A complete application consists of:

• An application
• Transcripts – Click here for detailed information about acceptable transcripts
• A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
• Two educational or professional references
• A writing sample

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

If you have questions, send an email to EPArpp@orau.org. Please include the reference code for this opportunity in your email.

A postgraduate research opportunity is available in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water (OW). This position would be co-located with the Water Policy Staff and the OW Office of Science and Technology. OW guides implementation of the national water program under statutory authorities such as the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, among others (https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-water). OW activities are targeted to prevent pollution and to reduce risk for people and aquatic ecosystems. Within OW, the Water Policy Staff supports program and policy development, including ensuring quality control in the regulatory development process, conducting economic analyses, leading cross-Office workgroups, analyzing emerging issues, and developing new programs to address emerging issues. The Office of Science and Technology (OST) works with states, tribes, and other stakeholders to develop recommended safe water quality levels for toxics, nutrients, and pathogens to help ensure our nation's waters can be used for fishing, swimming, and drinking water. OST also develops national economically and technologically achievable performance standards to address water pollution from industry. In particular within OST, this position will be associated with the Effluent Guidelines program (https://www.epa.gov/eg).

The Office of Water seeks an individual who has interest and educational background in water-related issues and has strong analytical and writing skills. Depending on skills and career interest, the selected applicant will participate in a variety of projects that involve data discovery and analysis, policy analysis, and framing and communicating information to educate program partners and inform water resource management strategies. While the specific project will be selected in keeping with current issues and the applicant’s skills and interests, projects that the ORISE participant may be trained on include:

• Conduct research and analysis to support the development of new methodologies to quantify environmental impacts and benefits of policy actions, including quantifying changes in water quality, e.g., approaches to construct Water Quality Indices for different waterbody types, different regions;

• Use databases, hydrological models, GIS systems, and other modeling tools to explore impacts and outcomes of policy choices and communicate results, e.g. conducting case studies using HAWQS to evaluate effects of pollution control strategies;

• Conduct quantitative analysis of the environmental impacts of policy actions to address surface water quality;

• Support development of policies to address point source pollutant discharges to surface waters;

• Conduct background studies and develop white papers to explore issues of importance to the national water program;

• Participate on workgroups and teams to address topics of interest; and

• Prepare materials to disseminate information to state, local, tribal and federal water management program partners, e.g., web and social media; newsletters and fact sheets; workshops and reports.

The participant will gain experience and insight into how national environmental programs are managed, how environmental policies are developed, and how federal programs interact with state, local and tribal partners. S/he will become familiar with programs to protect clean water, drinking water, wetlands, oceans and estuaries, and water infrastructure.

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and EPA. The appointment is full time for one year and may be renewed upon recommendation of EPA and contingent on the availability of funds. The participant will receive a monthly stipend. Funding may be made available to reimburse the participant’s travel expenses to present the results of his/her research at scientific conferences and stakeholder venues. No funding will be made available to cover travel costs for pre-appointment visits, relocation costs, tuition and fees, or participant’s health insurance. The participant must show proof of health and medical insurance. The participant does not become an EPA employee.

The desired start date for this appointment is December 1, 2017.

Applicants should have received a master’s degree within five years of the desired starting date with educational and/or work experience in one or more of the following areas: environmental and earth science, civil engineering, environmental policy, hydrologic modeling, and GIS and data systems.

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
• Degree: Master's Degree received within the last 60 month(s).
• Discipline(s):
  • Chemistry and Materials Sciences (1 )
  • Communications and Graphics Design (1 )
  • Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (4 )
  • Earth and Geosciences (2 )
  • Engineering (8 )
  • Environmental and Marine Sciences (10 )
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (7 )
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences (6 )