Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships For Graduate Environmental Study

The deadline to submit applications is October 22, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) for paper applications and 11:59:59 p.m. ET for electronic submissions through grants.gov.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is offering Graduate Fellowships for master's and doctoral level students in environmental fields of study. The STAR Fellowship program is part of the national effort to help ensure that the U.S. meets its current and projected human resource needs in the environmental science, engineering, and policy fields (Jackson 2002). The purpose of the fellowship program is to encourage promising students to obtain advanced degrees and pursue careers in an environmental field. The goals of the programs are to bolster the environmental generation of tomorrow, bridge to diverse communities, and boost excellent research and development that advance the protection of human health and the environment through education. These goals are consistent with the immediate and long-term mission of EPA, to protect human health and the environment. The STAR Fellowship program has proven to be beneficial to both the public and private sectors by providing a steady stream of well-trained environmental specialists to meet society's environmental challenges (National Research Council 2003). It has also provided new environmental research in engineering and in the physical, biological, health, and social sciences. Each topic area is described in this program's guidance, but has separate funding opportunity numbers. The funding opportunity numbers and related topic titles within the STAR program are as follows: (1) Emerging Environmental Approaches & Challenges: Innovative Investigations for Oil Spill Impacts (A1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-A1) - In light of the April 20, 2010 British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the environmental and human health impacts of oil spills, including innovative remediation solutions. Proposals in this topic focus on investigations that have the potential to boost our understanding of environmental exposure, bioavailability, effects and risk towards underpinning appropriate management responses to oil spills of this kind. Projects may include, but are not limited to identifying and characterizing environmentally benign dispersants with enhanced affinity for oil; generating and validating predictive models of environmental fate, behavior, bioavailability and effects for environmentally relevant oils and dispersants through key environmental pathways (i.e.,. source - pathway - receptor); developing novel tools/methods for detection, monitoring and quantitative assessment of exposure and bioavailability for environmentally relevant oils and dispersants; optimizing innovative technologies based on chemical, physical, and biological approaches for effective cleanup of the environment impacted by oil spills, etc.; (2) Emerging Environmental Approaches & Challenges: Social Sciences (A2) (EPA-F2011-STAR-A2) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on enhancing the integrated use of the natural and social sciences into emerging trans-disciplinary environmental research as well as to examine the concepts of environmentalism, environmental decision-making, and environmental governance (e.g. ecosystem-based management, social-ecological systems, coupling social and natural systems). Proposals in this topic focus on identifying and expanding the importance of social and cultural dimensions in the protection of the environment and human health. Projects may include, but are not limited to, bringing theories and methods of social sciences to subject areas such as environmentalism, environmental justice, environmental health, ecosystem services, air, land, pollution, risk assessment and/or risk management; broadening environmental decision-making schemes using more expansive social theories and methods to develop models, outputs, and interventions that protect human health and the environment; investigating social and cultural factors to gain more comprehensive understandings of the impacts of social indicators (e.g. understandings, behaviors or actions) for the protection of the environment and human health; etc.; (3) Emerging Environmental Approaches & Challenges: Information Science (A3) (EPA-F2011-STAR-A3) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of processing environmental information to enhance decision making for pollution prevention and/or control. Proposals in this topic focus on facilitating environmental research and management by developing ways to access and/or integrate databases of environmental information, and developing new algorithms enabling different environmental datasets to be combined to test environmental hypotheses. Projects may include applying informatics to environmental health, public health, ecosystem services, and/or environmental economics; broadening environmental decision-making and policy-development at the State, Local, and/or Tribal levels by using more expansive information processing techniques; engineering newer informational systems and technologies for environmental protection, etc.; (4) Tribes and American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander Communities (B1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-B1) - Applications in this topic are for interests and investigations at the intersections of protecting the environment and American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander communities and/or Tribes. Proposals in this topic focus on related environmental health, sustainability, and pollution prevention/remediation strategies and issues. Projects may include, but are not limited to, assessing the impacts of environmental challenges on American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander communities and/or Tribes such as climate change, mining activities, water quality, drinking water reliability, invasive species, and land-use changes; exploring how American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander lifeways may be connected to unique risk and exposure pathways; exploring sustainability through tribes' traditional ecological knowledge and/or local ecological knowledge of an area; expanding the understanding of cumulative risk in tribes, American Indians/Alaska Natives/Pacific Islanders