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Cross-ORD Interdisciplinary Post-Doctoral Research Program

ORD is accepting applications through April 24, 2009 for several Federal, four-year, Post-Doctoral positions. Candidates will engage in cross-cutting research in the areas identified below.

Full Federal Employment Benefits:

EASY Application Process – Submit the following by April 24, 2009:

Other options for application submission

U.S. Citizenship status

Applicants must be United States citizens or permanent residents.  A preference is given to U.S. citizens.  Please indicate your U.S. citizenship status (citizen or permanent resident) and country of citizenship.  Only in the absence of qualified U.S. citizens will permanent residents who are citizens of countries specified as exceptions to the appropriations act ban on paying non-U.S. citizens be considered.  Further information on Federal employment of non-citizens is available at http://www.opm.gov/employ/html/citizen.htm

EPA provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.  If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Agency.  The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case by case basis. 

For additional information, please contact: Ms. Dorothy Carr at 1-800-433-9633 or via email at ordpostdocapps@epa.gov.

Federal law requires all employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States.  Further information can be found here. 

Current ORD Interdisciplinary Post-doc Opportunities:

Click on the title below for more detailed information about position openings.  General inquiries can be directed to Dorothy Carr at ordpostdocapps@epa.gov or 1-800-433-9633.

Adaptation to the Effects of Global Climate Change on Water and Aquatic Systems
A post-doctoral associate selected for this research will study the effects of global change (e.g., land use practices, climate change) on aquatic systems and water resources. Water quality impacts from global change are expected to be mediated by natural (e.g., upland ecosystems within watersheds) and man-made systems (e.g., water treatment infrastructure). Understanding the effects of climate change in combination with changes in these mediating factors is vital to achieving the ultimate goal of meeting water quality standards. A strong background in one or more of the following areas is essential: expertise in applying hydrologic models; knowledge of population dynamics; ecosystem structure/function; aquatic organisms or communities; species niche modeling approaches; and experience with trait analysis.

Assessment of the Ecological Effects of Biofuels
A post-doctoral associate selected for this research will participate in the evaluation of the impact of biofuels in three broad areas: environmental impacts (e.g., air quality, effects on hypoxia); resource conservation impacts (e.g., water availability, ecosystem health and biodiversity); and the growth and use of cultivated invasive plants.  This research is necessitated by  increased use of biofuels (e.g., ethanol and biodiesel) required under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act; and is expected to bring about changes in land use that will impact water quantity and quality, especially in the upper mid-west region of the US.  The successful applicant will have education and training in biofuels and be able to synthesize published literature and other reports into an assessment that will inform policy makers.  Education and training in ecological effects of invasive species; biofuel production; water quality and quantity, and watershed-scale impacts is essential.

Biostatistical Analysis of Multi-Pollutant Exposure and Relationship to Effects
A post-doctoral associate selected for this research will perform biostatistical research and analysis on the relationship between various human exposure metrics and human health effects, especially premature mortality, including cause-specific mortality.  The research and analysis will estimate the health effects of multiple air pollutants in order to allow attribution of health effects to different pollutants or groups of pollutants using a variety of different human exposure metrics in close collaboration with new human exposure research.  The candidate should have an extensive background in the statistical aspects of air pollutant epidemiology, particularly in the assessment of multi-collinearity in statistical analysis.  The research benefit EPA’s Integrated Science Assessments that are used as a basis for air pollutant regulations, would make major advances in human exposure research, and could lead to a greater integration of epidemiologic results with more experimental studies.

Decision Analysis Improving Environmental Solutions
This post-doctoral proposal is for a multi-disciplinary research approach to link ORD’s in-house expertise in ecology, economics, and life cycle analysis with decision analysis and social sciences.  The environmental issues that the Agency faces today are complex and multidimensional in nature, such as global climate change, loss of ecosystem services, and the risks associated with nanotechnology.  These issues not only involve the traditional environmental factors, but also need to include economic and social factors.  Probabilistic modeling that evaluates likelihood pathways linked to alternate scenarios for finding optimized solutions is needed for this research to fully address and provide applicable solutions.  The purpose of this research is to develop a fundamental knowledge of how to assess and address the complex problems that Agency faces today and in the future.  Knowledge in the areas of public policy, LCA, ecology, and systems science is desirable.

Development of Methods to Assess Health Risks Due to Waterborne Pathogens
EPA offers a postdoctoral research opportunity in the field of waterborne pathogens. A successful candidate will become a member of an interdisciplinary team of researchers developing novel methods to assess health risks associated with microbial contamination of water.  He/she will contribute to the development of multiplex immunoassays for measuring antibody responses to infections, and novel methods for detecting and genotyping waterborne pathogens.  This research will also involve application of these methods in water quality monitoring projects and epidemiological studies of waterborne infections.  Training in statistical data analysis, epidemiology or risk assessment is desirable.  Research mentors will be experts in epidemiology, biomarkers of infection, microbial risk assessment, microbiology, virology and immunology.

Linking Exposure and Effects Models: An Integrated Toxicology Approach
A post-doctoral associate selected for this research will participate in research to link existing or newly developed models of exposure to models of effects as part of an integrated toxicology approach to risk assessments and public health outcomes.  The goal is to provide tools to allow the Agency to better understand whether its actions and decisions have achieved their intended purpose of protecting public health (i.e., accountability for regulatory actions).  Research activities can include identification of indicators through statistical analysis of existing datasets and models for exposure and health effects; development of models linking indicators of environmental quality and environmental health; characterizing the interaction of multiple stressors (including non-chemical stressors) on environmental health outcomes; analysis of biomonitoring data for exposure reconstruction.  The successful candidate will need a strong background in computational approaches to data analysis.  Experience with one or more of the following would be highly beneficial: exposure, pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic modeling, and human population effects modeling.

Predictive Modeling of Developmental Toxicity
A post-doctoral associate selected for this research will use experimental-computational methods to generate mESC data on cell differentiation pathways for 320 ToxCast™ chemicals.  The project goal is to advance the mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) test for chemical screening and predictive modeling of developmental toxicity.  A multi-gene marker panel will be used to model dose-response and validate candidate pathways at the National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory (NHEERL).  These data will drive cell-based computational models for EPA’s ‘virtual embryo’ (http://www.epa.gov/ncct/v-Embryo/) at the National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT).  Finally, the post-doc will interact with the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) to translate computational models into tools for reducing uncertainty in risk assessment.  General familiarity with cell culture; some experience in bioinformatics or computer sciences is desirable. 

Regional Impacts of Climate Change on Water Availability and Ecosystem Services
A post-doctoral associate selected for this research will conduct analysis on how future climate change may cause significant ecosystem degradation by changing the atmospheric dispersion and deposition rate of air pollutants, the patterns and magnitude of precipitation, and the strength of emissions from the biosphere, fires, and dust.  This research will utilize global climate and chemistry models in conjunction with complementary regional models to investigate regional impacts on ecosystems and water quantity/quality by studying the impacts on the relevant processes of potential climate change. Research opportunities in these areas will directly contribute to the ongoing ORD climate and ecosystems assessment effort.  EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) plays a key role in studying and modeling climate, atmospheric deposition, and ecosystem interactions.  Climate change is thought likely to affect the frequency, duration, and magnitude of extreme events including heat waves, droughts, wind-blown dust, and forest fires, which could impact landscape patterns and lead to additional ecosystem and water quantity/quality effects.

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