Postdoc opportunity with US Environmental Protection Agency Impacts of climate change and wastewater discharges on integrated human health and environmental endpoints
Project Number: AD-AED-06-15-2015-05 National Health and Environmental Effects Research Lab Atlantic Ecology Division Narragansett, RI Research Project: Research to be performed will address critical priorities to characterize the co-occurring impacts of climate change and wastewater discharges on the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services and health of communities. Research will focus on the San Juan Bay Estuary, where whole-system dynamic simulation models will be developed to examine the effects of climate change (e.g. accelerated sea level rise, increasing storm frequency and intensity) in modifying the impacts of co-occurring stressors (e.g. wastewater discharges, nitrogen loading) on key ecosystem services (e.g. flood abatement, contaminant processing, carbon sequestration) and human health endpoints (e.g., water-borne diseases) to support community development of climate adaptive strategies. Approaches to the development of the dynamic simulation models and recommendations will be transferable to other communities subject to similar co-stressors of wastewater nitrogen and climate change in the US. Research may include: i) contact with key stakeholders and collaborators (e.g. local and federal health and ecological scientists, territorial government agencies, citizens, NGOs) to characterize key issues, information needs and availability; ii) review of existing wastewater reports, climate change reports, mangrove and estuarine systems models; iii) integrate available information, data, and models into a whole-system dynamic simulation model to predict effects of wastewater discharges on ecosystem services and human health under alternative climate change and adaptation scenarios; iv) investigate disparate impacts on vulnerable populations including children and impoverished communities; v) in concert with stakeholders and collaborators, develop restoration and climate adaptive recommendations for improving coastal resiliency of the San Juan Bay estuary, supported by simulation models and scenario testing. High priority research area: Development and integration of dynamic system level models that investigate impacts of co-occurring stressors of climate change and wastewater discharge on ecosystem services (e.g., water quality, flood abatement, carbon sequestration) and human health (e.g., water-borne illnesses). Educational requirements: Ph.D. in Ecosystem Science, Ecology, Mathematics, Public Health, Public Policy, Epidemiology, Statistics, Socioeconomics, or a related field. Specialized training or experience preferred: Experience developing and applying dynamic system level models to conduct scenario testing (e.g., responses to climate change, wastewater, or other stressors); managing and manipulating ecological and human health data sets (e.g., water quality, environmental exposure, climate change, mangrove and estuarine ecosystems), including geospatial data; Experience with modeling software and quantitative analyses, for example in STELLA, R, GIS, Visual Studio, Netica, Matlab, or similar. Projected duration of appointment: 3 years Applications due by July 20, 2015 For scientific information about this project, please contact: Susan Yee, [email protected], 850-934-9397 Autumn Oczkowski, [email protected], 401-782-9677 These persons may be contacted for additional scientific information, but are not authorized to accept applications, make job offers, set salaries, establish start dates or discuss benefits. For more information see: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ordpd/PostDoc_SearchResults.cfm?Lab=NHEERL For information on how to apply: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ordpd/PostDoc_Lab.cfm?Lab=NHEERL