and related communities; analyzing environment-related governance amongst American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander communities such as risk management, multi-sectoral or emerging approaches, ecosystem-based management approaches, etc; exploring integrated approaches to providing reliable supplies of safe drinking water to American Indian/Alaska Native/Pacific Islander communities, etc.; (5) Nanotechnology (C1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-C1) - Applications in this topic are for interests and investigations on engineered/manufactured nanomaterials. Proposals in this topic focus on how engineered/manufactured nanomaterials (including nano-bio and other emerging compounds) may be used to advance pollution prevention/remediation, and understanding material life cycles such that the impact of these materials can be accurately and rapidly assessed. Projects may include, but are not limited to applying green chemistry and engineering to nanomaterial synthesis; exploring how nanomaterials can be used effectively to clean up contaminants released into the environment; investigating unique exposure pathways associated with nanomaterials; conducting a life cycle analysis on a particular class of nanomaterials, etc.; (6) Science & Technology for Sustainability: Environmental Entrepreneurship (D1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-D1) - Applications in this category are for interests in and investigations on the science and engineering of sustainability, pollution prevention, waste reduction, green engineering, green chemistry, green materials, recycling, and resource conservation and recovery. Proposals in this topic focus on the design and analysis of chemicals, materials, products, or systems, as well as urban and regional planning. Proposals in this area also include investigations at the intersection of sustainability and innovative technology development and utilization. Projects may include, but are not limited to, developing technologies or analyses that enable multi-media pollution prevention of agricultural processes and practices; evaluating use of post-consumer or post-industrial recycled materials for new chemicals, materials, or products; examining life cycle assessment and other materials systems analyses; developing sustainability metrics and indicators that inform regional or industrial decision-making; green buildings; analyzing economy-wide environmental implications of technological or other changes; applying biometric approaches to material, product, or process design, etc.; (7) Science & Technology for Sustainability: Green Engineering/Building/Chemical Products & Processes/Materials Development (D2) (EPA-F2011-STAR-D2) - includes design for the environment, life cycle assessment, green building, agricultural improvements through multi-media pollution prevention; (8) Science & Technology for Sustainability: Green Energy/Natural Resources Production & Use (D3) (EPA-F2011-STAR-D3) - focusing on multimedia pollution prevention; (9) Global Change (E1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-E1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of global change, particularly climate variability and change in the U.S. Proposals in this topic focus on global change impacts and mitigation of these impacts on air quality, water quality, ecosystems, human health, and socio-economic systems. Projects may include, but are not limited to, examining the impacts of global climate change on air quality, water quality, aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems, or human health; adapting air or water quality management systems or decision support tools to respond to risks posed by climate change; understanding the environmental consequences of potential climate mitigation strategies, etc.; (10) Clean Air (F1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-F1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of air quality and pollution. Proposals in this topic focus on air pollution assessment, monitoring, transport, transformation, control, management, and modeling. Projects may include, but are not limited to, studying secondary formation of air pollutants, spatial temporal heterogeneity of particulate matter (PM) size fractions and components, studying the atmospheric science of air pollution mixtures, etc.; (11) Drinking Water (G1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-G1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of drinking water quality. Proposals in this topic focus on protecting drinking water sources, producing and distributing safe drinking water, managing health risks associated with exposure to waterborne contaminants, and promoting the safety and sustainability of water resources and water infrastructure. Projects may include, but are not limited to, developing assessment tools to characterize the occurrence of waterborne contaminants in drinking water supplies and quantify the extent of exposure from drinking these sources; adapting management and monitoring strategies to protect surface and ground water sources of drinking water; developing treatment technologies and/or understanding their efficacy; characterizing microbial ecology within distribution systems, etc.; (12) Water Quality: Hydrogeology and Surface Water (H1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-H1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of water quality. Proposals in this topic focus on assessing, protecting, and restoring surface and ground water quality, aquatic ecosystems, watershed management, and source control management. Projects may include, but are not limited to, developing better tools and technologies for assessing, monitoring and managing the impacts of nonpoint source pollution; developing approaches, tools, technologies, and models to characterize and manage the combined effects of multiple stressors on aquatic life and water quality; studying harmful algal blooms; adapting management strategies to assess surface and ground water quality; determining causes of impairments; developing sustainable and innovative tools to manage, restore, and protect these resources, etc.; (13) Water Quality: Coastal and Estuarine Processes (H2) (EPA-F2011-STAR-H2) - focusing on pollution; (14) Human Health: Public Health (I1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-I1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of human health risk assessment, including