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Assessing Stressor-Response Relationships in Aquatic Ecosystems
| Project number: | CPHEA-08-02-2022-04 |
| Lab/Center/Office: | CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH & ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT |
| Division: | HEALTH & ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ASSESSMENT DIVISION |
| Branch: | INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT BRANCH ({{DC}}) |
| Brief description of research project: | EPA’s Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment (CPHEA) develops scientific assessments that evaluate the effects of environmental activities and stressors on terrestrial and aquatic systems. CPHEA’s work provides key scientific support for EPA program and regional policies and decisions, often with significant implications for national environmental policy development and implementation. Participants will contribute to the development of logical, credible ecological assessment products that reflect current scientific knowledge, scientific principles, and assessment methodologies. Participants will collaborate with EPA scientists on projects related to the assessment and management of anthropogenic impacts to aquatic ecosystems. Specific projects may include: • Meta-analysis of relationships between nutrients and diatom and macroinvertebrate assemblages in streams and rivers. • Evaluation of published literature related to benthic harmful algal blooms in freshwater systems. • Evaluation of published scientific literature related to relationships between chlorophyll and diatom and macroinvertebrate assemblages in streams and rivers. • Development of updated tools and resources to help states identify causes of biological impairment in freshwater systems (e.g., stressor identification and weight-of-evidence approaches). Activities undertaken for these projects may include: • Scoping and problem formulation tasks, including the development of conceptual models and analysis plans to guide project implementation. • Reviewing and analyzing field and laboratory research results to derive, integrate, and synthesize published information. • Analyzing monitoring and other data to evaluate national, regional, and other trends in freshwater stressor-response relationships. • Developing and applying innovative methods to synthesize literature results, such as systematic review, study quality evaluations, weight-of-evidence approaches, statistical methods and visualization techniques. |
| Geographical location of position: | Washington, DC |
| High priority research areas: | Safe and Sustainable Water Resources: Watershed Assessment, Assessment and Management of Harmful Algal Blooms, Nutrients |
| Scientific project area: | Data mining, assessment and synthesis. |
| Educational requirements: | PhD or equivalent in Aquatic Ecology, Ecology, Environmental Sciences, or a related scientific discipline. |
| Specialized training and/or experience preferred: | Preferred skills and experience include: strong critical thinking and writing skills; knowledge of lotic ecosystems; quantitative analysis/statistical skills, particularly in terms of analyzing stressor-response relationships in freshwater systems; organizational/project management skills; experience with data visualization programs (e.g., R Shiny, Power BI, Tableau); familiarity with systematic review. |
| Projected duration of appointment: | 3 years |
| Paid relocation to EPA work location: | Yes |
| Application Period Open Date: | Aug 02, 2022 |
| Application Period Close Date: | Sep 16, 2022 |
| Scientific contact/Principal Investigator(s)*: | Britta Bierwagen, bierwagen.britta@epa.gov, 202-564-7676 |
*This person/persons may be contacted for additional scientific information about this project. This person is not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, establish start dates or discuss benefits. See general announcement for details on how to apply.