SAB Recommendations for EPA’s FY 2016 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards


UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON D.C. 20460
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
December 15, 2016
EPA-SAB-17-001
The Honorable Gina McCarthy
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
Subject: SAB Recommendations for EPA's FY 2016 Scientific and Technological
Dear Administrator McCarthy:
The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) is pleased to transmit its recommendations for the EPA's FY
2016 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA). The STAA program was established
by the agency in 1980 to recognize EPA employees who have made outstanding contributions to the
advancement of science and technology through their publication of peer-reviewed articles or books.
Additional objectives of the STAA program include making the general public more aware of the
quality and depth of EPA science, and improving the credibility of the science underpinning agency
decisions. The SAB has been asked by EPA's Office of Research and Development to review EPA's
nominated scientific publications and make recommendations for awards. The SAB is pleased to
continue to play this important role in the STAA program.
This year, the SAB reviewed a total of 75 nominations comprised of 130 publications within 14 science
and technology categories. The SAB excluded two nominations from consideration since they did not
meet the eligibility criteria. The SAB recommends: no nominations for Level I, the highest award; 8
nominations for Level II; 13 nominations for Level III; and 32 nominations for Honorable Mention. The
SAB's recommendations are provided in the enclosed report.
Overall, the SAB commends the agency for its publications and finds that the 2016 STAA nominations
were generally of very good quality. Although none of this year's nominations met the strict criteria for
the highest level award, which speaks to the high scientific and technological standard of the STAA
program, the SAB assures the EPA that its scientists are conducting high quality work that is advancing
science and technology that supports the Agency's mission.
The SAB appreciates the agency's implementation of most of the SAB's recommendations from
previous years for improving the nomination procedures and administration of the STAA program. In a
separate report, the SAB will provide recommendations to further strengthen the STAA program and
facilitate the SAB review of future STAA nominations.
Achievement Awards

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The agency is to be congratulated for again successfully administering its annual STAA program and the
SAB applauds the EPA's public recognition of the scientific work published in the peer-reviewed
literature by scientists and engineers. Thank you for providing the SAB with the opportunity to assist the
agency with this important program. The SAB looks forward to reviewing the FY 2017 STAA
nominations.
Sincerely,
/signed/
/signed/
Dr. Peter S. Thorne
Chair
Dr. Jay R. Turner
Chair
SAB Scientific and Technological Achievement Award
Committee
Science Advisory Board
Enclosure

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NOTICE
This report has been written as part of the activities of the EPA Science Advisory Board, a public
advisory group providing extramural scientific information and advice to the Administrator and other
officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Board is structured to provide balanced, expert
assessment of scientific matters related to the problems facing the agency. This report has not been
reviewed for approval by the agency and, hence, the contents of this report do not represent the views
and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor of other agencies in the Executive Branch of
the Federal government, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute a
recommendation for use. Reports of the EPA Science Advisory Board are posted on the EPA website at
http://www.epa.gov/sab.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
2016 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) Committee
CHAIR
Dr. Jay R. Turner, Associate Professor of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, and Vice
Dean for Education, School of Engineering & Applied Science, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
MEMBERS
Dr. C. Marjorie Aelion, Dean, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of
Massachusetts - Amherst, Amherst, MA
Dr. William A. Arnold, Joseph T. and Rose S. Ling Professor and Distinguished McKnight University
Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN
Dr. Adriana C. Bejarano, Environmental Toxicologist and Marine Ecologist, Research Planning, Inc.,
and Adjunct Faculty, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of South Carolina,
Columbia, SC
Dr. Linda T.M. Bui, Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Dr. Jerry Campbell, Manager, Ramboll ENVIRON, Research Triangle Park, NC
Dr. Judith C. Chow, Nazir and Mary Ansari Chair in Science and Entrepreneurialism, and Research
Professor, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV
Dr. Joseph J. DeGeorge, Global Head of Safety Assessment and Laboratory Animal Resources, Merck
Research Laboratories, Lansdale, PA
Dr. Sarina J. Ergas, Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of South
Florida, Tampa, FL
*Dr. Zhihua (Tina) Fan, Research Scientist/Program Manager, Chemical Terrorism, Biomonitoring
and Food Testing, New Jersey Department of Health, Ewing, NJ
Dr. G. Frank Gerberick, Research Fellow - Victor Mills Society, The Procter & Gamble Company,
Central Product Safety, Mason, OH
Dr. Richard S. Grippo, Professor of Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences,
Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR
*Dr. Jack R. Harkema, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Pathobiology & Diagnostic
Investigation, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
11

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Dr. Philip K. Hopke, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor, Director of the Center for Air
Resources Engineering and Science, and Director of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment,
Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
Dr. Arpad Horvath, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of
California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Dr. Robert J. Johnston, Director of the George Perkins Marsh Institute and Professor of Economics at
Clark University, Worcester, MA
Dr. Terrance J. Kavanagh, Professor, Toxicology Program, and Director of the UW Interdisciplinary
Center of Exposures, Diseases, Genomics and Environment, Department of Environmental and
Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dr. Timothy V. Larson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Professor of
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dr. Cindy M. Lee, Professor, Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, and Chair,
Engineering and Science Education Department, Clemson University, Anderson, SC
Dr. Michael I. Luster, Research Professor, School of Public Health, West Virginia University,
Morgantown, WV
Dr. Audrey L. Mayer, Associate Professor in Ecology and Environmental Policy, Michigan
Technological University, Houghton, MI
Dr. James Mihelcic, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida,
Tampa, FL
Dr. Eileen A. Murphy, Senior Director Corporate & Foundation Relations, RBHS Rutgers Biomedical
Health Sciences, Rutgers University Foundation, New Brunswick, NJ
Dr. Mira S. Olson, Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental
Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Krishna R. Pagilla, Professor and Environmental Engineering Program Director, University of
Nevada, Reno, NV
Dr. Thomas F. Parkerton, Toxicology & Environmental Science Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical
Sciences Inc., Houston, TX
Dr. Kent E. Pinkerton, Professor and Director, Center for Health and the Environment, University of
California, Davis, CA
Dr. Kenneth M. Portier, Vice President, Statistics & Evaluation Center, Intramural Research,
American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
111

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Dr. Robert W. Puis, Owner/Principal, Robert Puis Environmental Consulting, LLC, Hilton Head
Island, SC
Dr. Alan T. Stone, Professor, Environmental and Aquatic Chemistry, Department of Geography and
Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Robert L. Tanguay, Distinguished Professor of Molecular Toxicology, Department of
Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science
Advisory Board Staff, Washington, DC
*Did not participate in development of this report.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
BOARD
CHAIR
Dr. Peter S. Thorne, Professor and Head, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health,
College of Public Health , University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
MEMBERS
Dr. Joseph Arvai, Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise and Director, Erb Institute, School
of Natural Resources & Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Kiros T. Berhane, Professor, Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Sylvie M. Brouder, Professor and Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research,
Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Dr. Ingrid Burke, Director and Wyoming Excellence Chair, Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of
Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
Dr. Ana V. Diez Roux, Dean, School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Michael Dourson, Director, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment Center, Professor of
Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Dr. Joel J. Ducoste, Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Dr. David A. Dzombak, Hamerschlag University Professor and Head, Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. Susan P. Felter, Research Fellow, Global Product Stewardship, Procter & Gamble, Mason, OH
Dr. R. William Field, Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, and
Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Dr. H. Christopher Frey, Glenn E. Futrell Distinguished University Professor, Department of Civil,
Construction and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, NC
Dr. Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund, Boston, MA
Dr. Cynthia M. Harris, Director and Professor, Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University,
Tallahassee, FL
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Dr. Robert J. Johnston, Director of the George Perkins Marsh Institute and Professor, Department of
Economics, Clark University, Worcester, MA
Dr. Kimberly L. Jones, Professor and Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Howard University, Washington, DC
Dr. Catherine J. Karr, Associate Professor - Pediatrics and Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences and Director - NW Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA
Dr. Madhu Khanna, ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics, Department of
Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Dr. Francine Laden, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health, and Associate Professor of Medicine, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and
Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Dr. Lois Lehman-McKeeman, Distinguished Research Fellow, Discovery Toxicology, Bristol-Myers
Squibb, Princeton, NJ
Dr. Robert E. Mace, Deputy Executive Administrator, Water Science & Conservation, Texas Water
Development Board, Austin, TX
Dr. Mary Sue Marty, Senior Toxicology Leader, Toxicology & Environmental Research, The Dow
Chemical Company, Midland, MI
Dr. Denise Mauzerall, Professor, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Dr. Kristina D. Mena, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental
Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, El Paso, TX
Dr. Surabi Menon, Director of Research, ClimateWorks Foundation, San Francisco, CA
Dr. James R. Mihelcic, Samuel L. and Julia M. Flom Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Dr. H. Keith Moo-Young, Chancellor, Office of Chancellor, Washington State University, Tri-Cities,
Richland, WA
Dr. Kari Nadeau, Naddisy Family Foundation Professor of Medicine, Director, FARE Center of
Excellence at Stanford University and Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
Dr. James Opaluch, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Natural Resource
Economics, College of the Environment and Life Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
vi

