Scientific and Technological Achievement Award (STAA) 2017-2018

2017-2018 STAA Awards

On this page:

2017 Level II Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards
2017 Level II Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards
2017 Level III Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards
2017 Honorable Mention Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards

There were no submissions for 2018.

EPA announces the winners of the 2017 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards, an agency-wide program that recognizes the outstanding scientific work of EPA employees who publish their technical work in peer-reviewed literature.

2017 Level I Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards

Level I awards are for those who have accomplished an exceptionally high-quality research or technological effort. The awards recognize the creation or general revision of scientific or technological principle or procedure, or a highly significant improvement in the value of a device, activity, program, or service to the public. Awarded research is of national significance or has high impact on a broad area of science/technology. The research has far reaching consequences and is recognizable as a major scientific/technological achievement within its discipline or field of study.

Publication Title	*Authors*	*Lab/Office/Center*
Understanding the fate and transport of human adenovirus in environmental matrices.	Richard Zepp Irene Xagoraraki Kelvin Wong Thomas Voice Biplab Mukheriee Marirosa Molina Amy Kahler Dermont Bouchard	NERL
Using retrospective case studies to better understand the relationship between non-traditional oil and gas development and drinking water resources	Richard Wilkin Ralph Ludwig Douglas Beak David Rectenwald Tony Lee Christopher Ruybal Susan Mravik Gregory Oberley Steven Acree Randall Ross Michael Overbay Amy Wolfe	NRMRL
Demonstrating the effects of air pollution on individuals with prior cardiac complications	Robert Devlin Laura McGuinn Colette Blach Carol Haynes Elaine Dowdy Marie Lynn Miranda William Kraus Petros Koutrakis David Diaz-Sanchez Wayne Cascio Shaibal Mukerjee Casson Stallings Luther Smith Gregory Simon Savti Shah Elizabeth Hauser Lucas Neas Alexandra Schneider Alexandra Chudnovsky Cavin Ward-Caviness	NHEERL

Publication Title

Authors

Lab/Office/Center

Understanding the fate and transport of human adenovirus in environmental matrices.

Richard Zepp
Irene Xagoraraki
Kelvin Wong
Thomas Voice
Biplab Mukheriee
Marirosa Molina
Amy Kahler
Dermont Bouchard

NERL

Using retrospective case studies to better understand the relationship between non-traditional oil and gas development and drinking water resources

Richard Wilkin
Ralph Ludwig
Douglas Beak
David Rectenwald
Tony Lee
Christopher Ruybal

Susan Mravik
Gregory Oberley
Steven Acree
Randall Ross
Michael Overbay
Amy Wolfe

NRMRL

Demonstrating the effects of air pollution on individuals with prior cardiac complications

Robert Devlin
Laura McGuinn
Colette Blach
Carol Haynes
Elaine Dowdy
Marie Lynn Miranda
William Kraus
Petros Koutrakis
David Diaz-Sanchez
Wayne Cascio
Shaibal Mukerjee
Casson Stallings
Luther Smith
Gregory Simon
Savti Shah
Elizabeth Hauser
Lucas Neas
Alexandra Schneider
Alexandra Chudnovsky
Cavin Ward-Caviness

NHEERL

2017 Level II Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards

Level II awards are for those who have accomplished a notably excellent research or technological effort that has qualities and values similar to, but to a lesser degree, than those described under Level I. Awarded research has timely consequences and contributes as an important scientific/technological achievement within its discipline or field of study.

Publication Title	Authors	*Lab/Office/Center*
Reviewing the need for, use of, and demands on modeling to support ‘robust’ decision frameworks around resiliency	Christopher Weaver Robert Lempert Casey Brown John Hall David Revell Daniel Sarewitz	NCEA
Demonstrating the utility of the Seqapass tool for addressing 21st century challenges in species extrapolation	Carlie LaLone Daniel Villeneuve David Lyons Henry Helgen Serina Robinson Joseph Swintek Travis Saari Gerald Ankley Leon Gray Michael Hornung Christine Russom	NHEERL
Researching the role of neuroendocrine stress axes activation in systemic and pulmonary health effects of air pollutants	Urmila Kodavanti Desinia Miller Mette Schladweiler Allen Ledbetter Samantha Snow Beena Vallanat Debora Andrews Andrew Ghio Wayne Cascio M. Ian Gilmour Michael Madden Joleen Soukup William Ward Virginia Bass Edward Karoly Janice Jones Lauren (Nicki) Bell Judy Richards	NHEERL
Investigating the role of reservoirs in removing excess reactive Nitrogen	Jake Beaulieu Rebecca Smolenski Christopher Nietch Amy Townsend-Small Michael Elovitz Joe Schubauer-Berigan Jade Young	NRMRL

