R2D2 Program

NOTE: Due to Defense budget cuts, the specific program described below is unable to accept new students. However, work to complete previously funded activities and remediation of hazardous substance problems at DoD facilities, in general, continues to be a major priority of the Hazardous Substance Research Centers (HSRCs). Research projects at HSRC universities continue to provide graduate assistantships for students in environmentally related curricula, and former DoD students with appropriate backgrounds are encouraged to investigate opportunities at member universities. Please direct questions to individual universities or to points of contact listed below.

Qualified Department of Defense (DoD) military and civilian personnel who have been displaced because of base closings and realignments can now participate in a program offered by EPA's Hazardous Substance Research Centers (HSRC) Program in cooperation with DoD. Participants can earn bachelor's or advanced degrees while working on research and technology transfer projects that address hazardous substance problems shared by DoD and other federal facilities.

Managing hazardous substances is one of the important environmental issues facing our country. Since 1980, more than 40,000 hazardous waste sites have been discovered, more than 1,000,000 underground storage tanks are estimated to be leaking, and more than 250,000 industrial and waste storage or treatment facilities are subject to permit requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Recognizing these problems, Congress created the Environmental Education Opportunities Program of DoD to establish and support a multiyear HSRC program nicknamed R2D2 (Research and Reeducation for Displaced DoD). Participating HSRC universities are directing research, technology transfer, and training toward solving hazardous substance problems of DoD facilities and developing and implementing new cleanup technologies for the marketplace. Students in the R2D2 program will work on these projects while earning a degree related to the management, science, or engineering of hazardous substances.

Prospective students should contact the R2D2 coordinator for the HSRC region containing the university of interest before applying for admission to investigate available opportunities in this program. R2D2 candidates must then gain admission to the HSRC university and the academic program of their choice, based upon their own credentials and university admission requirements. Once admitted to the university, students pursue formal participation in the program.

Those accepted into the R2D2 program will receive tuition reimbursement and a stipend based on the current rate for an assistantship at the HSRC university. Other benefits include support from the R2D2 ombudsman; special training opportunities; and an opportunity to participate in a practicum/internship with a regulatory agency or industry or participate in an HSRC-sponsored research project.

Candidate students include persons who have been displaced from civilian or uniformed service within the DoD, and priority will be given to those who have been displaced involuntarily. Other candidates may include students who want careers that will equip them for employment in the management of hazardous substances of concern to DoD installations.

Students shall pursue an academic education in areas of hazardous substance science, engineering, or management, including multidisciplinary programs. It is anticipated that the majority of R2D2 participants will be graduate students, but advanced undergraduate, postdoctoral, and special students may also participate in the program.

Students will be supported through the R2D2 program providing that they continue to make satisfactory progress in their academic careers, and given continued funding of the program. In general, undergraduate students may be supported for up to two years, masters-level students for two years, Ph.D. students for three years, and postdocs for up to two years.

Students will be expected to provide research or teaching assistance as part of their participation in the R2D2 program.

To receive more information regarding areas of study, administrative criteria, and career opportunities, please contact Blase Leven at the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain HSRC, the national R2D2 coordinator. The other HSRCs also have R2D2 coordinators who can provide specific information regarding academic programs at the universities within their own centers. Contact information is shown below.

Northeast

Great Lakes & Mid-Atlantic

Great Plains/Rocky Mountain

South & Southwest

Western Region

Resources

R2D2 Annual Report: Brief summary of program for 1996-97 year (updated March 1998)
Interagency Cooperative Efforts: Summarizes R2D2 environmental technology research and development