Tom Purucker
I work on spatially explicit ecological exposure capabilities and model integration activities. I am a co-developer of the Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA) program and contribute ecological risk assessment code to EPA Region 5 FIELDS tools for ESRI's Arc products. These programs allow risk assessors to account for the spatial distribution of contamination when estimating ecological risk and designing remedial actions. My research interests are in incorporating spatial processes in the application of models for environmental risk assessment, and I support the Office of Pesticide Programs. I also teach introductory ecology and environmental sciences at Gainesville State College.
Biographical Information
Name: Tom Purucker
Title: Ecologist
Contact Info:
Ecosystems Research Division
National Exposure Research Laboratory
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
960 College Station Road
Athens, GA 30605 30605
Telephone: 706-355-8123
Email: purucker.tom@epa.gov
Education
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 2006
B.A. Zoology, University of Tennessee, 1991
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist, USEPA, ORD, NERL-ERD, Athens, GA 2009–present
Adjunct Instructor, Gainesville State College, 2007-present
Postdoctoral Fellow, Ecologist, USEPA, ORD, NERL-ERD, Athens, GA 2006–2009
Senior Research Associate, Institute Environmental Modeling, University of Tennessee, 1999–2006
Research Associate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Health Sciences Research Division, 1992–1999
Invited Lectures/Symposia
Purucker, S.T., Rashleigh, B., Suárez, L.A., 2009. Modeling ecosystem services: the devil is not always in the details. Interagency Steering Committee on Multimedia Environmental Models: Annual Public Meeting & Workshop on Environmental Modeling
Purucker, S.T., 2009. Including the value of ecosystem services in environmental decisions. Gainesville State College, Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis Colloquium series, Gainesville, GA
Purucker, S.T., R.N. Stewart and C.J.E. Welsh. 2005. Use of habitat-contamination spatial correlation to determine when to perform a spatially explicit ecological risk assessment. Society for Environmental Toxicity and Chemistry, Baltimore, MD
Purucker, S.T. 2004. Characterizing Risk in SADA. Geostatistical Analysis of Health and Exposure Conference, Ann Arbor, MI
Purucker, S.T. 2003. Spatial Methods for Environmental Sampling, Risk Characterization, and Management. Society for Risk Analysis, World Congress on Risk; Brussels
Awards
US EPA Superior Accomplishment Recognition Award, 2008, 2007, 2006