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Dr. Thomas F. Parkerton, Senior Environmental Associate, Toxicology & Environmental Science
Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical Science, Houston, TX
Mr. Richard L. Poirot, Independent Consultant, Burlington, VT
Dr. Kenneth M. Portier, Vice President, Department of Statistics & Evaluation Center, American
Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
Dr. Kenneth Ramos, Associate Vice-President of Precision Health Sciences and Professor of Medicine,
Arizona Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Dr. David B. Richardson, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Dr. Tara L. Sabo-Attwood, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Global
Health, College of Public Health and Health Professionals, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Dr. William Schlesinger, President Emeritus, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY
Dr. Gina Solomon, Deputy Secretary for Science and Health, Office of the Secretary, California
Environmental Protection Agency, Sacramento, CA
Dr. Daniel O. Stram, Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, Division of Biostatistics,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Jay R. Turner, Associate Professor of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, and Vice
Dean for Education, School of Engineering & Applied Science, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Dr. Edwin van Wijngaarden, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of
Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Dr. Jeanne M. VanBriesen, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. John Vena, Professor and Founding Chair, Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical
University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Dr. Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, and Professor of
Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Dr. Charles Werth, Professor and Bettie Margaret Smith Chair in Environmental Health Engineering,
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering,
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Dr. Peter J. Wilcoxen, Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, The Maxwell
School, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
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Dr. Robyn S. Wilson, Associate Professor, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State
University, Columbus, OH
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. Thomas Carpenter, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science
Advisory Board, Washington, DC
viii

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.	BACKGROUND	1
2.	SAB REVIEW PROCEDURE	2
3.	AWARD RECOMMENDATIONS	4
APPENDIX A - NOMINATIONS RECOMMENDED FOR STAA AWARDS	A-l
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1. BACKGROUND
EPA's Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards program (STAA) was established in 1980 to
recognize the agency's scientists and engineers who published their technical work in the peer-reviewed
literature. The STAA program is administered and managed by the EPA Office of Research and
Development (ORD). This year, the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) has been asked, once again, to
review the EPA's nominated scientific publications and make recommendations for STAA awards in
consideration of the EPA's criteria. The EPA announced the call for nominations for the 2016 STAA
program to senior managers and employees in March 2016. ORD screened the nominations for
conformance with EPA's STAA Nomination Procedures and Guidelines. The Guidelines describe the
award levels, eligibility criteria, and factors that the SAB considers during its review of STAA
nominations. In addition to the factors that are considered during the review of STAA nominations,
criteria that the SAB considered for STAA Program awards are as follows:
• Level I awards are for nominees who have accomplished an exceptionally high-quality research
or technological effort. The nomination should recognize the creation or general revision of a
scientific or technological principle or procedure, or a highly significant improvement in the
value of a device, activity, program, or service to the public. It must be at least of national
significance or have high impact on a broad area of science/technology. The nomination must be
of far reaching consequences and recognizable as a major scientific/technological achievement
within its discipline or field of study.
• Level II awards are for nominees 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. It must have timely consequences and contribute as an important
scientific/technological achievement within its discipline or field of study.
• Level III awards are for nominees who have accomplished an unusually notable research or
technological effort. The nomination can be 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. It must relate to a mission or organizational
component of the EPA, or significantly affect a relevant area of science/technology.
• Honorable Mention is for nominations which are noteworthy but which do not warrant a Level I,
II or III award. Honorable Mention applies to nominations that: (1) may not quite reach the level
described for a Level III award; (2) show a promising area of research that the SAB wants to
encourage; or (3) show an area of research that the SAB believes is too preliminary to warrant an
award recommendation at this time.
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2. SAB REVIEW PROCEDURE
The SAB Staff Office formed a new SAB 2016-2018 STAA Committee in 2016 to review EPA's STAA
nominations. The Committee members were invited to serve for a three-year term. The SAB STAA
Committee was formed in accordance with the SAB process as described in the SAB 2002 publication,
Panel Formation Process: Immediate Steps to Improve Policies and Procedures (EPA-SAB-EC-COM-
02-003).
In May 2016, ORD submitted to the SAB Staff Office 77 nominations for 2016 STAA awards in 14
science and technology categories. All EPA nominations and nomination evaluation criteria were
provided to the SAB STAA Committee in advance of the review meeting.
The SAB STAA Committee review consisted of a two-step process: an initial review of each
nomination, followed by a Committee discussion of all nominations. The initial review of each
nomination was conducted by two Committee members, who provided their preliminary
recommendation for STAA recognition and a one-to-two page written summary of the reasoning for
their preliminary recommendation based on the EPA's award criteria as described in Section 1. This
information was distributed to Committee members a few days before the August 15-16, 2016
Committee meeting.
During the SAB STAA Committee's meeting on August 15-16, 2016 in Washington, DC, the
Committee received a briefing from the EPA on proposed changes that the agency is considering for the
2017 STAA nomination and review process. An SAB briefing is a mechanism to provide individual
expert initial reactions for the agency's consideration early in the implementation of a project or action.
No consensus report is provided to the agency associated with a briefing because no consensus advice is
given.
During the closed sessions of the meeting on August 15-16, the Committee discussed award
recommendations for the EPA's 2016 STAA program. The Committee's discussion on award
recommendations was closed to the public because such discussions involved personnel matters,
including the relative merits of various employees and their respective work, the disclosure of which
would be a clear unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and, therefore, protected from disclosure by
sections (c)(2) and (c)(6) of the Government in the Sunshine Act, specifically 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(2) and 5
U.S.C. 552b(c)(6).
At the August 15-16, 2016 Committee meeting, Committee members separately discussed all
nominations (see Table 1). During this review, each of the two assigned Committee members
summarized his or her preliminary evaluation, the Committee discussed comments from other
Committee members, and the Committee reached a consensus Committee position on the recommended
award rating. If widely divergent recommendations for awards occur at this stage in the discussion, the
chair might assign a third person to review that nomination and discuss that nomination again at the end
of the meeting, or conduct a vote of the Committee on final recommendations for award. The Committee
averaged approximately seven minutes total discussion for each nomination, and reached consensus on
the recommendations for awards. To avoid an appearance of bias or a loss of impartiality, some
members were asked to recuse themselves from the Committee deliberations on selected nominations.
The Committee did not make recommendations for two submitted nominations because they did not
meet the eligibility requirements (one nomination did not include the entire nomination package and
instead another package was duplicated in error; another nomination included three publications for
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consideration of award, one of which was published in 2012, prior to the required eligibility date for
nominated publications).
On August 15-16, 2016, the SAB STAA Committee also discussed recommendations to further
strengthen the STAA program and facilitate the SAB review of future STAA nominations. The SAB
STAA Committee will provide these administrative recommendations in a separate report for
consideration and approval by the chartered SAB at a closed meeting.
Table 1. 2016 STAA Nominations by Topic Category
Topic
Number of Nominations Submitted to SAB
Control Systems and Technology
1
Ecological Research
12a
Energy and the Environment
1
Environmental Policy and Decision-making Studies
9
Health Effects Research and Human Health Risk
15
Assessment

Homeland Security
1
Industry and the Environment
4
Integrated Risk Assessment
3
Monitoring and Measurement Methods
9
Other Environmental Research
6
Review Articles
2
Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration
4
Sustainability and Innovation
1
Transport and Fate
9b
TOTAL
77
aThe SAB excluded one nomination because the nomination was a duplication of another submitted
nomination.
bOne nomination included three publications for consideration of award, with one of these publications
occurring in 2012. The SAB excluded this nomination because it did not meet the eligibility requirements (i.e.,
2016 STAA nomination packages must include nominated publications that were published on or after January
1, 2013).
On October 11, 2016, the chartered SAB held a closed teleconference to consider this report of the 2016
SAB STAA Committee. The SAB approved the report with modifications for transmittal to the EPA
Administrator.
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3. AWARD RECOMMENDATIONS
Table 2 summarizes the awards by year for the last 10 years, including the current recommendations for
2016. For 2016, the SAB STAA Committee recommended: no nominations for Level I, the highest
award; 8 nominations for Level II; 13 nominations for Level III; and 32 nominations for Honorable
Mention. Appendix A lists the EPA nominations recommended for each of the award levels, I through
III, and those recommended for Honorable Mention. The final rankings were agreed to by consensus at
the SAB STAA Committee meeting on August 15-16, 2016 and discussed and approved by the
chartered SAB on October 11, 2016.
Although none of this year's nominations met the strict criteria for the highest level award, which speaks
to the high scientific and technological standard of the STAA program, the SAB assures the EPA that its
scientists are conducting high quality work that is advancing science and technology that supports the
Agency's mission.
Table 2. Comparison of Award Recommendations Over Time
Award Level
FY
FY
FY
FY
FY
FY
FY
FY
FY
FY
FY

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Nominations
90
140
130
109
121
130
104
117
72
116
75
Reviewed











Level I
5
5
5
3
5
3
4
0
1
1
0

(6%)
(4%)
(4%)
(3%)
(4%)
(2%)
(4%)

(1%)
(1%)

Level n
11
13
16
22
14
13
10
10
2
3
8

(12%)
(9%)
(12%)
(20%)
(12%)
(10%)
(10%)
(9%)
(3%)
(3%)
(11%)
Level in
29
37
30
31
42
35
29
27
20
38
13