2017 Level III Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards

Level III awards are for those who have accomplished an unusually notable research or technological effort. The awards are for a substantial revision or modification of a scientific/technological principle or procedure, or an important improvement to the value of a device, activity, program, or service to the public. Awarded research relates to a mission or organizational component of the EPA, or significantly affects a relevant area of science/technology.

*Publication Title*	Authors	*Lab/Office/Institution*
Creating a scientifically sound method of quantifying water-damage and mold growth in homes	Stephen Vesper Larry Wymer	NERL
Measuring the effects of nutrients on aquatic ecosystems at the large scale	John Stoddard John Van Sickle Alan Herlihy Janice Brahney Steve Paulsen David Peck Richard Mitchell Amina Pollard	NHEERL
Simulating the downstream effects of geographically isolated wetlands on downstream waters	Heather Golden Charles Lane Devendra Amatya Karl Bandilla Raanan Kiperwas-Hadas Christopher Knightes Herbert Ssegane	NERL
Helping inform decisions impacting the places we live, learn, work and play through EnviroAtlas	Anne Neale Brian Pickard Jessica Daniel Laura Jackson Megan Mehaffey	NERL
Simulating extreme weather for environmental impact studies using regional meteorological modeling techniques	Tanya Spero Christopher Nolte Martin Otte Jared Bowden	NERL
Improving the understanding of how eutrophication and hypoxia affect the functioning of marine benthic communities	Stephen Hale Giancarlo Cicchetti Christopher Deacutis	NHEERL
Evaluating naturally occurring asbestos toxicity to inform risk assessment of contaminated sites	Stephen Gavett Jaime Daly (Cyphert) Urmila Kodavanti Mette Schladweiler Abraham Nyska Marie (McGee) Hargrove Ron Mahoney Debora Andrews Darol Dodd	NHEERL
Designing a quantitative framework that estimates a water treatment plant's economic incentive to protect its source water	Matthew Heberling Christopher Nietch Hale Thurston Michael Elovitz Kelly Birkenhauer Srinivas Panguluri Balaji Ramakrishnan Eric Heiser Tim Neyer	NRMRL
Developing and refining methods to estimate the economic costs and benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation policies	Alex Marten Steve Newbold Wesley Brooks	OA
Applying biological effects prediction, surveillance, and monitoring approaches to complex mixture assessments	Daniel Villeneuve Gerald Ankley Brett Blackwell Colleen Elone Kathleen Jensen Terri Jicha Rodney Johnson Michael Kahi Carlie LaLone Jason Berninger Chad Blanksma Jenna Cavallin Evan Eid Natalia Garcia-Reyero Megan Hughes Zachary Jorgenson Kathy Lee Shibin Li Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt Joe Mayasich Rebecca Milsk Krysta Nelson Edward Perkins Heiko Schoenfuss Anthony Schroeder Kyle Stevens Linnea Thomas Matthew Weberg	NHEERL
Advancing assessment of oil spill impacts with integrated laboratory studies, field surveys, and spatially explicit modeling	Jill Awkerman Sandy Raimondo Mace Barron Crystal Lilavois Bechy Hemmer Julie Krzykwa Alex Almario	NHEERL
Using novel zebrafish toxicity assays to evaluate a predictive model of developmental vascular toxicity Toxicology.	Tamara Tal Nicole Kleinstreuer Claire Kitty Breandan Kennedy Andrew Smith Carlie LaLone Stephanie Padilla Alan Tennant Thomas Knudsen Catherine McCollum Maria Bondesson	NHEERL
Measuring the employment effects of regulations	Ann Ferris Ron Shadbegian Ann ?Wolverton	OA
Analyzing retrospective cost of EPA regulations	Elizabeth Kopits Al McGartland Cynthia Morgan Carl Pasurka Ron Shadbegian Nathalie Simon David Simpson Ann Wolverton	OA
Measuring sustainability through ecosystem service-based valuation of coastal restoration projects	Richard Fulford David Yoskowitz Marc Russell Darrin Dantin John Rogers	NHEERL
Improving hazard concentration estimates for ecological risk assessments of threatened and endangered species	Sandy Raimondo Jill Awkerman Mace Barron Crystal Lilavois Morgan Willming	NHEERL
Filling an analytic gap in benefit-cost analysis of methane and nitrous oxide emission reductions	Alex Martin Elizabeth Kopits Charles Griffiths Steve Newbold Ann Wolverton	OA
Measuring the impact of light exposure on transformations and aggregation of emerging chemicals	Richard Zepp Dermont Bouchard W. Matthew Henderson Wen-Che Hou Indranil Chowdhury Xiaojun Chang Sharon Martin Howard Fairbrother David Goodwin	NERL

