Project Summary (2009-2011)

The overall goal of the Research Translation Core is to "actively communicate important research outcomes" to government agencies and other important stakeholders through partnerships, technology transfer, and communication to broader audiences as follows:

1. Strong partnerships with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will be maintained to provide technical assistance to EPA's Office of Water in their development of water and sediment quality criteria; to EPA's Office of Research and Development in their development of a metals risk assessment framework and methodology; and to NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration and EPA Region 2 in their assessment of human and ecological damage to the Hudson River and other local Superfund sites.
2. Technology transfer will build on the long history on model development by investigators at Manhattan College and The University of Delaware (including initial development of the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) and the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM)), and will focus on the development of computer models for regulatory applications. This effort will include the development of new interactive modeling tools for assessing the fate and effects of metals (including nickel, chromium, and arsenic) in aquatic systems, and the bioaccumulation of organic contaminants (e.g., PCBs, dioxins, PAHs) in aquatic food webs. Training workshops for regulatory personnel at EPA, NOAA and other government agencies will be conducted as an integral part of this program.
3. Communication with broader audiences will be addressed through the Manhattan College Institute in Water Pollution Control (IWPC). The IWPC has provided professional short courses over the last fifty-two years to over 2500 professionals from government agencies, academia, consulting firms and industry. The Research Translation Core will therefore use IWPC forum to present a series of professional short courses on the integration of engineering, ecology and biomedicine in Superfund site assessments.

In addition, the Core will work with the Hudson River Foundation, the Environmental Consortium of Hudson River Valley Colleges and Universities, and other nongovernment organizations in providing seminars and special sessions on Superfund-related issues that are of particular relevance for the New York-New Jersey area.