(32%)
(26%)
(21%)
(28%)
(35%)
(27%)
(28%)
(23%)
(28%)
(33%)
(17%)
Honorable
26
45
43
25
33
44
36
45
29
42
32
Mention
(29%)
(32%)
(33%)
(23%)
(27%)
(34%)
(35%)
(38%)
(40%)
(36%)
(43%)
Not
19
40
36
28
27
35
25
35
20
32
22
Recommended
(21%)
(29%)
(28%)
(26%)
(22%)
(27%)
(24%)
(30%)
(28%)
(27%)
(29%)
Table 3 summarizes the distribution of 2016 award recommendations among categories for all
nominations reviewed by the Committee.
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Table 3. Summary of Award Recommendations by Category for FY2016
Nomination Categories
Total
Award Levels
Honorable Mention

Nominations
I
II
III
Total


Reviewed





Control Systems and
Technology
1
0
0
1
1
0
Ecological Research
11
0
1
2
3
6
Energy and the
Environment
1
0
0
0
0
1
Environmental Policy and
Decision-making Studies
9
0
1
1
2
5
Health Effects Research






and Human Health Risk
15
0
2
3
5
7
Assessment






Homeland Security
1
0
0
0
0
0
Industry and the
Environment
4
0
1
1
2
1
Integrated Risk
Assessment
3
0
0
2
2
0
Monitoring and
Measurement Methods
9
0
1
2
3
5
Other Environmental
f.'
0
1
0
1
1
Research
0
Review Articles
2
0
0
0
0
0
Risk Management and
Ecosystem Restoration
4
0
0
1
1
2
Sustainability and
Innovation
1
0
0
0
0
0
Transport and Fate
8
0
1
0
1
4
TOTALS:
75
0
8
13
21
32
5

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APPENDIX A - NOMINATIONS RECOMMENDED FOR STAA AWARDS
Nominations Recommended for a Level I Award — None
Nominations Recommended for a Level II Award — Total of 8
Nomination
Number
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
80
Diesel Exhaust Modulates Ozone-induced Lung Function
Decrements in Healthy Human Volunteers. Published in Particle
& Fibre Toxicology.
Madden, Michael
Stevens, Tina
Case, Martin
Schmitt, Michael
Diaz-Sanchez, David
Bassett, Maryanne
Montilla, Tracey
Bertsen, John
Devlin, Robert
NHEERL
103
(1)	Abiotic Hydrolysis of Fluorotelomer Polymers as a Source of
Perfluorocarboxylates at the Global Scale. Published in
Environmental Science & Technology.
(2)	Identification of Unsaturated and 2H Polyfluorocarboxylate
Homologous Series, and their Detection in Environmental
Samples and as Polymer Degradation Products. Published in
Environmental Science & Technology.
Weber, Eric
Washington, John
Jenkins, Thomas
NERL
145
(1)	Part 1: Laboratory Culture of Centroptilum triangulifer
(Ephemeroptera:Baetidae) using a Defined Diet of Three
Diatoms. Published in Chemosphere.
(2)	Part 2: Sensitivity Comparisons of the Mayfly Centroptilum
triangulifer to Ceriodaphnia dubia and Daphnia magna using
Standard Reference Toxicants: NaCl, KC1 and CuS04. Published
in Chemosphere.
(3)	Elevated Major Ion Concentrations Inhibit Larval Mayfly
Growth and Development. Published in Environmental Science
& Technology.
Weaver, Paul
Struewing, Katherine
Nietch, Christopher
Lazorchak, James
Johnson, Brent
Funk, David
DeCelles, Susanna
Buchwalter, David
NERL
A-l

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Nominations Recommended for a Level II Award
— Total of 8
Nomination
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Number

Organization
153
(1) Effects-Based Chemical Category Approach for Prioritization
Tapper, Mark

of Low Affinity Estrogenic Chemicals. Published in SAR and
Sheedy, Barbara

QS AR in Environmental Research.
Schmieder, Patricia


Kolanczyk, Richard

(2) A Rule-Based Expert System for Chemical Prioritization
Hornung, Michael

Using Effects-Based Chemical Categories. Published in SAR and
Henry, Tala

QS AR in Environmental Research.
Hartig, Phillip


Denny, Jeffrey


Aladjov, Hristo


NHEERL
190
(1) Independent Data Validation of an In Vitro Method for the
Thomas, David

Prediction of the Relative Bioavailability of Arsenic in
Thayer, William

Contaminated Soils. Published in Environmental Science and
Smith, Euan

Technology.
Scheckel, Kirk


Obenour, Dan

(2) Mouse Assay for Determination of Arsenic Bioavailability in
Nelson, Clay

Contaminated Soils. Published in Journal of Toxicology and
Miller, Bradley

Environmental Health, Part A.
Klotzbach, Julie


Juhasz, Albert


Hughes, Michael


Diamond, Gary


Casteel, Stan


Bradham, Karen


NRMRL
206
(1) Analysis of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Data from the
Wiser, Nathan

FracFocus Chemical Disclosure Registry 1.0. U.S. EPA Report
Tucillo, Mary Ellen

EPA/60 l/R-14/003
Torres, Jose


Tinsley, Chuck

(2) Review of Well Operator Files for Hydraulically Fractured
Singer, Alison

Oil and Gas Production Wells: Well Design and Construction.
Sharkey, Susan

U.S. EPA Report EPA/601/R-14/001.
Oberley, Gregory


Meza-Cuadra, Claudia


Marker, David


Koplos, Jonathan


Joffe, Andrea


Hillenbrand, Charles


Dean, Jill


Cole, Guy


Burden, Susan


Boyd, Glen


OSP
226
Life Cycle Assessment of Domestic and Agricultural Rainwater
Johnston, John

Harvesting Systems. Published in Environmental Science and
Ingwersen, Wesley

Technology.
Hawkins, Troy


Ghimire, Santosh


NERL
A-2

-------
Nominations Recommended for a Level II Award — Total of 8
Nomination
Number
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
240
Do Environmental Regulations Disproportionately Affect Small
Business? Evidence from the Pollution Abatement Costs and
Expenditures Survey. Published in Journal of Environmental
Economics and Management.
Shadbegian, Ronald
Pasurka, Carl
Becker, Randy
NCEE
A-3

-------
Nominations Recommended for a Level III Award (No Monetary Award) — Total of 13
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
105
Novel Use of Time Domain Reflectometry in Infiltration-
Based Low Impact Development Practices. Published in
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering.
Stander, Emilie
Rowe, Amy
O'Connor, Thomas
Borst, Michael
NERL
142
(1)	Widespread Molecular Detection of Legionella
pneumophila Serogroup lin Cold Water Taps across the United
States. Published in Environmental Science and Technology
(2)	Increased Frequency of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria
Detection at Potable Water Taps within the United States.
Published in Environmental Science and Technology.
Vesper, Stephen
Pfaller, Stacy
Mistry, Jatin
Kostich, Mitch
King, Dawn
O'Connell, Katharine
Donohue, Maura
Donohue, Joyce
Covert, Terry
Byran, Jules
NERL
146
Hidden Markov Models for Estimating Animal Mortality from
Anthropogenic Hazards. Published in Ecological Applications.
Etterson, Matthew
NHFFRI
156
(1)	A Validation Study of a Rapid Field-Based Rating System
for Discriminating Among Flow Permanence Classes of
Headwater Streams in South Carolina. Published in
Environmental Management.
(2)	Comparing the Extent and Permanence of Headwater
Streams from Two Field Surveys to Values from Hydrographic
Databases and Maps. Published in Journal of the American
Water Resources Association.
(3)	Validation of Rapid Assessment Methods to Determine
Streamflow Duration Classes in the Pacific Northwest, USA.
Published in Environmental Management.
Wigington, Parker
Wenerick, William
Reif, Molly
Nadeau, Tracie-Lynn
Leibowitz, Scott
Kostich, Mitch
Hagenbuch, Elisabeth
Fritz, Ken
Ebersole, Joseph
D'Amico, Ellen
Coulombe, Robert
Comeleo, Randy
Blocksom, Karen
NERL
A-4

-------
Nominations Recommended for a Level III Award (No Monetary Award) — Total of 13
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
162
(1)	Air Pollution Exposure Model for Individuals (EMI) in
Health Studies: Evaluation for Ambient PM2.5 in Central
North Carolina. Published in Environmental Science and
Technology.
(2)	GPS-based Microenvironment Tracker (MicroTrac) Model
to Estimate Time-Location of Individuals for Air Pollution
Exposure Assessments: Model Evaluation in Central North
Carolina. Published in Journal of Exposure Science and
Environmental Epidemiology.
(3)	Modeling Spatial and Temporal Variability of Residential
Air Exchange Rates for the Near-Road Exposures and Effects
of Urban Air Pollutants Study (NEXUS). Published in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public
Health.
Williams, Ronald
Vette, Alan
Tan, Cecilia
Schultz, Bradley
Schneider, Alexandra
Richmond-Bryant, Jennifer
Meng, Qing Yu
Long, Thomas
Langstaff, John
Isaacs, Kristin
Godwin, Christopher
Geller, Andrew
Devlin, Robert
Crooks, James
Croghan, Carry
Cao, Ye
Burke, Janet
Buckley, Timothy
Breen, Miyuki
Breen, Michael
Batterman, Stuart
NERL
183
(1)	Concentrations of Prioritized Pharmaceuticals in Effluents
from 50 Large Wastewater Treatment Plants in the US and
Implications for Risk Estimation. Published in Environmental
Pollution.
(2)	Evaluating the Extent of Pharmaceuticals in Surface Waters
of the United States using a National-Scale Rivers and Streams
Assessment Survey. Published in Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry.
Olsen, Anthony
Lazorchak, James
Kostich, Mitchell
Kincaid, Thomas
Batt, Angela
NERL
186
Developing a Social Cost of Carbon for US Regulatory
Analysis: A Methodology and Interpretation. Published in
Review of Environmental Economics and Policy.
Wolverton, Ann
Kopits, Elizabeth
Greenstone, Michael
NCEE
208
(1)	What's Causing Toxicity in Sediments? Results of 20 Years
of Toxicity Identification and Evaluations (TIES). Published in
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
(2)	Effects-Directed Analysis (EDA) and Toxicity
Identification Evaluation (TIE): Complementary but Different
Approaches for Diagnosing Causes of Environmental Toxicity.
Published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Lamoreee, Maija
Ho, Kay
Burgess, Robert
Brack, Werner
NHFFRI
A-5