2017 Honorable Mention Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards

Honorable Mention awards acknowledge research efforts that are noteworthy but do not warrant a Level I, II or III award. Honorable Mention applies to research that: (1) may not quite reach the level described for a Level III award; (2) show a promising area of research that the Subcommittee wants to encourage; or (3) show an area of research that the Subcommittees feels is too preliminary to warrant an award recommendation at this time.

*Publication Title*	Authors	*Lab/Office/Center*
Evaluation of cyanobacteria cell count detection derived from MERIS imagery across the eastern USA. Published in Remote Sensing of Environment.	Ross Lunetta Blake Schaeffer Richard Stumpf Mark Murphy Daryll Keith Scott Jacobs	NERL
Mutagenicity and Pollutant Emission Factors of Solid-Fuel Cookstoves: Comparison with Other Combustion Sources. Published in Environmental Health Perspectives.	David DeMarini Esra Mutlu Sarah Warren Seth Ebersviller Ingeborg Kooter Judith Schmid Janice Dye William Linak Matthew Gilmour James Jetter Mark Higuchi	NHEERL
(1) Evaluation of the Efficacy of Methyl Bromide in the Decontamination of Building and Interior Materials Contamination. Published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. (2) Whole-Building Decontamination of Bacillus Anthracis Sterne Spores by Methyl Bromide Fumigation. Published in Journal of Applied Microbiology.	Joe Wood Morgan Wendling William Richter Andrew Lastivka Mickelsen Shannon Serre Worth Calfee Marshall Gray Rudolph Scheffrahn Renny Perez William Kern Neil Daniell	NHSRC
Expanding the Test Set: Chemicals with Potential to Disrupt Mammalian Brain Development. Published in Neurotoxicology and Teratology.	William Mundy Stephanie Padilla Kevin Crofton Mary Gilbert David Herr Karl Jensen Kathleen Raffael Kelly Schumacher Timothy Shafer John Cowden Nicholas Radio Joseph Breier	NHEERL
(1) Counting Legionella Cells Within Single Amoeba Host Cells. Published in Applied and Environmental Microbiologist. (2) Enhanced Survival but Not Amplification of Francisella spp. in the Presence of Free-Living Amoebae. Published in Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica. (3) Legionellae in Engineered Systems and Use of Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment to Predict Exposure. Published in Water Research.	Helen Buse Nicholas Ashbolt Eugene Rice Frank Schaefer III Mary Schoen	NHSRC
(1) Dietary Supplementation with Olive Oil or Fish Oil and Vascular Effects of Concentrated Ambient Particulate Matter. Published in Environmental Health Perspectives. (2) Dietary and Pharmacological Intervention to Mitigate the Health Effects of Air Pollution Toxicity. Published in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta-General Subjects.	Haiyan Tong Samet James Ana Rappold David Diaz-Sanchez Robert Devlin Wayne Cascio Tracey Montilla Maryann Bassett Martin Case Melissa Caughey Alan Hinderliter Jon Berntsen Philip Bromberg	NHEERL
(1) SOA Formation from the Atmospheric Oxidation of 2-Methyl-3-buten-2-ol and its Implication for PM_2.5. Published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. (2) The Formation of SOA and chemical Tracer compounds from the Photooxidation of Naphthalene and its Methyl Analogs in the Presence and Absence of Nitrogen Oxides. Published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. (3) Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from the Oxidation of a Series of Sesquiterpenes: a-Cedrene, b-Caryophyllene, a-Humulene, and a-Farnesene with O₃, OH, and NO₃ radicals. Published in Environmental Chemistry	Tadeusz Kleindienst Michael Lewandowski John Offenberg Mohammed Jaoui Kenneth Docherty William Lonneman	NERL
