health (i.e. considering both as part of an integrated system rather than simply looking at response to stressors for either), identifying built environment design elements that promote human health and equity (including access to ecosystem services), or that improve the environmental, health and economic accounting that informs analysis of the trade-offs inherent with community decision-making.
Authorizing statutes: CAA, CWA, FIFRA, SWDA, TSCA, SDWA
EPA-2015-STAR-F2- Tribes and American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander Communities (F2)
Applications in this topic are for interests and investigations at the intersections of American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander communities and/or Tribes (including indigenous populations in other global regions) and protecting human health and the en
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.