-------
Nominations Recommended for a Level III Award (No Monetary Award) — Total of 13
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating


Organization
216
(1) Release of Silver from Nanotechnology-Based Consumer
Willis, Robert

Products. Published in Environmental Science and
Vance (Quatros), Marina

Technology.
Tulve, Nicolle


Thomas, Treye

(2) Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles in Selected
Stefaniak, Aleksandr

Consumer Products and its Relevance for Predicting Children's
Schwegler-Berry, Diane

Potential Exposures. Published in International Journal of
Rogers, Kim

Hygiene and Environmental Health.
Pierson, Raymond


Mwilu, Samuel


Marr, Linsey


Lebouf, Ryan


NERL
219
(1) Comprehensive Assessment of a Chlorinated Drinking
Thillainadarajah, Inthirany

Water Concentrate in a Rat Multigenerational Reproductive
Teuschler, Linda

Toxicity Study. Published in Environmental Science and
Suarez, Juan

Technology.
Strader, Lillian


Speth, Thomas

(2) Reproductive Toxicity of a Mixture of Regulated Drinking-
Simmons, Jane Ellen

Water Disinfection By-Products in a Multigenerational Rat
Richardson, Susan

Bioassay. Published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Rice, Glenn


Pressman, Jonathan


Narotsky, Michael


Murr, Ashley


Moser, Virginia


Miltner, Richard


McDonald, Anthony


Luebke, Robert


Klinefelter, Gary


Hunter, E. Sidney


Goldman, Jerome


George, Michael


DeAngelo, Anthony


Best, Deborah


NHEERL
A-6

-------
Nominations Recommended for a Level III Award (No Monetary Award) — Total of 13
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
232
(1)	Manganese, Iron, and Sulfur Cycling in Louisiana
Continental Shelf Sediments. Published in Continental Shelf
Research.
(2)	Changes in Northern Gulf of Mexico Sediment Bacterial
and Archaeal Communities Exposed to Hypoxia. Published in
Geobiology.
(3)	Microphytobenthos Production Potential and Contribution
to Bottom Layer Oxygen Dynamics on the Inner Louisiana
Continental Shelf. Published in Bulletin of Marine Science.
Yates, Diane
Vishnivetskaya, Tatiana
Palumbo, Anthony
Murrell, Michael
Mosher, Jennifer
Lehrter, John
Jarvis, Brandon
Fry, Brian
Devereux, Richard
Brown, Steven
Beddick, David
NHFFRI
234
Fifteen-year Assessment of a Permeable Reactive Barrier for
Treatment of Chromate and Trichloroethylene in Groundwater.
Published in Science of the Total Environment.
Woods, Leilani
Wilkin, Richard
Ross, Randall
Puis, Robert
Lee, Tony
Acree, Steven
NRMRL
242
Guidance for Product Category Rule Development. Book
published by the Product Category Rule Guidance
Development Initiative. ISBN: 978-0-9897737-0-6.
Subramanian, Vairavan
Leith, Angie
Ingwersen, Wesley
NRMRL
A-7

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating


Organization
81
Innovative Research Program on the Renewal of Aging Water
Sterling, Raymond

Infrastructure Systems. Published by Journal of Water Supply:
Selvakumar, Ariamalar

Research and Technology - AQUA.
Matthews, John


Condit, Wendy


NRMRL
83
(1) Associations Between Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution,
Ward, Maiy

Small for Gestational Age, and Term Low Birthweight in a
Waller, Anna

State-wide Birth Cohort. Published by Environmental
Vinikoor-Imler, Lisa

Research.
Tanner, Caroline


Sandler, Dale

(2) Influence of Urbanicity and County Characteristics on the
Sacks, Jason

Association between Ozone and Asthma Emergency
Richardson, David

Department Visits in North Carolina. Published by
Rappold, Ana

Environmental Health Perspectives.
Patel, Molini


Meyer, Robert

(3) Associations of Ozone and PM2.5 Concentrations with
Messer, Lynne

Parkinson's Disease Among Participants in the Agricultural
Luben, Thomas

Health Study. Published by Journal of Occupational and
Kirrane, Ellen

Environmental Medicine.
Kamel, Freya


Hoppin, Jane


Davis, Allen


Chen, Honglei


Bowman, Christal


Blair, Aaron


NCEA
85
A National Approach for Mapping and Quantifying Habitat-
Samson, Elizabeth

based Biodiversity Metrics across Multiple Spatial Scales.
Neale, Anne

Published by Ecological Indicators/Special Issue Publication.
Leimer, Allison


Kopp, Darin


Kepner, William


Guy, Rachel


Gergely, Kevin


East, Forrest


Bradford, David


Boykin, Kenneth


NERL
A-8

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating


Organization
101
(1) Predicting Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Cover and
Starry, Matthew

Occurrence in a Lake Superior Estuary. Published by Journal
Siefert-Monson, Lindey

of Great Lakes Research.
Reschke, Carol


Pearson, Mark

(2) Sediment Nitrification and Denitrification in a Lake
Lehto, LaRae

Superior Estuary. Published by Journal of Great Lakes
Jicha, Terri

Research.
Hoffman, Joel


Hill, Brian

(3) Water Quality in the St. Louis River Area of Concern, Lake
Elonen, Colleen

Superior: Historical and Current Conditions and Delisting
Bolgrien, David

Implications. Published by Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Bellinger, Brent


Angradi, Ted


Anderson, Leroy


NHFFRI
102
Below the Disappearing Marshes of an Urban Estuary: Historic
Wigand, Cathleen

Nitrogen Trends and Soil Structure. Published by Ecological
Watson, Elizabeth

Applications.
Stolt, Mark


Roman, Charles


Rafferty, Patricia


Moran, S. Bradley


Lynch, James


Johnson, Roxanne


Hanson, Alana


Davey, Earl


Cahoon, Donald


NHEERL
111
Metabolite Profiling of Fish Skin Mucus: A Novel Approach
Villeneuve, Dan

for Minimally-Invasive Environmental Monitoring and
Skelton, David

Surveillance. Published by Environmental Science and
Schroeder, Anthony

Technology.
Jensen, Kathleen


Ekman, Drew


Davis, John


Collette, Timothy


Cavallin, Jenna


Ankley, Gerald


NERL
A-9

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
123
(1)	Concordance of "Transcriptional and Apical Benchmark
Dose Levels for Conazole-Induced Liver Effects in Mice.
Published by Toxicological Sciences.
(2)	Dose-response modeling of early molecular and cellular
key events in the CAR-mediated hepatocarcinogenesis
pathway. Published by Toxicological Sciences.
Sura, Radhakrisha
Nesnow, Stephen
Hester, Susan
Golladpudi, Bhaskar
Geter, David
Eastmond, David
Bhat, Virunya

(3) Developing toxicogenomics as a research tool by applying
benchmark dose-response modelling to inform chemical mode
of action and tumorigenic potency. Published by the
International Journal of Biotechnology.
NHFFRI
125
(1)	In Vitro, Ex Vivo, and In Vivo Determination of Thyroid
Hormone Modulating Activity of Benzothiazoles. Published by
Toxicological Sciences.
(2)	Inhibition of the Thyroid Hormone Pathway in Xenopus
laevis by 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole. Published by Aquatic
Toxicology.
Tietge, Joseph
Nevalainen, Erica
Hornung, Michael
Macherla, Chitralekha
Livingston-Anderson, Annelie
Kosian, Patricia
Korte, Joseph
Haselman, Jonathan
Degitz, Sigmund
Challis, Katie
Butterworth, Brian
Burgess, Emily
Blackshear, Pamela
NHEERL
144
The Matthew Effect and Widely Prescribed Pharmaceuticals
Lacking Environmental Monitoring: Case Study of an
Exposure-assessment Vulnerability. Published by Science of
the Total Environment.
Daughton, Christian
NERL
147
(1)	Estimating Lifetime Risk from Spot Biomarker Data and
Intra-class Correlation Coefficients (ICC). Published by
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.
(2)	Estimating Common Parameters of Log-normally
Distributed Environmental and Biomonitoring Data. Published
by Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.
Strynar, Mark
Stiegel, Matthew
Sobus, Jon
Pleil, Joachim
Oliver, Karen
Olenick, Cassandra
Madden, Michael
Hu, Di
Funk, William
Clark, Maiy
NERL
A-10

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating


Organization
151
Observed and Modeled Effects of pH on Bioconcentration of
Nichols, John

