Agency seminar series

Background:

From 2007-2015 the UW SRP Research Translation Core sponsored an Agency Seminar Series at EPA offices in Seattle. Seminars were directed toward an audience of agency staff involved with risk assessment and communication at Superfund sites, such as EPA Region 10 and the Washington State Departments of Health and Ecology. The objective of the invited speaker series was to support topic experts who can help agency staff address local hazardous waste and contamination issues. These seminars provided agency staff, the Research Translation Core staff, and UW SRP research scientists the opportunity to exchange information and ideas on local issues and concerns.

For information on the Agency Seminar Series please contact Lisa Hayward Watts, lhayward@uw.edu or call 206-685-8244.

All recorded Agency Seminar Series are also available on the UW SRP Vimeo page and downloadable presentation slides are linked where available.

Past Presentations

Speaker: Dr. Sally Brown, Fall 2015

Title: Mine Sites to City Lots

Description:  Dr. Brown's work with EPA has focused on using different residuals to restore hard rock mining or metal contaminated sites. This work has shown that amendments can reduce metal availability insitu. The safety of this approach has been demonstrated through soil, plant and animal testing.  Dr. Brown is developing a road map to make this approach more accessible to EPA managers. This seminar also draws from Dr. Brown's experience serving  at  the National Academy of Science on the committee on soils science, and her involvement with the Washington State Climate Action team. Her research field sites have included Idaho (Bunker Hill, Coeur d’Alene), Washington (Vashon Island) and Colorado (Leadville).

Download Nuanced Approach to Cleanup presentation slides.pdf

Download Urban Agriculture presentation slides.pdf

Speaker: Dr. Amy Snover, Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington, December 2014

Title: Choosing and Using Climate-Change Scenarios for Ecological-Impact Assessments and Conservation Decisions- Applications to the Pacific Northwest

UW-SRP Agency Seminar Series at EPA Region 10 - December 2014 - Dr. Amy Snover from UW-SRP on Vimeo.

Speaker: Dr. Jim Gawel, Spring 2013

Title: The Long-Term Impact of Metal Smelting Operations on Arsenic Availability in Urban Lakes of South-Central Puget Sound Region
Description: The ASARCO smelter in Ruston, Washington contaminated the south-central Puget Sound region with heavy metals, including arsenic and lead. This study finds that arsenic is highly mobile in these urban lakes. Current knowledge of the chemical, physical and biological factors affecting arsenic mobility in regional lakes was discussed and initial data on biotic effects explored.
Download presentation slides.pdf

UW-SRP Agency Seminar Series at EPA Region 10 - June 2013 - Dr. Jim Gawel from UW-SRP on Vimeo.

Speaker: Dr. Joel Baker, Science Director of the Center for Urban Waters, University of Washington Tacoma, Fall 2012

Title: Opportunities for Bringing Rapidly Emerging Technologies to Revolutionize Modeling of Chemical Contaminants of Coastal Waters
Description: We live in an age awash in environmental data and computing power, yet many water quality models in common use were written when chemical contaminant data were scarce and run times limiting. This talk explores the idea that current water quality models do not fully exploit the information and computing revolutions, and argues that modeling what was once fantasy is now possible.
Download presentation slides.pdf

 

UW-SRP Agency Seminar Series at Region 10 EPA - October 2012 - Dr. Joel Baker from UW-SRP on Vimeo.

Speaker: Dr. David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers University, Founding Editor of Conservation Biology, Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, Spring 2012

Title: Predicting the Effects of Technology: When Risk Assessment is Risky
(see selected readings list mentioned)

UW-SRP Agency Seminar Series at Region 10 EPA - May 2012 - Dr. David Ehrenfeld from UW-SRP on Vimeo.

Speaker: Andrew D. Maynard, Fall 2011

Title: The New Science of Sophisticated Materials: Nanomaterials and Beyond
Description: Dr. Maynard is a leading authority on the responsible development and use of emerging technologies. His research interests span identifying, assessing and managing emergent risks, to exploring innovative solutions to established and emerging human health and environmental risks, to equipping people with the tools they need to make informed decisions in the face of risk and uncertainty.
Download presentation slides.pdf

UW-SRP Agency Seminar Series at Region 10 EPA - November 2011 - Dr. Andrew Maynard from UW-SRP on Vimeo.

 

Speaker: Dr. Evan Gallagher, Fall 2011

Title: Understanding Environmental Chemical Impacts on Olfactory Function in Salmon
Description: Dr. Gallagher's research is directed towards understanding the sublethal impacts of environmental chemicals on fish and humans, and includes projects that address environmental chemical mixtures, emerging contaminants, and toxicology issues that cross environmental and human health boundaries. This seminar addressed his NIEHS Superfund project studies on the mechanisms of metal and pesticide-induced olfactory injury in salmon and applications in Superfund site biomonitoring.

Speaker: Dr. Paul Johnson, Summer 2011

Title: Temporal Changes in Vapor Intrusion Behavior and Implications for Conventional Pathway Assessment Paradigms
Description: This talk briefly reviews the vapor intrusion (VI) pathway, the conventional paradigm for VI pathway assessment and the common beliefs regarding temporal behavior. The focus is on an ongoing study involving high temporal resolution monitoring of a residence overlying a low concentration (10-30 ug/L) dissolved chlorinated solvent plume, and present results that reveal behavior not previously conceptualized in creating guidance for VI pathway.
Download presentation slides.pdf

Speaker: Dr. Michael Yost, Fall 2010

Title: Ambient Air Monitoring with Open-Path-FTIR and other Remote Sensing Techniques

Speaker: Dr. Stuart Strand, Dr. Harvey Checkoway, and Dr. Thomas Burbacher, Spring 2010

Title: The UW Superfund Research Program: An Update on Research Accomplishments and Outreach Activities
Download presentation slides.pdf

Speaker: Dr. Christopher Lau, Fall 2008

Title: Toxicity of Perfluoroalkyl Acids: Highlights from recent findings

Speaker: Dr. Deborah Rice, Spring 2008

Title: Environmental fate and toxicity of the PBDE flame retardants, with emphasis on deca BDE 
Download presentation slides.pdf

Speaker: Dr. David Eaton, Winter 2007

Title: NAS/NRC Report: Health Risks from Dioxin and related Compounds 
Download presentation slides.pdf
Download dioxin reference document.pdf