EPA Tribal Science Bulletin VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2« FALL 2 0 2 2 NATIONAL EPA-TRIBAL SCIENCE COUNCIL (TSC GREETINGS FROM THE TSC EPA CO-CHAIR My name is Tim Canfield. I am privileged, honored and humbled to start my term as the TSC EPA Co-Chair, I was born and raised in Bloomfield, Connecticut, but now make my home in Ada, Oklahoma, I started my federal career in 1986 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Columbia, Missouri. During my career, I have worked for the National Biological Survey/Service, U.S. Geological Survey and currently EPA I am married (35 years and counting!} and have three grown daughters, two sons-in-law, and as of April 2022, one grandson! I am a limnologist by training but have worked in many diverse areas of environmental research thr oughout my career. Prior to coming to EPA in 1997,1 worked at the National Fisheries and Contaminant Research Center in Columbia, Missouri, where I conducted research in evaluating the effects of sediment contamination on resident benthic invertebrate populations as part of an integrated assessment of several areas, including priority sites in the Great Lakes, Superfund sites in Montana and Missouri, sites along the Upper Mississippi River, and military sites in Aberdeen, Maryland. I currently work at the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory (known locally as the "Kerr Lab'3 in Ada, Oklahoma, which is part of the Office of Research and Development (ORD). Within ORD, 1 work in the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response, Groundwater Characterization and Remediation Division, Technical Support and Environmental Restoration Branch. During the 25 years 1 have been with EPA, I've worked primarily on ecosystem restoration and risk management research and developing community structured decision-making approaches to address community environmental issues. During the first 8 to 12 years of my EPA career, I was involved in a broad spectrum of ecosystem restoration research projects. During the last 10 to 13 years, I have served as co-lead for developing and implementing a Structured Decision Support Approach for working with communities, especially small communities, to address environmental challenges. 1 also serve as Chair of EPA's Cross-ORD Tribal Workgroup. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate and honored to serve in multiple leadership roles for nongovernmental science organizations, serving as ASTM International's Committee Chair for ASTM Committee E47 on Biological Fate and Environmental Effects. I have served on the North American Geographic Unit Board of Directors and global World Council for the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, serving as Vice- President and President of both the North American and Global organizations. I currently serve on the East Central University Linscheid Library Board of Directors. I am looking forward to serving the TSC in my new role. Key Dates & Events • Region 5 Regional Tribal Operations Committee (RTOC) Meeting, November 29-30, Cass Lake, MN • Region 1 Wolastoq/St. John River International Watershed Restoration Summit, November 29-30, Bangor, ME • White House Tribal Nations Summit. November 30- December 1, Washington, DC • Region 6 RTOC Meeting, December 1, Virtual • Region 10 Extended RTOC Meeting, December 5-7, Seattle, WA • TSC Fall 2022 Face-to-Face Meeting, December 6-8, Research Triangle Park, NC Inside This Issue Regional Tribal Meetings 2 In Memoriam: David Jewett 3 Of Tribal Interest 4 ------- EPA Tribal Science Bulletin REGIONAL TRIBAL MEETINGS Attendees pose in front of the Haskell sign. Image courtesy M.isha Mazurkewycz and Eliodora Chamberlain. Signing the MOU. Image Touring the Haskell-Baker Wetlands, courtesy Misha Mazurkewycz. Image courtesy Eliodora Chamberlain. EPA Region 5 Tribal Water Workshop In October, EPA Region 5 and the Prairie Island Indian Community and Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community co-hosted the Tribal Water Workshop. Representatives from 35 tribes in the Midwest attended the workshop, which was intended to build capacity for tribes and focused on such topics as soil health, prairie restoration, water quality monitoring, data analysis, erosion control and green roofs. The Prairie Island Indian Community Land and Environment Department led several tours. The pollution reduction tour focused on marina best management practices and erosion prevention. Attendees Volume 5, Issue 2 ••• Page 2 learned about the Edwin Buck Jr. Memorial Buffalo Project, which improves resiliency against flood waters and erosion and supports the Native Mdewakanton Sioux culture and spirituality, as well as about prairie and oak savannah restorations that improve resiliency against nutrient loading and erosion. Participants also toured the Huqkayapi TaOyaqke Ka Pezuta Wozu Cistiqna (Elder's Cultural and Medicinal Garden], in which 30 native species with cultural and medicinal uses and 20 native prairie species that promote pollinators and healthy soil are grown. The next Tribal Water Workshop will be held in Michigan in 2024. EPA Joint Region 7 and 8 Regional Tribal Operations Committee (RTOC) Meeting Regions 7 and 8 held a joint meeting at Haskell Indian Nations University in October after 10 years of planning. Seven of nine Region 7 tribes and 25 of 28 Region 8 tribes attended the meeting, which began with Haskell and Region 7 signing a memorandum of understanding to promote student career opportunities and environmental outreach on campus. The meeting continued with presentations and discussions on PFAS, changes to the Clean Water Act Section 319 Wetlands, where Haskell students showcased their research projects. The meeting ended with the RTOC inviting Haskell students to participate in the On-Campus Pilot Program. The students shared their resumes, background and experience, and one student was hired by the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma. Attendees expressed that it was truly great to get together with another region and learn from different perspectives. request for applications, the Missouri River Basin Interagency group, drones, food sovereignty, misuse of pesticides, climate change effects on tribes, a unique solid waste program, the U.S. Supreme Court McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, the Indian General Assistance Program, and a new visualization tool. The meeting also included a tour of campus and a discussion of Haskell's history. Attendees were treated to a field trip to the Haskell-Baker Images courtesy Prairie Island Indian Community. ------- National EPA-Tribal Science Council IN MEMORIAM: DAVID JEWETT David Jewett, former TSC EPA Co-Chair, passed away on August 24,2022, after a long, valiant battle with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), an illness without a cure, Dave passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his wife, Kathy, his daughters, Andie and Sami, and his sister-in-law, Myra. He was born to Maiy and David Jewett. in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on July 31,1959, and had a