Diphenhydramine, a Weakly Basic Pharmaceutical, in Fathead
Hoffman, Alex

Minnows. Published by Environmental Toxicology and
Erickson, Russell

Chemistry.
Du, Bowen


Connors, Kristin


Chambliss, Kevin


Brooks, Bryan


Berninger, Jason


NHFFRI
154
Modulation of Aromatase Activity as a Mode of Action for
Zaroogian, Gerald

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in a Marine Fish. Published
Mills, Lesley

by Aquatic Toxicology.
Laws, Susan


Guthjahr-Gobell, Ruth


Borsay Horowitz, Doranne


NHFFRI
181
A Systematic Proteomic Approach to Characterize the Impacts
Xi, Mingyu

of Chemical Interactions on Protein and Cytotoxicity
Woodard, Jonne

Responses to Metal Mixture Exposures. Published by the
Winnik, Witold

American Chemical Society.
Wallace, Kathleen


Teichman, Kevin


Swank, Adam


Spassova, Maria


Roy, Anindya


Ross, Jeffrey


Lefew, William


Leavitt, Sharon


Haykal-Coates, Najwa


Ge, Yue


Farraj, Aimen


Chen, Chao


Bruno, Maribel


Andrews, Debora


NHFFRI
182
(1) Silicon Impurity Release and Surface Transformation of
Su, Chunming

Ti02 Anatase and Rutile Nanoparticles in Water
Liu, Xuyang

Environments. Published by Environmental Pollution.
Keller, Arturo


Erwin, Justin

(2) Release of Phosphorous Impurity from Ti02 Anatase and
Chen, Gexin

Rutile Nanoparticles in Aquatic Environments and Its
Adam, Nadia

Implications. Published by Water Research.



NRMRL

(3) Effects of Dominant Material Properties on the Stability


and Transport of Ti02 Nanoparticles and Carbon Nanotubes in


Aquatic Environment: From Synthesis to Fate. Published by


Environmental Science.

A-ll

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
195
Historical Gaseous and Primary Aerosol Emissions in the
United States from 1990 to 2010. Published by Atmospheric
Chemistry and Physics.
Xing, Jia
Wei, Chao
Pouliot, George
Pleim, Jonathan
Mathur, Rohit
Hogrefe, Christian
Gan, C. Meei
NERL
196
(1)	Ozone induces glucose intolerance and systemic metabolic
effects in young and aged Brown Norway rats. Published by
Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.
(2)	Episodic ozone exposure in adult and senescent Brown
Norway rats: acute and delayed effect on heart rate, core
temperature and motor activity. Published by Inhalation
Toxicology.
Schladweiler, Mette
Phillips, Pamela
Miller, Desinia
McPhail, Robert
Ledbetter, Allen
Kodavanti, Urmila
Johnstone, Andrew
Jarema, Kimberly
Gordon, Christopher
Doerfler, Donald
Cascio, Wayne
Bass, Virginia
Aydin, Cenk
Andrews, Debora
NHFFRI
198
(1)	Executive Summary: Variation in Susceptibility to Ozone
Induced Health Effects in Rodent Models of Cardiometabolic
Disease. Published by Inhalation Toxicology.
(2)	Whole Body Plethysmography Reveals Differential
Ventilatory Responses to Ozone in Rat Models of
Cardiovascular Disease. Published by Inhalation Toxicology.
(3)	Pulmonary Transcriptional Response to Ozone in Healthy
and Cardiovascular Compromised Rat Models. Published by
Inhalation Toxicology.
William, Ward
Schladweiler, Mette
Ledbetter, Allen
Kodavanti, Urmila
Dye, Janice
Costa, Daniel
NHFFRI
A-12

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating


Organization
200
(1) The Influence of Declining Air Lead Levels on Blood
Vinikoor-Imler, Lisa

Lead-Air Lead Slope Factors in Children. Published by
Tuttle, Lauren

Environmental Health Perspectives.
Svendsgaard, David


Ross, Mary

(2) A Multi-level Model of Blood Lead as a Function of Air
Richmond-Bryant, Jennifer

Lead. Published by Science of the Total Environment.
Rice, Joann


Meng, Qingyu

(3) Effect Measure Modification of Blood Lead-Air Lead
Lu, Shou-En

Slope Factors. Published by Journal of Exposure Science and
Kotchmar, Dennis

Environmental Epidemiology.
Kirrane, Ellen


Hubbard, Heidi


Hines, Erin


Davis, Allen


Cohen, Jonathan


Brown, James


NCEA
201
(1) Optimization of Adenovirus 40 and 41 Recovery from Tap
McMinn, Brian

Water Using Small Disk Filters. Published by Journal of
Korajkic, Asja

Virological Methods.



NERL

(2) A Small Volume Procedure for Viral Concentration from


Water. Published by Journal of Visualized Experiments.

202
Submersible Fluorometers Exposed to Chemically Dispersed
Wood, Michelle

Crude Oil: Wave Tank Simulations for Improved Oil Spill
Walsh, Ian

Monitoring. Published by Environmental Science and
Ryan, Scott

Technology.
Robinson, Brian


Pegau, Scott


Miles, Scott


Lewis, Marlon


Lee, Kenneth


Lacoste, Jordanna


Koch, Corey


King, Thomas


Kelble, Christopher


Farr, James


Conmy, Robyn


Coble, Paula


Abercrombie, Mary


NRMRL
A-13

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
203
(1) Classifying Lakes to Improve Precision of Nutrient-
Chlorophyll Relationships. Published by Freshwater Science.
Yuan, Lester
Pollard, Amina

(2) Classifying Lakes to Quantify Relationships between
Epilimnetic Chlorophyll a and Hypoxia. Published by
Environmental Management.
OW

(3) Deriving Nutrient Targets to Prevent Excessive
Cyanobacterial Densities in U.S. Lakes and Reservoirs.
Published by Freshwater Biology.

204
Transport and Retention of Colloids in Porous Media: Does
Shape Really Matter? Published by Environmental Science &
Technology.
Su, Chunming
Seymour, Megan
Li, Yusong
Chen, Gexin
NRMRL
218
(1)	Continuous Monitoring Reveals Multiple Controls on
Ecosystem Metabolism in a Suburban Stream. Published by
Freshwater Biology.
(2)	Estimating Autotrophic Respiration in Streams Using Daily
Metabolism Data. Published by Freshwater Science.
Shuster, William
Hall, Jr., Robert
Beaulieu, Jake
Balz, David
Arango, Clay
NRMRL
A-14

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating


Organization
225
(1) Concentrations of Environmental Phenols and Parabens in
Ye, Sherry

Milk, Urine and Serum of Lactating North Carolina Women.
Yang, Raymond

Published by Reproductive Toxicology.
Welsh, Clem


Von Ehrenstein, Ondine

(2) Improving the Risk Assessment of Lipophilic Persistent
Verner, Marc

Environmental Chemicals in Breast Milk. Published by Critical
Tornero-Velez, Rogelio

Reviews in Toxicology.
Tan, Cecilia


Swartout, Jeffrey

(3) Environmental Chemicals and Mammary Gland
Simmons, Jane

Development. Book chapter published in Encyclopedia of
Savig, Sharon

Toxicology, published by Elsevier, Inc.
Rogan, Walter


Rayner, Jennifer


Powers, Christina


Poulson, Michael


Phillips, Linda


Mendola, Pauline


McLanahan, Eva


Marchitti, Satori


Luukinen, Bryan


Longnecker, Matthew


Lehmann, Geniece


Lakind, Judy


Hines, Erin


Hennig, Cara


Haddad, Sami


Francis, Bettina


Foster, Warren


Foster, Paul


Fenton, Suzanne


Farrer, Doug


El-Masri, Hisham


Davis, Matthew


Campbell, John


Calafat, Antonia


Barnett, John


Assimon, Sue


NCEA
227
Modeling NAPL dissolution from pendular rings in idealized
Huang, Junqi

porous media. Published by Water Resources Research.
Goltz, Mark


Demond, Avery


Christ, John


NRMRL
A-15

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
229
(1)	Estimating Surface Area of Sponges and Gorgonians as
Indicators of Habitat Availability on Caribbean Coral Reefs.
Published by Hydrobiologia.
(2)	Contrasting Responses of Coral Reef Fauna and
Foraminiferal Assemblages to Human Influence in La
Parguera, Puerto Rico. Published by Marine Environmental
Research.
(3)	Regional Status Assessment of Stony Corals in the US
Virgin Islands. Published by Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment.
Santavy, Deborah
Fisher, William
Oliver, Leah
Courtney, Lee
Quarles, Robert
Campbell, Jed
Dittmar, John
Fore, Leska
Hallock-Muller, Pamela
Harris, Peggy
LoBue, Charles
Hemmer, Becky
Hutchins, Aaron
Jordan, Stephen
Parsons, Mel
Rodriguez, Daniel
Wilkinson (Vickery), Sherry
NHFFRI
235
Assessment of Status of White Sucker (Catostomus
commersoni) Populations Exposed to Bleached Kraft Pulp Mill
Effluent. Published by Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry.
Linking Mechanistic Toxicology to Population Models in
Forecasting Recovery from Chemical Stress: A Case Study
from Jackfish Bay, Ontario, Canada. Published by
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Xia, Xiangsheng
Tietge, Joseph
Munkittrick, Kelly
Miller, David
McMaster, Mark
Griesmer, David
Ankley, Gerald
NHFFRI
236
Incorporating "Catastrophic" Climate Change into Policy
Analysis. Published by Climate Policy.
Marten, Alex
Kopits, Elizabeth
Wolverton, Ann
NCEE
237
(1)	A Rapid Assessment Model for Understanding the Social
Cost of Carbon. Published by Climate Change Economics.
(2)	Further Comment on "A Rapid Assessment Model for
Understanding the Social Cost of Carbon." Published by
Climate Change Economics.
Wolverton, Ann
Newbold, Stephen
Moore, Chris
Kopits, Elizabeth
Griffiths, Charles
NCEE
238
Temporal Resolution and DICE. Published by Nature Climate
Change.
Newbold, Stephen
Marten, Alex
NCEE
A-16

