Region 7 Science Program
What is the Regional Science Program?
The Regional Science Program links EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) with EPA's Regional Offices and emphasizes building networks and partnerships between Regional and ORD scientists, effectively transferring research results on high-priority regional science issues and conducting science outreach to the states, tribes, and communities.
On this page:
- Data Visualization Input Opportunities
- ORD Research and Small Business Funding Opportunities
- Upcoming ORD Events, Webinars and Training
- ORD Publications, Products, Resources and Toolkits
EPA Region 7’s Science Priorities aim to:
- Study impacts of emerging contaminants such as PFAS, ethylene oxide (EtO), and microplastics.
- Use social science research to assist communities with climate and resiliency planning.
- Evaluate/address climate impacts of harmful algal blooms and nutrients on water resources.
- Develop remote sensing techniques to measure burn areas/impacts on downwind communities.
- Identify preventive and mitigating approaches for community resiliency.
- Develop real-time measurement methodologies to characterize EtO emissions.
- Develop technologies to expedite large-scale, complex mining/mineral processing site remediation.
The cross-cutting Issues of technical support, environmental justice, climate change, and reuse are included in each science priority.
Success Stories
Publication of ‘Spatial and Temporal Variability of Saxitoxin-Producing Cyanobacteria in U.S. Urban Lakes’
Congratulations to Laura Webb (Region 7 Laboratory Services and Applied Science Division) and Drs. Heath Mash and Jinrang Lu (EPA Office of Research and Development) for their publication titled “Spatial and Temporal Variability of Saxitoxin-Producing Cyanobacteria in U.S. Urban Lakes.”
The team addressed the impacts of nutrients and harmful algal blooms (HABs), which are a high science priority for Region 7. Our understanding of cyanobacteria blooms (or harmful algal blooms) is growing in both fresh and marine environments, but our urban lakes have always been understudied. This research project was designed to take a look at these small impoundments in three different cities to better our understanding and see if there are any patterns or triggers unique to the urban environment.
Surprisingly, we had multiple detections of saxitoxin, which is surprising because this toxin is usually associated with paralytic shellfish poisoning, not fresh water. The genetic approach makes it possible to forewarn systems prior to a visible bloom or toxin detection; we can see the gene sequences that can produce toxins before we see the toxins in the water. Dr. Lu and his team used these positives that we had in our urban lakes to develop an assay that can detect these freshwater cyanobacteria that are potential saxitoxin producers. Now, others can take these sequences and use them in tests to detect the genes prior to the toxins.
Of note, EPA does not have any drinking water criteria or recreational advisory levels for saxitoxin, but pets are particularly susceptible to toxin poisoning and these urban lakes are frequently visited by pets. Also, these toxins can produce adverse effects in pets in very small concentrations; any advance warning can potentially save pets and prevent human health concerns.
For more info: Jeon, Y.; Struewing, I.; McIntosh, K.; Tidd, M.; Webb, L.; Ryu, H.; Mash, H.; Lu, J. Spatial and Temporal Variability of Saxitoxin-Producing Cyanobacteria in U.S. Urban Lakes. Toxins 2024, 16, 70.
Read the publication online.
ORD Research and Small Business Funding Opportunities
ORD Special Research Training Program Opportunity: Environmental Research Apprenticeship Program for College and University Students – EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) seeks to support a Research Training Program for college and university students. The objective of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to support the training of undergraduate and graduate students on-site at EPA’s research facility located in Ada, Oklahoma. ORD conducts timely, mission-relevant, solution-oriented research based on the principles of integrity, sustainability, and responsiveness to the needs of the nation. The Environmental Research Apprenticeship Program (ERAP) for college and university students is designed to increase both the effectiveness and number of future environmental scientists and technicians by allowing trainees to collaborate with senior EPA-ORD scientists.
- Opened: Feb. 15, 2024
- Closes: May 15, 2024
- Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-G2024-ORD-A1
- Location: EPA’s Research Facility in Ada, Oklahoma
ORD Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program Funding: Advancing Sustainable Chemistry – Research is needed on new chemical products and chemical processes that use energy and utilities more efficiently, ensure feedstocks are optimized, are strategically consumed and reused, and provide society with chemicals and manufacturing processes that are less harmful to human health and the environment. This Request for Applications (RFA) is soliciting research for data, methods, and systems that lead to actionable, scalable change toward chemistry, chemicals, and products that support sustainable chemistry.
- Opened: March 18, 2024
- Closes: May 29, 2024
- Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-G2024-STAR-B1
- Informational Webinar: April 4, 2024, from 1 to 2 p.m. CDT – register here
EPA Research Grants – EPA’s Research Grants Program aims to stimulate and support scientific and engineering research that advances EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment.
- Research Grant Topics (on left at link above): Air Research, Climate Change Research, Ecosystems Research, Health Research, Safer Chemicals Research, Sustainability Research, and Water Research
- Opens and closes: See “Open RFAs” at link above
- Award amounts: Vary by topic
If you are interested in receiving email RFA updates on research funding opportunities, sign up on EPA’s website.
Recording of Region 7 Science Program/ORD Special Webinar: EPA STAR and P3 Program Overview
- Recorded Monday, June 26, 2023
- Want to learn more about ORD’s research funding opportunities for colleges and universities? ORD’s Dr. Intaek Hahn conducted a one-hour webinar on two researching funding opportunities:
- Science to Achieve Results (STAR)
- People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Student Design Competition
- Dr. Hahn presented on both STAR and P3, solicitation announcements, criteria, process for submittals, timelines, and the process from submission to award to implementation.
Upcoming ORD Events, Webinars and Training
ORD Tools and Resources Webinar Series: Tire Crumb Research
- Wednesday, April 17, 2024, from 2 to 3 p.m. CDT
- Register here
- Wednesday, April 24, 2024, from 1 to 2:15 p.m. CDT
- Informational flyer
- Presenter bios
- Register here
- Tuesday, April 30, 2024, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. CDT
- Informational flyer
- Presenter bios
- Register here
ORD posts upcoming events, webinars and training several months in advance, which EPA's research staff is participating in, hosting, or supporting in other ways.
Check out the EPA Research Events page often for updates.
ORD Publications, Products, Resources and Toolkits
Strategic Research Action Plans, Fiscal Years 2023-2026
ORD published the FY23-26 Strategic Research Action Plans (StRAPs) for these six National Research Programs (NRPs):
- Air, Climate, and Energy (ACE)
- Chemical Safety for Sustainability (CSS)
- Health and Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA)
- Homeland Security (HS)
- Safe and Sustainable Water Resources (SSWR)
- Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC)
As part of the StRAP development process, ORD identified six cross-cutting topics – environmental justice, climate change, cumulative impacts, community resilience, children’s environmental health, and contaminants of immediate and emerging concern – for close coordination throughout strategic research planning and implementation. Importantly, the plans also anticipate emerging issues.
Region 7 had 23 representatives (internal and external) working with ORD to incorporate our science priorities into the StRAP. This is the most involvement Region 7 ever had, and the Region hopes to continue that level of involvement in future StRAPs to address our science needs.
Story Map
Region 7 Science Program’s Research Projects
In this story map, you can learn about the Region’s collaborative research projects that address environmental and health concerns. Extensive details and interactive maps about the 40-plus projects are in six categories: Water, Air, Cleanup and Remediation, Tool/Method Development, Contaminants of Concern, and SBIR/P3/STAR.