The EPA National Student Services Contract has an immediate opening for a full time Environmental Health Specialist position with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.

The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.

What the EPA project is about

CPHEA addresses the needs of stakeholders by preparing technical reports and assessments that integrate and evaluate the most up-to-date research. These products serve as a major component of the scientific foundation supporting EPA's regulations and policies. CPHEA also conducts cutting-edge research to develop innovative methods and approaches that help extrapolate between experimental data and real-world scenarios, improve our understanding of uncertainties, and facilitate careful weighing of evidence.

The CPHEA Health & Environmental Effects Assessment Division (HEEAD) Integrated Environmental Assessment Branch – RTP (IEAB-R) is primarily responsible for developing the Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs) on the welfare (e.g., ecological, climate, visibility, and materials) effects of the criteria air pollutants including particulate matter, ozone, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and lead as mandated by the Clean Air Act. These highly influential science assessments form the scientific basis for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. HEEAD assessments have significant implications for national and international environmental policy development and implementation. In addition, IEAB-R is responsible for other high-impact scientific assessments on topics such as climate change impacts, wildfire effects, and the environmental effects of biofuels production.

Development of ISAs to draw conclusions on the ecological and other welfare effects related to ambient air pollution exposure includes the identification, evaluation, and integration of evidence from the peer-reviewed literature, particularly from epidemiology, controlled human exposure, and animal toxicological studies. In developing ISAs, hundreds of thousands of references are identified in literature searches, and after screening and evaluating, more than a thousand references are included in these scientific documents. To effectively manage such a vast body of references, HEEAD developed the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database and has more recently started exploring tools to improve efficiency (e.g., SWIFT-ActiveScreener) and adapt state-of-the-art systematic review methodologies to the assessment process.

What experience and skills will you gain?

As a team member, will provide technical assistance in a variety tasks involved in development of Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs). Examples of this include literature screening; data curation, extraction, and visualization of ecological and other welfare effects evidence; as well as general support to relevant assessment projects.

How you will apply your skills

Literature screening:

• Reading titles/abstracts and full-text scientific ecological and environmental studies to determine relevance.

• Utilize or test software screening tools (e.g., SWIFT-ActiveScreener).

• Tracking references, typically done through tagging of references in the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database.

  Data curation, extraction, and visualization:

• Verification of data to ensure correctness and completeness in assessments.

• Performance of data extraction from studies evaluating ecological and other welfare effects related to air pollution exposure into specified formats and templates.

• Utilizing existing tools and testing new analysis tools for exploring and visualizing data.

• Developing summary tables to present key scientific information on effects related to air pollution exposure in a variety of quantitative and qualitative formats.

  Software/tool testing and integration:

• Exploration of tools and their application in assessment work with guidance from IEAB-R scientists.

• Assist in the integration of tools already in use (e.g., SWIFT-ActiveScreener/HERO) and development and testing of new tools where needs are identified.

  General project support:

• Maintaining good communication with project teams.

• Documentation of methods and approaches for various tools and applications in assessment development.

• Assist in logistics and coordination of activities for meetings, briefings, and workshops.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

• Research experience on a topic relevant to ecology or the environment;

• Experience reading and summarizing scientific manuscripts related to ecological and the environment;

• Experience in technical scientific writing and editing;

• Experience with geographic information system (GIS) software;

• Strong written and oral communication skills;

• Strong organizational skills and experience in successfully handling multiple assignments with competing deadlines;

• Excellent interpersonal skills;

• Experience working well as a part of a team; and

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook).

Location:  This job will be located EPA’s facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.

Salary: Selected applicant will become a temporary employee of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $22.46 for hours worked.

Hours: Full-time.

Travel: No travel will be required.

Expected start date: The position is full time and expected to begin January 2022. The selected applicant will become a temporary employee of ORAU working as a contractor to EPA. The initial project is through May 14, 2022, with up to 3 additional option periods.

For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.