-------
Nominations Recommended for Honorable Mention (No Monetary Award) — Total of 32
Nom.
Titles and Citations of Submitted Papers
Authors and Nominating
Organization
239
Water Quality Indices and Benefit-Cost Analysis. Published by
Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis.
Wheeler, William
Walsh, Patrick
NCEE
243
(1)	Cold Temperature and Biodiesel Fuel Effects on Speciated
Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Diesel
Trucks. Published by Environmental Science & Technology.
(2)	Effects of Cold Temperature and Ethanol Content on VOC
Emissions from Light-Duty Gasoline Vehicles. Published by
Environmental Science & Technology.
Snow, Richard
Preston, William
Long, Thomas
Herrington, Jason
Hays, Michael
George, Ingrid
George, Barbara
Faircloth, James
Baldauf, Richard
NRMRL
Key to Acronyms used in the above Tables
NCEA - ORD National Center for Environmental Assessment
NCEE - National Center for Environmental Economics
NERL - ORD National Exposure Research Laboratory
NHEERL - ORD National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory
NRMRL - ORD National Risk Management Research Laboratory
OSP - ORD Office of Science Policy
ORD - Office of Research and Development
OW- Office of Water
A-17

-------
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON D.C. 20460
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
January 13, 2017
EPA-SAB-17-004
The Honorable Gina McCarthy
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460
Subject: Recommendations for Strengthening the Nomination and Review Process for the EPA's
Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards
Dear Administrator McCarthy:
The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) is pleased to transmit its recommendations to further
strengthen the Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) program and facilitate the
SAB review of future STAA nominations. The SAB recommendations for recognition associated with
the EPA's FY 2016 STAA program are provided in a separate report (EPA-SAB-17-001).
Overall, the SAB commends the agency for encouraging EPA scientists and engineers to publish their
work in peer-reviewed journals and books and finds that the vast majority of 2016 STAA nominations
were of very good quality. In addition, the SAB appreciates the agency's implementation of most SAB
recommendations from previous years to improve the nomination procedures and administration of the
STAA program. Building on these past enhancements, the SAB recommends that the agency implement
the following activities to further strengthen the STAA program as a means of recognizing and
encouraging high quality science and engineering research at the agency:
•	Continue to improve the automated system for processing nominations and awards.
•	Review each nomination to ensure that all STAA eligibility requirements have been met
before nominations are submitted to the SAB.
•	Further clarify the criteria established by the agency for the different STAA award levels:
o Provide a list of minimum attributes that are deserving of each level of award,
o Consider combining Level III and Honorable Mention into a single recognition level,
o Each year, provide the agency and the SAB with criteria that should be used to review
STAA nominations.
•	Clarify or adjust STAA nomination procedures and guidelines:
o Require nominees to submit subcategory identifiers to further classify the topic area
for each nomination.

%
\

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pRCftk

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o Split Justification 1 of the STAA nomination procedures into two separate
justifications that describe innovativeness of the research, and relevance and impact
of the research to the agency's mission,
o Require nominees to submit additional justification information for nominations that
include review articles,
o Explicitly state that each nominated paper(s) must have undergone peer review,
o Develop additional requirements for submission of formal EPA publications,
o Clarify which supplemental materials support the nomination or are part of the
journal publication.
• Develop a separate awards program to recognize junior scientists.
• Consider options for increasing the number of nominations in under-represented topic areas.
• Continue to provide metrics on the journal impact factor.
The SAB understands that the agency is in the process of improving the STAA nomination and award
generation process, and the SAB encourages the agency to implement such improvements as quickly as
possible. During an open session of the SAB STAA Committee meeting on August 15, 2016, the
Committee also received a briefing from agency staff on several preliminary proposals that the agency is
considering to modify the 2017 STAA nomination and review process related to SAB's STAA
Committee responsibilities. During the briefing, agency staff presented a preliminary recommendation
to extend the time period of eligibility for submittal of publications within a nomination from the current
requirement of manuscripts published within the last three years. The SAB is encouraged that the agency
is considering such an extension of the time period of eligibility for submittal of publications within a
nomination. An extension of the eligibility time period would provide opportunity to recognize prior
agency research that has been demonstrated to have a significant impact towards EPA's mission and in
advancing science over extended time.
Thank you for providing the SAB with the opportunity to assist the agency with this important program.
The SAB looks forward to reviewing the FY 2017 STAA nominations.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter S. Thorne
Dr. Jay R. Turner
/Signed/
/Signed/
Chair
Chair
SAB Scientific and Technological Achievement
Award Committee
Science Advisory Board
Enclosure
cc: Dr. Thomas Burke, EPA Science Advisor, and Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of
Research and Development

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NOTICE
This report has been written as part of the activities of the EPA Science Advisory Board, a public
advisory group providing extramural scientific information and advice to the Administrator and other
officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Board is structured to provide balanced, expert
assessment of scientific matters related to the problems facing the agency. This report has not been
reviewed for approval by the agency and, hence, the contents of this report do not represent the views
and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor of other agencies in the Executive Branch of
the Federal government, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute a
recommendation for use. Reports of the EPA Science Advisory Board are posted on the agency's
website at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
2016 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) Committee
CHAIR
Dr. Jay R. Turner, Associate Professor of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, and Vice
Dean for Education, School of Engineering & Applied Science, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
MEMBERS
Dr. C. Marjorie Aelion, Dean, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of
Massachusetts - Amherst, Amherst, MA
Dr. William A. Arnold, Joseph T. and Rose S. Ling Professor and Distinguished McKnight University
Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN
Dr. Adriana C. Bejarano, Environmental Toxicologist and Marine Ecologist, Research Planning, Inc.,
and Adjunct Faculty, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of South Carolina,
Columbia, SC
Dr. Linda T.M. Bui, Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Dr. Jerry Campbell, Manager, Ramboll ENVIRON, Research Triangle Park, NC
Dr. Judith C. Chow, Nazir and Mary Ansari Chair in Science and Entrepreneurialism, and Research
Professor, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV
Dr. Joseph J. DeGeorge, Global Head of Safety Assessment and Laboratory Animal Resources, Merck
Research Laboratories, Lansdale, PA
Dr. Sarina J. Ergas, Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of South
Florida, Tampa, FL
*Dr. Zhihua (Tina) Fan, Research Scientist/Program Manager, Chemical Terrorism, Biomonitoring
and Food Testing, New Jersey Department of Health, Ewing, NJ
Dr. G. Frank Gerberick, Research Fellow - Victor Mills Society, The Procter & Gamble Company,
Central Product Safety, Mason, OH
Dr. Richard S. Grippo, Professor of Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences,
Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR
*Dr. Jack R. Harkema, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Pathobiology & Diagnostic
Investigation, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
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Dr. Philip K. Hopke, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor, Director of the Center for Air
Resources Engineering and Science, and Director of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment,
Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
Dr. Arpad Horvath, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of
California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Dr. Robert J. Johnston, Director of the George Perkins Marsh Institute and Professor of Economics at
Clark University, Worcester, MA
Dr. Terrance J. Kavanagh, Professor, Toxicology Program, and Director of the UW Interdisciplinary
Center of Exposures, Diseases, Genomics and Environment, Department of Environmental and
Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dr. Timothy V. Larson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Professor of
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dr. Cindy M. Lee, Professor, Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, and Chair,
Engineering and Science Education Department, Clemson University, Anderson, SC
Dr. Michael I. Luster, Research Professor, School of Public Health, West Virginia University,
Morgantown, WV
Dr. Audrey L. Mayer, Associate Professor in Ecology and Environmental Policy, Michigan
Technological University, Houghton, MI
Dr. James Mihelcic, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida,
Tampa, FL
Dr. Eileen A. Murphy, Senior Director Corporate & Foundation Relations, RBHS Rutgers Biomedical
Health Sciences, Rutgers University Foundation, New Brunswick, NJ
Dr. Mira S. Olson, Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental
Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Krishna R. Pagilla, Professor and Environmental Engineering Program Director, University of
Nevada, Reno, NV
Dr. Thomas F. Parkerton, Toxicology & Environmental Science Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical
Sciences Inc., Houston, TX
Dr. Kent E. Pinkerton, Professor and Director, Center for Health and the Environment, University of
California, Davis, CA
Dr. Kenneth M. Portier, Vice President, Statistics & Evaluation Center, Intramural Research,
American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
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Dr. Robert W. Puis, Owner/Principal, Robert Puis Environmental Consulting, LLC, Hilton Head
Island, SC
Dr. Alan T. Stone, Professor, Environmental and Aquatic Chemistry, Department of Geography and
Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Robert L. Tanguay, Distinguished Professor of Molecular Toxicology, Department of
Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science
Advisory Board Staff, Washington, DC
*Did not participate in development of this report.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
BOARD
CHAIR
Dr. Peter S. Thorne, Professor and Head, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health,
College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
MEMBERS
Dr. Joseph Arvai, Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise and Director, Erb Institute, School
of Natural Resources & Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Kiros T. Berhane, Professor, Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Sylvie M. Brouder, Professor and Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research,
Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Dr. Ingrid Burke, Carl W. Knobloch Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale
University, New Haven, CT
Dr. Ana V. Diez Roux, Dean, School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Michael Dourson, Director, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment Center, Professor of
Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Dr. Joel J. Ducoste, Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Dr. David A. Dzombak, Hamerschlag University Professor and Head, Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. Susan P. Felter, Research Fellow, Global Product Stewardship, Procter & Gamble, Mason, OH
Dr. R. William Field, Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, and
Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Dr. H. Christopher Frey, Glenn E. Futrell Distinguished University Professor, Department of Civil,
Construction and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, NC
Dr. Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund, Boston, MA
Dr. Cynthia M. Harris, Director and Professor, Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University,
Tallahassee, FL
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Dr. Thomas F. Parkerton, Senior Environmental Associate, Toxicology & Environmental Science
Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical Science, Houston, TX
Mr. Richard L. Poirot, Independent Consultant, Burlington, VT
Dr. Kenneth M. Portier, Vice President, Department of Statistics & Evaluation Center, American
Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
Dr. Kenneth Ramos, Associate Vice-President of Precision Health Sciences and Professor of Medicine,
Arizona Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Dr. David B. Richardson, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Dr. Tara L. Sabo-Attwood, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Global
Health, College of Public Health and Health Professionals, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Dr. William Schlesinger, President Emeritus, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY
Dr. Gina Solomon, Deputy Secretary for Science and Health, Office of the Secretary, California
Environmental Protection Agency, Sacramento, CA
Dr. Daniel O. Stram, Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, Division of Biostatistics,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Jay R. Turner, Associate Professor of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, and Vice
Dean for Education, School of Engineering & Applied Science, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Dr. Edwin van Wijngaarden, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of
Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Dr. Jeanne M. VanBriesen, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. John Vena, Professor and Founding Chair, Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical
University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Dr. Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, and Professor of
Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Dr. Charles Werth, Professor and Bettie Margaret Smith Chair in Environmental Health Engineering,
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering,
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Dr. Peter J. Wilcoxen, Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, The Maxwell
School, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
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Dr. Robyn S. Wilson, Associate Professor, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State
University, Columbus, OH
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. Thomas Carpenter, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science
Advisory Board, Washington, DC
viii