childhood that, according to Dave, mirrored/? Christmas Story. He attended Syracuse University, originally planning to enter broadcasting but he chose another path and graduated with a B.S. in geology. Dave worked as an EMT—becoming the Director of Operations at the Syracuse University * Ambulance his senior year—as a way to give back to the university community. Dave went on to obtain an M.S. in geology at Wichita State University and a Ph.D. in hydrology with a minor in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Arizona. Following his graduate education, he became an educator at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Dave started with EPA in 1997 at the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory in Ada, Oklahoma. Dave was an excellenthydrogeologistresearcher, buthe also served in a variety of roles during his 23 years at Kerr Lab, including as Co-Director of the Center for Subsurface Modeling Support, Branch Chief and Acting Division Director. In addition to serving as the TSC EPA Co-Chair, he served on numerous national and international review panels. Dave was outgoing jovial and enthusiastic, with a larger-than-life personality. A jokester with an infectious sense of humor, he loved a good button-down Hawaiian shirt Dave was at ease with all people and could talk with a small group or present research in front of hundreds, equally comfortable with highly technical professionals or common, eveiyday people he met around town. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who did not like Dave. Working in government academia and industry, Dave wore many hats and was passionate in many endeavors, but those who knew him best knew it was going to be a good time when his Yankees cap wound up backwards on his head! Dave liked spoils of all kinds and loved watching and supporting his daughters in their endeavors, especially sports. He was an avid sailor and loved camping and canoeing with friends. Some of the best discussions with Dave happened around a campfire, sharing that ever- present, deep belly laugh. Dave was big on education (his—yours—mine), so we know he would like you to learn a bit about the rare disease thattook his life. PSP is a degenerative brain disease that seriously affects balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing. PSP has no known cause and no known cure. It is a prime-of-life disease, often occurring when many people have family responsibilities, careers and active lives—if you knew Dave, you know he ticked all of those boxes. He knew that finding a cure was unlikely before the disease took him, but he kept learning whatever he could. Dave donated his brain to the Mayo Clinic for PSP research in the hopes that it will help provide clues and answers to finding a cure for this insidious disease. For those of us who were privileged to know, work with and socialize with Dave Jewett, we will miss him and cany his memoiy with us. Until we see you again Dave, smooth sailing and Godspeed my friend! Page 3 ••• Fall 2022 ------- EPA Tribal Science Bulletin OF TRIBAL INTEREST BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA NATIVE SERVICES EPA's Office of Children's Health Protection has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Native Services Program to integrate children's environmental health, environmental justice and environmental education into club programs and activities. This partnership addresses key environmental health exposures, including indoor air quality, lead exposures, climate change and climate justice, drinking water, and water quality. The Native Services Program has 233 clubs on tribal lands and clubs in 28 states. For more information contact Ted Coopwood, National Youth/Regional Coordinator in the EPA Office of Children's Health Protection, at coopwood.theodore@epa.gov or 202-564-2197. 2022 INDIAN GENERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (GAP) GUIDANCE On September 30, EPA's American Indian Environmental Office published the 2022 GAP Guidance. Written with support from tribes, intertribal consortia, EPA program offices and EPA-tribal partnership groups, the guidance provides a national framework for building tribal environmental capacity. The GAP program arose when Congress passed the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act in 1992. This act authorized EPA to provide GAP grants to federally recognized tribes and tribal consortia for planning, developing and establishing environmental protection programs in Indian country and for developing and implementing solid and hazardous waste programs on tribal lands. TRIBAL POLLINATOR PROTECTION Through a cooperative agreement, EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention works closely with the Tribal Pesticide Program Council [TPPC] on issues related to pesticide programs and has created a working group to support tribes' pollinator protection efforts. During the past year, the TPPC Pollinator Protection Workgroup provided significant feedback to inform the USD A Annual Strategic Pollinator Priorities Report: 2022. This report enables the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its partners to make efficient and informed decisions to support pollinator health, which is a multifaceted and complicated issue that is of cultural importance for tribes. The following paragraph from the report summarizes the cultural importance of pollinators to tribes: "Of the 574 federally recognized tribes, many have long-standing relationships with pollinators that work toward long-term conservation of wild pollinators. This doesn't account for the over 200 tribes that are not federally recognized who have similar relationships. For tribal communities, in addition to the $4 billion and $5.9 billion directly and indirectly attributed to various crops, native or wild pollinators represent continuity in cultural, historic, ecological and scientific value that make up their heritage and provide food security. There is a land ethic on which a monetary value cannot be placed and various relationships that are important for sustainability, such as water systems, soil health, biodiversity and pollinator health, and value continues to build from the interconnectivity of these factors that are very important to tribal communities. Pollinators are needed for reproduction of plants of cultural importance to Native American tribes, such as the continued supply of pollen for ceremonies, including food and wellness uses." The TPPC Pollinator Protection Workgroup will continue to create new relationships to expand support for pollinator protection and provide feedback to the USDA Pollinator Workgroup. Other TPPC working groups focused on risk assessment and direct implementation have ongoing projects. The TPPC meets virtually monthly with EPA and in person twice annually, and the working groups meet virtually monthly. DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TSC OR THE BULLETIN? CONTACT MONICA RODIA, TSC Executive Secretary, EPA Office of Science Advisor, Policy and Engagement, AT RODIA.MONICA@EPA.GOV OR (202) 564-8322. Volume 5, Issue 2 ••• Page 4 ------- |