(1) Preferential Colonization and Release of Legionella Pneumonphila from Mature Drinking Water Biofilms Grown on Copper. Published in International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. (2) Impact of Drinking Water Conditions and Copper Materials on Downstream Biofilm Microbial Communities and Legionella Pneumophila Colonization. Published in Journal of Applied Microbiology.	Jingrang Lu Helen Buse Ian Struewing Vicente Gomez-Alvarez Jorge Santo Domingo Nicholas Ashbolt	NERL
Isomers/Enantiomers of Perfluorocarboxylic Acids: Method Development and Detection in Environmental Samples. Published in Chemosphere.	John Washington Jonathan Naile A. W. Garrison Jimmy Avants	NERL
Welfare Estimates of Avoided Ocean Acidification in the U.S. Mollusk Market. Published in Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics.	Chris Moore	OA
Eco-Directed Sustainable Prescribing: Feasibility for Reducing Water Contamination by Drugs. Published in Science of the Total Environment.	Christian Daughton	NERL
Inactivation of Burkholderia Pseudomallei on Environmental Surfaces Using Spray-Applied, Common Liquid Disinfectant. Published in Letters in Applied Microbiology.	Michael Worth Calfee Morgan Wendling	NHSRC
Probing Photosensitization by Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes. Published in Environmental Science & Technology.	Richard Zepp Chia-Ying Chen	NERL
Temporal Changes in Biological Responses and Uncertainty in Assessing Risks of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals. Published in Toxicological Sciences.	Gerald Ankley Daniel Villeneuve	NHEERL
(1) Sediment Bioaccumulation Test with Lumbriculus Variegatus: Effects of Feeding. Published in Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. (2) Sediment Bioaccumulation Test with Lumbriculus Variegatus: Effects of Organism Loading. Published in Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.	Lawrence Burkhard Dave Mount Teresa Norberg-King Terry Highland James Hockett Nanditha Billa Dylan Hubin-Barrows Steven Hawthorn David Miller Carol Grabanski	NHEERL
(1) Chloride Released from Three Permeable Pavement Surfaces After Winter Salt Application. Published in Journal of the American Water Resources Association. (2) Evaluation of Surface Infiltration Testing Procedures in Permeable Pavement Systems. Published in Journal of Environmental Engineering. (3) Assessment of Clogging Dynamics in Permeable Pavement Systems with Time Domain Reflectometers. Published in Journal of Environmental Engineering.	Michael Borst Robert Brown	NRMRL
(1) Sustainable Pathway to Furanics from Biomass via Heterogeneous Organo-Catalysis Green Chemistry (2) Sustainable Strategy Utilizing Biomass: Visible Light-Mediated Synthesis of g-Valerolactone. Published in ChemCatChem. (3) Visible Light Mediated Upgrading of Biomass to Biofuel. Published in Green Chemistry.	Rajender Varma Mallikarjuna N. Nadagouda Sanny Verma R.B. Nasir Baig	NRMRL
A Near-Road Modeling System for Community-Scale Assessments of Traffic-Related Air Pollution in the United States. Published in Environmental Modeling and Software.	Timothy Barzyk Vlad Isakov James Cook Akula Venkatram Saravanan Arunachalam Brian Naess	NERL

Key to Acronyms used in the above Tables
NCEA	ORD National Center for Environmental Assessment
NERL	ORD National Exposure Research Laboratory
NHEERL	ORD National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory
NHSRC	ORD National Homeland Security Research Center
NRMRL	ORD National Risk Management Research Laboratory
OA	Office of the Administrator