Fellowship Research Areas
Descriptions of EPA Projects for the Research Fellowship Program
To explore the fellowship opportunities at EPA, click on the research areas listed below. These projects may also be tailored to meet the goals of fellowship programs that are offered through the National Science Foundation or other funding agencies. Contact the point of contact or mentor listed for the project to confirm availability and participation in the program.
Fellowship Research Areas
- Air Research
- Environmental Changes Research
- Ecosystems Research
- Health Research
- Safer Chemicals Research
- Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research
- Water Research
- Other Research Areas
Air Research
Topic: International Household Energy Research
Summary: The fellow will perform laboratory evaluation of air pollutants, data analysis, computer programing using VBA or similar language, and manuscript preparation. This project addresses global health and environmental problems associated with household energy.
Topic: Development and Application of City-based Optimization Model for Energy Technologies (COMET)
Summary: The fellow will learn about air, climate and energy interactions and contribute to development of COMET – an energy systems model designed for cities.
Topic: Evaluation of Online Measurement Techniques for Volatile Organic Compounds
Summary: The fellow will perform the testing of advanced measurement technologies for volatile organic compounds in air in the EPA’s Office of Research and Development at Research Triangle Park, NC.
Topic: Combining Measurements and Modeling to Better Understand Ammonia Air-Surface Exchange Processes
Summary: The fellow will characterize the sensitivity of EPA’s bi-directional ammonia flux model to inputs of meteorology, air concentrations and biogeochemistry, focusing on the role of soil and vegetation compensation points.
Topic: Performance Evaluation of Low-Cost Air Quality Sensors
Summary: The fellow will evaluate the performance of a low-cost sensor for ambient air quality measurement.
Topic: Fundamental UV/IR Reference Spectra Analysis and Evaluation
Summary: The fellow will learn to verify the appropriateness of theoretically computed spectra (e.g., HITRAN, PNNL, etc.) as a reference spectra for pollutant quantification using analytical analyzers for the purpose of regulatory emissions measurements.
Topic: Advancing atmospheric chemistry to improve air quality and reduce exposure to hazardous air pollutants
Summary: The fellow will learn and apply modeling techniques, measurement methods, data analysis, or a combination of these to advance the understanding the sources of poor air quality and exposure to hazardous air pollutants.
Topic: Improving numerical models of atmospheric pollution to inform multiscale air quality policy and management
Summary: The fellow will learn how numerical models are developed by EPA and combined with measurements to advance scientific understanding of ambient air pollution sources and their impacts on public health.
Topic: Improving parameterizations of airborne pollutants and their implications for health
Summary: The fellow will learn how models inform our understanding of airborne pollutant concentrations and implications for health.
Topic: Utilizing mass spectrometry to understand the atmosphere
Summary: The fellow will utilize chemical ionization (CI) or proton transfer (PTR) mass spectrometry to explore topics of atmospheric chemistry.
Topic: Combining measurements and modeling to derive a holistic understanding of atmospheric chemistry
Summary: The fellow will learn to identify and address questions within the field of atmospheric chemistry from an experimentally holistic standpoint.
Topic: Advancing the representation of atmospheric chemistry of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model
Summary: The fellow will learn, update, and apply CMAQ model and perform analysis of model results to advance the understanding of the impact of DMS emissions on air quality.
Environmental Changes Research
Topic: Black Carbon Emissions from Residential Combustion in Arctic Nations
Summary: The fellow will assist with lab experiments and data analysis and conduct a literature review on sources of black carbon (BC) emissions, diurnal patterns of BC emissions, quantification of BC emissions in the Arctic Region, availability of emission data based on elemental carbon, and current BC measurement techniques.
Topic: Understanding Critical Rare Earth Metals (CREM) Recovery & Economics
Summary: The fellow will develop project designs that engage and drive the scientific, engineering and economics aspects for the recovery of Rare Earth Metal including CREM.
Topic: Combining Measurements and Modeling to Better Understand Ammonia Air-Surface Exchange Processes
Summary: The fellow will characterize the sensitivity of EPA’s bi-directional ammonia flux model to inputs of meteorology, air concentrations and biogeochemistry with specific focus on the role of soil and vegetation compensation points.
Topic: Quantifying the Consequences of Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Mangroves Forests in the Provision of Ecosystem Goods and Services
Summary: The fellow will examine the rates, patterns, and causes of changes to mangrove forest cover and associated change in ecosystem good and services of from 1985 to present.
Topic: Remote Sensing and Mapping of Urban Environments
Summary: The fellow will develop efficient and repeatable workflows for mapping large areas at high spatial resolution for high-resolution land cover mapping and subsequent analysis of communities for sustainability and human and ecosystem health. Knowledge of remote sensing, image classification and GIS is required.
Topic: Using Zebrafish to Detect Developmentally Neurotoxic Chemicals Research
Summary: The fellow will assess the variables that affect zebrafish larval behavior and develop new tests that assess nervous system function using a cutting-edge laboratory model.