understanding exposures and health effects that can lead to protection of human health. Proposals in this topic focus on advancing the field of risk assessment, including cumulative risk research; community-based risk assessment research; exposure assessment; susceptible subpopulations and lifestages research; and tools for risk management decisions. Projects may include, but are not limited to, studying exposures and health effects of environmental contaminants (especially unique exposures from cultural practices, unique geographic regions, or environmental justice communities) and cumulative risks posed by exposure to mixtures of contaminants (and/or a combination of chemical, physical, biological and social/psycho-social stressors); providing new insights into how environmental contaminants may affect susceptible life stages (e.g. early childhood, older adults) and vulnerable populations (e.g. populations of low socio-economic position, or with pre-existing diseases); what key factors impact exposures of these subpopulations; developing and evaluating novel exposure assessment tools (e.g., methods, models); evaluating alternative exposure metrics in epidemiologic studies; evaluating the effectiveness of State, Local, and/or Tribal policy, regulatory and risk communication actions to reduce health risks resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants; applying health impact assessment on State, Local, and/or Tribal policy policies, projects or programs dealing with environmental health issues, etc.; (15) Human Health: Risk Assessment and Risk Management (I2) (EPA-F2011-STAR-I2) - e.g., cumulative risk research; community-based risk assessment; exposure assessment; susceptible subpopulations and lifestages research; tools for risk management decisions; intervention strategies; environmental health communications and education; environmental justice, etc.; (16) Ecosystem Services: Aquatic Systems Ecology (J1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-J1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of understanding, protecting, and restoring ecosystems. Proposals in this topic focus on improving knowledge to protect and restore the ecosystem services that are important for supporting humans and all organisms, such as clean air; clean water; and unpolluted, fertile soil which can aide in waste composition, water filtration and degradation of environmental contaminants. This includes developing data, methods, models, and tools needed by states, communities, and tribes to understand the cost and benefits of using ecosystem services, as well as, developing the underlying science for the characterization, quantification, and valuation of ecosystems services as responses to and/or regulators of environmental exposures to humans and ecosystems. Projects may include, but are not limited to, ecosystem restoration from pollution, landscape ecology for pollution prevention, studying pollutant effects on plants, animals and/or habitats, furthering knowledge on ecosystem services valuation (including but not limited to monetization), exposure scenario construction, model formulation and/or mapping for ecosystems services and their responses, and multimedia fate and transport models for exposures to the full range of stressors that interact with ecosystems services, etc.; (17) Ecosystem Services: Terrestrial Systems Soil and Plant Ecology (J2) (EPA-F2011-STAR-J2) - limited to soils and plants that can serve as a media for contaminant transport; (18) Ecosystem Services: Terrestrial Systems Animal Ecology (J3) (EPA-F2011-STAR-J3) - limited to pollution effects on animals or habitat; (19) Pesticides and Toxic Substances (K1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-K1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on the science of understanding (e.g. toxicity), reducing, and/or preventing risks to humans, wildlife, and non-target plants from exposures to contaminants and groups of contaminants. Proposals in this topic focus on the use of molecular tools, pesticides, toxic chemicals, emerging environmental contaminants (e.g. endocrine disrupting chemicals, and pharmaceuticals in the environment), and products of biotechnology (e.g. genetically engineered agents). Projects may include, but are not limited to, searching for pesticides and/or chemicals which are safer for humans and non-target organisms; developing screening and monitoring techniques used to detect toxic chemicals and/or quantifying the effects of toxic chemicals and chemical mixtures in the environment, including computational toxicology; providing new insights into how pesticides or environmental contaminants may affect wildlife or human populations; understanding the toxicology of environmental contaminants, and developing techniques and tools to predict hazards of environmental contaminants, etc.; (20) Land Protection (L1) (EPA-F2011-STAR-L1) - Applications in this topic are for interests in and investigations on preserving the nation's land, and protecting public health from exposure to land-based contaminants, particularly solid waste. Proposals in this topic focus on strategies for waste (including hazardous waste) and contaminant management, treatment, and reduction; extractive industries and land protection; landfills and leach testing for material reuse and protection through urban and regional planning. Projects may include, but are not limited to, developing more cost-effective tools, technologies, models, and methods related to land preservation and solid waste collection, disposal, and management; studying effects of sediment dredging on biota and contaminant re-suspension; developing effective modeling and sampling methods to reduce uncertainty in analysis of vapor intrusion from land-based contamination and solid waste into homes and buildings; developing modeling tools such as GIS to assist urban and regional planners in protecting land from pollution; reducing uncertainty in modeling of (land based) oil spill fate and effects, etc. .

History of Funds:

The STAR Fellowship program was initiated in 1995. Approximately 1,500 STAR fellowships have been awarded since the inception of the program.

Average Award:

Varies

Name: Brandon Jones

Department: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Street: Ariel Rios Building

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

City: Washington

Zip: 20460

Email: 2011FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov