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The EPA National Student Services Contract has an immediate opening for a full-time Human Health Risk Assessment Support position with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.

The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.

What the EPA project is about

ORD is a leader in the science of human health and ecological risk assessment, a process used to determine how pollutants or other stressors may impact human health and the environment.

Part of ORD’s mission involves addressing the needs of stakeholders by preparing technical reports and assessments that integrate and evaluate the most up-to-date research. These products serve as a major component of the scientific foundation supporting EPA's regulations and policies. ORD also conducts cutting-edge research to develop innovative methods and approaches that help extrapolate between experimental data and real-world scenarios, improve our understanding of uncertainties, and facilitate careful weighing of evidence.

The Integrated Health Assessment Branch (IHAB) is primarily responsible for developing the Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs) on the human health and welfare (e.g., ecological, climate, visibility, and materials) effects of the criteria air pollutants including particulate matter, ozone, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and lead as mandated by the Clean Air Act. These highly influential science assessments form the scientific basis for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These assessments have significant implications for national and international environmental policy development and implementation.

Development of ISAs to draw conclusions on the health effects related to ambient air pollution exposure includes the identification, evaluation, and integration of evidence from the peer-reviewed literature, particularly from epidemiology, controlled human exposure, and animal toxicological studies.  In developing ISAs, hundreds of thousands of references are identified in literature searches, and after screening and evaluating, more than a thousand references are included in these scientific documents. To effectively manage such a vast body of references, ORD developed the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database and has more recently started exploring tools to improve efficiency (e.g., SWIFT-ActiveScreener) and adapt state-of-the-art systematic review methodologies to the assessment process.

What you will be doing

As a team member, you will provide technical assistance in a variety tasks involved in development of Integrated Science Assessments. Examples of this include literature screening; data curation, extraction, and visualization of health effects evidence; as well as general support to relevant assessment projects. You will be a member of the experimental health science team, comprised of biologists and toxicologists. You will receive adequate training to comply with ORD’s Quality Assurance requirements including training on any existing QAPPs, as applicable.

Literature screening

• Reading titles/abstracts and full-text scientific health studies to determine relevance;
• Utilizing or testing software screening tools (e.g. SWIFT-ActiveScreener, Distiller); and
• Tracking references according to systematic review methodology, typically done through tagging of references in the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database.

Data curation, extraction, and visualization

• Performing verification of data to ensure correctness and completeness in assessments;
• Performing data extraction from studies evaluating health effects related to air pollution exposure into specified formats and templates;
• Utilizing existing tools and testing new analysis tools for exploring and visualizing data; and
• Developing summary tables to present key scientific information on health effects related to air pollution exposure in a variety of quantitative and qualitative formats.

Software/tool testing and integration

• Exploring tools and their application in assessment work with guidance from IHAB scientists; and
• Assisting in the integration of tools already in use (e.g. SWIFT-ActiveScreener/HERO) and development and testing of new tools where needs are identified.

General project support include

• Maintaining good communication with project teams;
• Documenting of methods and approaches for various tools and applications in assessment development; and
• Assisting in logistics and coordination of activities for meetings, briefings, and workshops.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

• Research experience on a topic relevant to human health;
• Experience reading and summarizing scientific manuscripts related to human health;
• Experience in technical scientific writing and editing related to human health;
• Strong written and oral communication skills;
• Strong organizational skills and experience in successfully handling multiple assignments with competing deadlines;
• Excellent interpersonal skills;
• Experience working well as a part of a team; and
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook).

Location: This job will be located EPA’s Research Triangle facility in Raleigh-Durham, NC.

Hours: Full time.

Salary:  Hourly wage for hours worked at a rate of $21.59 per hour.

Employer: Selected applicant will become a temporary employee of ORAU working as a contractor at EPA.

Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.

Working Conditions:  The selected candidate will be supervised by a mentor who will provide day-to-day direction, as well as coach, advise and counsel the candidate, and review the candidate’s work. This position will involve work in an administrative setting and is not expected to involve exposure to hazardous elements.

Expected Start Date: The position is full-time and expected to begin in February 2020. The initial project is through May 14, 2020 with potential optional periods.

For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

• Be at least 18 years of age and
• Have earned at least a Bachelor’s degree in a field relevant to human health risk assessment, including but not limited to biology, toxicology, or epidemiology or a closely-related field of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months, and
• Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.

EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, or Doctoral Degree received within the last 24 months or anticipated to be received by 12/31/2019 11:59:00 PM.
• Minimum Overall GPA: 2.00
• Discipline(s):
  • Environmental and Marine Sciences (13 )
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (45 )

I certify that I am at least 18 years of age; a recent graduate with at least a Bachelor’s degree in a field relevant to human health risk assessment, including but not limited to biology, toxicology, or epidemiology or a closely-related field of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months; a citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident of the United States of America; and not a current employee of EPA ORD or the spouse or child of an EPA ORD employee.