Topic: Implications of Gut Content Purging upon Chemical Residues in Lumbriculus variegatus for Highly Hydrophobic Chemicals
Summary: The fellow will identify the causes of the biphasic elimination kinetics for highly hydrophobic chemicals (chemicals with log KOW > 9.0) using EPA’s sediment bioaccumulation test with Lumbriculus variegatus on sediments from contaminated sites.
Topic: Using Gene Expression to Predict Toxicity Caused by Environmental Chemicals
Summary: The fellow will link chemical-induced gene expression changes generated in different cell models to predictions of adverse effects in animals and humans using laboratory and computational techniques.
Topic: Linking Short-term Responses to Ecologically-relevant Outcomes
Summary: The fellow will characterize molecular to organismal level responses and make quantitative testable predictions of population-level outcomes from exposures to chemicals and other stressors through collaborative integrative lab, field, and modeling activities.
Topic: Identifying Neurophysiological Signatures of Neurotoxicant Action
Summary: The fellow will utilize data from microelectrode array recordings of neural networks and ToxCast endpoints to identify signatures acute and developmental neurotoxicity. It will improve prediction of these important endpoints by identifying neurophysiological and biochemical "fingerprints" for known compounds that can then be applied to previously untested compounds.
Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research
Topic: Assessing Environmental Health Issues Related to Waste Disposal Sites Impacting Alaska Tribes
Summary: The fellow will analyze Alaska tribal health exposure pathways associated with waste by documenting exposure assessment, mapping human health risk assessment methodologies, researching social determinants of health, and, community-based participatory research methods, and sampling methodologies.
Topic: Assessing Soil Responses in Recently Restored Coastal Salt Marshes
Summary: The fellow will examine the soil responses to hydrological restoration (i.e., runnel creation) and thin layer placement of dredged materials to build coastal marsh resistance and resilience in Rhode Island.
Topic: Flood Induced Contaminants Fate and Transport and Exposures Risk in Vulnerable Communities
Summary: The fellow will learn coupling contaminant source models and hydrology (soil) models, developing flood vulnerability indicators for contaminated sites, and using EPA EnviroAtlas and other GIS based resources.
Summary: The fellow will learn the use of high-resolution mass spectrometry and non-targeted analysis techniques to identify novel PFAS contaminants in water samples.
Topic: Optimizing Agricultural Nitrogen Management: Conveying the Nitrogen Cascade to Stakeholders
Summary: The fellow will learn about agricultural nitrogen management, the nitrogen cascade, and groundwater management areas as an approach to improve drinking water quality in the southern Willamette Valley.
Topic: Research and Technology Transfer on Groundwater Quality and Remediation
Summary: The fellow will learn one or more of the following areas: indirect wastewater discharge to floodplains and wetlands; use of decision support systems to improve agricultural water quality; testing of innovative technologies for groundwater remediation; nanomaterials fate and transport in the environment; contaminants of emerging concern in groundwater; and green infrastructure and groundwater quality.
Topic: Studies on CyanoHAB and Pathogens Using Molecular Approaches
Summary: The fellow will conduct experiments and data/modeling analysis, explore novel genes and metabolic pathways, validate resultant findings using qPCR/RT-qPCR and summarize the findings.
Topic: Satellite Water Quality Monitoring
Summary: The fellow will Flexible opportunity to focus on anything from developing short science videos to research related to using satellites for water quality monitoring supporting the environmental management and public use of lakes, reservoirs and estuaries.
Topic: Use Multidisciplinary Science to Develop Coral Reef Biocriteria Protective of Biological Communities & Final Ecosystem Goods & Services
Summary: The fellow will contribute to the development of bioindicators and approaches to assess the condition of coral reef ecosystems in a regulatory governmental lab setting.
Topic: Drivers and Impacts of Coastal Acidification in Pacific Northwest Estuaries
Summary: The fellow will learn carbonate chemistry measuring systems and procedures of mesocosm experiments to evaluate the role of eutrophication in influencing coastal acidification and its impact on estuarine ecosystems.
Topic: Building a holistic view of molecular responses of contaminants of emerging concern using deep-learning and artificial intelligence
Summary: The fellow will learn the use of omics data and artificial intelligence (AI) for risk assessment of environmental toxicants to the human health and ecosystem.
Topic: Assessing the Benefits of the Natural Environment to Individual Well-being
Summary: The fellow will analyze survey data and measures of ecosystem services to evaluate the association between the natural environment and individual well-being, along with factors including demographics and socio-cultural characteristics that influence that association.
Topic: Environmental Geophysics Research and Development
Summary: The fellow will learn web site content development, model development and testing, laboratory geophysical experimentation, and fieldwork involving applications of geophysical methods to subsurface processes, site characterization, contaminant fate and transport, and remediation monitoring.
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