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1. BACKGROUND
EPA's Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) program was established in 1980 to
recognize the agency's scientists and engineers who published their technical work in the peer-reviewed
literature. The STAA program is administered and managed by the agency's Office of Research and
Development (ORD). Each year, the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) has been asked to review the
agency's nominated scientific publications and make recommendations for awards. The SAB was
charged to review nominations and provide recommendations for each nomination in consideration of
the agency's criteria for STAA awards.
The SAB 2016 STAA Committee met on August 15-16, 2016, in Washington, DC. During the closed
sessions of the meeting on August 15-16, the Committee discussed award recommendations for the
EPA's 2016 STAA program. The SAB transmitted its recommendations for awards associated with the
EPA's FY 2016 STAA program in a separate report (EPA-SAB-17-001).
During an open session of the meeting on August 15, the Committee received a briefing from Dr.
Leonid Kopylev and Dr. Christian Daughton of the agency's Office of Research and Development on
preliminary proposals that the agency is considering on modifications to the 2017 STAA nomination and
review process related to SAB's STAA Committee responsibilities. At the briefing, Drs. Kopylev and
Daughton presented the following three preliminary recommendations: (a) revise the SAB's charge and
STAA review criteria to align with the nomination justifications; (b) extend the time period of eligibility
for submittal of publications within a nomination from the current requirement of manuscripts published
within the last three years; and (c) change the requirements for justifications within the STAA
nomination packages, including changing the bibliometric statistics from journal-based to article-based
or author-based metrics. During this briefing, individual members of the Committee provided their
initial reactions related to science questions and topics that were presented. The Committee also
discussed recommendations to further strengthen the STAA program and facilitate the SAB review of
future STAA nominations.
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2. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL STAA PROGRAM
The SAB appreciates the agency's implementation of recommendations to improve the overall STAA
program from recent SAB reports to the Administrator that improve the nomination process and enhance
the integrity of the STAA program. In particular, the SAB concludes that the strong majority of the 2016
nominations adhered to existing STAA program guidelines, and that these guidelines helped the STAA
Committee to conduct a well-informed and balanced review of each nomination.
The SAB has the following recommendations to further strengthen the STAA program in future years:
1) Continue to improve the automated system for generating nominations and processing awards. The
SAB understands that the agency is developing and implementing an automated nomination and
award processing system to improve the STAA nomination and award generation process. Using this
developing automated system, the agency submitted several 2016 STAA nominations to the SAB
that were either improperly organized or incomplete (i.e., supplemental information or manuscript
metrics were not included; justification information appeared after the nominated publications;
portions of supplemental materials appeared before nominated publications; a nominated publication
was included only as a hyperlink; a duplicate nomination package was submitted). The automated
system also did not screen out nominations that did not meet all STAA nomination procedures and
guidelines for eligibility. The SAB encourages the agency to continue improvements to the
automated system.
The SAB recommends that the automated system be able to perform the functions noted below. If
the agency is not able to modify the automated system to provide the following information, the
SAB requests that the agency separately provide the following information or assurances to the
SAB:
a) Assure that each nomination meets all eligibility requirements as provided in the STAA
nomination procedures and guidelines.
b) Assure that each nomination provides all information that is required to be included within a
complete nomination package.
c) Provide the SAB with consistent, organized nomination packages.
d) Provide the SAB with a table that lists STAA nominations, in chronological order, for the
previous five years involving each author of each nomination first sorted by nomination and then
by author. Ideally this list would also denote whether an award was received. This list will help
the SAB in assessing whether the current nomination is novel and whether the research is a
continuation of the author's previous research in the research topic area of the current
nomination under review.
2) Review each nomination to assure that all STAA nomination procedures and eligibility requirements
are met before nominations are submitted to the SAB. Two nominations for 2016 STAA recognition
were excluded from review by the SAB because they did not meet the STAA program's eligibility
requirements: (a) one nomination did not include the submitted package. Instead another package
was duplicated; and (b) one nomination included three publications for consideration of award, one
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of which was published in 2012 which was outside the 2013-2015 eligibility window. In addition,
over the previous six years, several STAA nominations did not meet other requirements described
within the STAA nomination procedures and guidelines:
a)	Information was not provided on previously submitted STAA nominations of the nominated
authors;
b)	Publications were either not included within the nomination package, or included but not
identified as either a nominated or supplemental publication;
c)	STAA requirements for peer-review of nominated publications were not followed;
d)	Duplicate nominations were submitted; and
e)	Supplemental materials that are part of the journal publication were not submitted with the
nomination.
To address this concern, the SAB recommends that the agency review each nomination for
adherence to all STAA nomination procedures and guidelines, and affirmatively assert to the SAB
that all STAA nomination procedures and guidelines have been followed for each nomination when
the nomination packages are submitted to the SAB for review.
3) Further clarify the criteria established by the agency for the different STAA award levels. The SAB
continues to find the criteria established by the agency confusing and in need of further
clarification(s).
During the agency's briefing of the Committee at the August 15, 2016 public meeting, the EPA's
STAA program staff presented a preliminary recommendation to revise the criteria that the SAB
uses to review nominations. Among the goals of this revision would be to align the charge and
review criteria with information required to be submitted by nominees to meritoriously support the
nomination (i.e., within the 'justifications' sections of the nomination). Specifically, the agency's
STAA program staff noted that the agency was considering the development of a single criterion for
STAA recognition. This preliminary criterion would be the degree to which each nomination meets
the following three award criteria factors: science quality and innovation; scientific significance; and
impact or relation to a mission or organizational component of the agency. The agency's STAA
program staff noted that the SAB would assess the degree that each nomination meets these factors,
and use its professional judgement to assess whether a Level I, Level II, Level III, or Honorable
Mention recognition was recommended.
The SAB is encouraged that the agency is clarifying the criteria that the SAB is to use when
reviewing STAA nominations. The SAB recommends that the agency provide additional information
to the SAB and nominees to help the SAB distinguish among the different award levels.
The following specific recommendations are provided:
a) Clarify the distinct differences between the different levels of STAA recognition. There are four
different levels of STAA recognition (i.e., Level I, Level II, Level III and Honorable Mention).
The SAB recommends that the agency provide additional information to distinguish the
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differences between these levels. The agency should also develop a list of minimum attributes
that are deserving of each level of STAA recognition; each level of STAA recognition would
include all attributes at the lower level as well as additional attributes associated with the higher
level of recognition. The agency should provide additional, specific details to criteria
descriptions for Level I. Level II should not be described as 'similar to, but to a lesser degree'
than the same criteria listed for Level I recognition.
b) Consider combining Level III and Honorable Mention into a single recognition level. The SAB
found it somewhat difficult to differentiate between criteria for Level III and Honorable Mention
STAA recognition, and recommends the Level III and Honorable Mention STAA recognition
categories be combined into a single STAA recognition category. Should the agency decide to
keep the Level III and Honorable Mention STAA recognition categories, the SAB recommends
clearer guidance be provided to the SAB for the criteria to distinguish between these categories.
c) Each year, provide the agency and the SAB with criteria that should be used to review STAA
nominations. Since the agency may be periodically changing its criteria for STAA recognition,
the SAB requests that the agency annually provide the SAB with the agency's current criteria
that the SAB should use to review STAA nominations. The agency should provide this to the
SAB at the time the agency provides the SAB with the nomination files for review.
4) Clarify or adjust STAA nomination procedures and guidelines. The SAB has several
recommendations for the agency to clarify or adjust STAA nomination procedures and guidelines,
and to provide additional information within STAA nomination packages:
a) Require nominees to submit subcategory identifiers for each nomination. The SAB recommends
that the agency provide information on the relevant key subcategories of topic areas for each
nomination (e.g., toxicology, epidemiology, and exposure for the "Health Effects Research and
Human Health Risk Assessment" topic category). This information would assist the STAA
Committee members when identifying preferences for review, and help the SAB identify
expertise needs as it conducts panel formation activities for the STAA Committee. Members of
the SAB STAA Committee are available to assist the agency in identifying these subcategory
identifiers.
b) Split Justification 1 of the STAA nomination procedures into two separate justifications.
Justification 1 currently requires nominees to provide the following information:
"Justification 1: Explain how the nominated paper(s) is innovative and important in
advancing the scientific knowledge or technology relevant to EPA's mission. It is
important to provide a clear and compelling explanation of the relevance, and impact of
the research to EPA's mission (For example, the relevance of the research to one of
EPA's Strategic Goals may be described.)"
Justification 1 essentially requests information on two topics: (a) innovativeness of the research,
and (b) relevance and impact of the research to the agency's mission. Some responses have not
clearly distinguished whether the response is describing the innovativeness of the research, or
describing the relevance of the research to the agency's mission.
To provide focused responses on each of these two topics, the SAB recommends that the agency
split Justification 1 into two separate justifications, as follows:
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"Justification 1: Explain how the nominated paper(s) represent research that is innovative
and important in advancing scientific knowledge or technology.
Justification 2: Provide a clear and compelling explanation of the relevance and impact of
the nominated paper(s) to EPA's mission (For example, the relevance of the research to
one of EPA's Strategic Goals.)"
c)	Require nominees to identify if review articles are included in the nomination and submit
additional justification related to these review articles. As indicated in previous SAB advice
regarding the STAA program, review articles that are submitted for awards should include a
critical synthesis and evaluation of the literature and an assessment on future perspectives. While
reviews that summarize a body of literature are useful and important, the SAB believes that
review articles that critically synthesize and evaluate information and lead to new insights, with
an assessment on future perspectives, are most consistent with the criteria for STAA awards.
Nominations which include one or more review articles should include additional justification
that requires the nominee to describe how the nominated paper(s) include a critical synthesis and
evaluation of the literature; novel insights and information based on this synthesis; and an
assessment on future perspectives that are important for advancing scientific knowledge or
technology. Furthermore, the agency should remove "Review" as a topic area and instead the
nominee should specify the appropriate scientific topic area because the latter is more useful to
the nomination categorization.
d)	Explicitly state that each nominated paper(s) must have undergone peer review. The current
STAA nomination procedures and guidelines require that the nominated publication(s) must
have been published in a high-quality peer-reviewed journal; that nominated books, book
chapters, videos and other non-traditional publication techniques must have undergone peer
review; and that the nomination package describes the nature and extent of peer review
conducted for each nomination. However, not all publications that are nominated for STAA
recognition have been peer reviewed (e.g., letters to the editor of journals have been nominated
for STAA recognition, and such letters usually are not peer reviewed by the journal and are
published at the discretion of the editor). To address this concern, the SAB recommends that the
STAA nomination procedures and guidelines clearly state that all nominated paper(s) must have
undergone peer review.
e)	Develop additional requirements for submission of formal EPA publications. The SAB is
concerned that formal EPA publications (e.g., those released by the agency with an EPA report
number) are generally developed through a committee process involving an intensive series of
inter-agency or intra-agency reviews and revisions. While such publications are commendable, it
is often difficult to ascertain and ascribe authorship contribution within such nominations. For
example, some agency publications are initially drafted by a task group, then reviewed and
revised sequentially through an intra-agency or inter-agency workgroup process. Subsequently,
they undergo an intensive peer-review process during which substantial modifications suggested
by the peer reviewers are made directly to the agency's publication. The original authors of the
EPA publications may not be making such revisions to the agency's publication. In addition,
peer reviews of EPA publications are often not blind reviews and are not conducted with the
intent to accept or reject the publication. The peer review process for publication in journals is
generally different, since peer review comments are provided to the original authors and they are
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responsible for making all revisions to the manuscript which ensures direct ownership of all
content by the authors. To address this concern, the SAB recommends that the agency reassess
the current practice of allowing EPA publications to be submitted for nomination.
If the agency continues to allow such publications to be submitted, the agency should develop
clarifying requirements that would assure that the nominated author(s) wrote the strong majority
of the final EPA publication, and that the final nomination accurately ascertains and ascribes
authorship contribution. In addition, the agency's current STAA nomination procedures and
guidance states that "nominated publication(s) must have been published in a high-quality peer-
reviewed journal.. .or a suitable book". The procedures and guidance also states that
"Nominations may include videos or other non-traditional publication techniques" and that
"These non-traditional publications still need to be peer reviewed to ensure that the science is
credible." If the agency continues to allow EPA publications to be submitted, the agency should
clarify the agency's current STAA nomination procedures and guidance to note that the
requirements for peer review also apply to EPA publications that are nominated for STAA
recognition, and that such EPA publications need not also be published in a journal or book.
f)	Clarify which supplemental materials support the nomination or are part of the journal
publication. Some nominations include supplemental materials that do not clearly state whether
the materials are to support the nomination, or were provided to journals during peer review of
the publication. To help clarify this information, SAB recommends that the agency require that
nominees separately include supplemental materials that are provided as part of the nomination
as follows: "Additional materials in support of the nomination."
g)	Clarify the eligibility date upon which an article can be nominated. The agency's current STAA
nomination procedures and guidelines state that publications are eligible for three years based on
publication date. Since many journals publicly release articles before releasing the journal's
publication noted by volume/issue in which the nominated article is published, the agency should
clarify whether the publication date referred to in the STAA nomination procedures and
guidance is the date when the article is made publicly available from a journal or the date of the
volume/issue of a publication in which the article is contained.
In addition, during the open session of the SAB STAA Committee meeting on August 15, 2016,
the Committee received a briefing from agency staff on several preliminary proposals that the
agency is considering to modify the 2017 STAA nomination and review process related to
SAB's STAA Committee responsibilities. During the briefing, agency staff presented a
preliminary recommendation to extend the time period of eligibility for submittal of publications
within a nomination from the current requirement of manuscripts published within the last three
years. The SAB is encouraged that the agency is considering such an extension of the time
period of eligibility for submittal of publications within a nomination. An extension of the
eligibility time period would provide opportunity to recognize prior agency research that has
been demonstrated to have a significant impact towards EPA's mission and in advancing science
over extended time.
5) Develop a separate awards program to recognize early career scientists. Authors who are early in
their career at the agency and part of a team of scientists who authored a publication may need to
wait many years to be recognized through the STAA program for their research contributions. To
provide incentives for, and early formal recognition of, young researchers and post-doctoral
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scientists at the agency for producing high quality published research, the SAB recommends that the
agency develop a separate awards program to recognize early career scientists who have published
within the previous two years for research carried out while employed at the agency. If the agency
develops such a program, the agency should develop a definition for 'early career scientists.'
6)	Encourage submittal of more nominations in under-represented topic areas. Over the past five
years, two or fewer STAA nominations have been submitted annually in the following topic areas:
Energy and the Environment, Homeland Security, Integrated Risk Assessment, and Risk
Management and Ecosystem Restoration. The SAB also recognizes the agency's commitment to
incorporate social and behavioral science into the agency's decision-making processes, and observes
that there are few if any nominations for STAA recognition over the past several years which
focused on the social and behavioral science topic area. The SAB recommends that the agency
assess whether there is an under-representation of nominated publications for STAA recognition in
these topic areas. If an underrepresentation is found to exist, the agency should consider options for
increasing the number of such nominations, including an option to better publicize the STAA
program to agency scientists and researchers who work in these under-represented topic areas.
7)	Continue to provide metrics on the journal impact factor. During the agency's briefing of the
Committee at the August 15, 2016 public meeting, the agency's STAA program staff noted that the
agency was considering a change to the requirements for justifications regarding journal impact
factor, and noted that the agency was considering changing the requirements for submittal of
bibliometric statistics from journal-based to article-based or author-based metrics.
As the agency considers revising its criteria for required submittal of bibliometric statistics, the SAB
recommends that the agency carefully consider the move from publication-based metrics to author-
based metrics, since a shift to the eminence of the authoring team would shift focus from the
eminence of the publication. In addition, the SAB recommends that the agency continue to require
that nominees provide the publication journal's impact factor, since the SAB finds journal metric
information useful as it considers the impact of a nomination. This should be provided in addition to
the proposed article-based or author-based metrics.
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