Training and Technology Transfer Project Descriptions

May 18, 1994 - September 30, 1997

HSRC Technology Transfer Program

S.C. Grant, R.B. Hayter, and B.A. Leven, Kansas State University

 

Project no.: TR-01

 

Goal: Core training and technology transfer activities integrate new information and technology, primarily from HSRC research activities, into use by public and private organizations. The center accomplishes this by hosting annual conferences and workshops; publishing newsletters, proceedings, and other documents; developing and maintaining an HSRC information repository; responding to requests for information and educational services; and administering competitively selected training and technology transfer projects. Center staff also provide support to several special HSRC programs with important technology transfer components to ensure integration of results from concurrent HSRC activities and to learn of technology needs for future HSRC research efforts.

 

Rationale: Many barriers to rapid, cost-effective implementation of environmental research results and new technologies exist due to unique regulations, liabilities, and specificities associated with environmental cleanup sites. A variety of technology transfer and training activities is necessary to adequately address the full spectrum of issues and audiences involved in cleanup situations.

 

Approach: The center maintains communication with its consortium members, more than 90 principal investigators, non-consortium institutions, government offices, and interested businesses and individuals through newsletters, press releases, the Internet, workshops, and conferences. To keep pace with changing issues, resources, and needs for technology transfer, greater emphasis is being placed on information exchange systems that will allow centers to address specific on-the-ground needs for this broad audience.

 

Status: Principal investigators on essentially all HSRC research and technology transfer projects continue to publish papers in technical journals, books, and conference proceedings. The center publishes this information in a less technical format for quick review by consultants, industry, and regulators in newsletters such as HazTech Transfer and Centerpoint, as well as in guidebooks and video productions. HazTech Transfer has been published quarterly for eight years and is currently distributed in hard copy to more than 5,000 addressees, with readership estimated at 20,000 per issue. Many of these center and other non-center publications are maintained in the HSRC Information Repository at KSU, and can be accessed through the GP/RM HSRC World Wide Web site.

 

Every week the center receives many requests for information from individuals and groups of stakeholders, and responses range from simple verbal and e-mail messages to oral presentations on the collective thoughts of several HSRC researchers on specific technical issues. Recently, center staff began making informational presentations to program managers in state and EPA regional offices. In conjunction with the Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC), Research and Re-education for Displaced Defense (R2D2), and Native American and Other Minority Institutions (NAOMI) programs, several new collaborative research and field demonstration projects have begun.

 

Clients/Users: University faculty and environmental professionals in federal, state, and private organizations, as well as the general public, will benefit from these efforts.

 

Keywords: collaborative problem solving, partnerships, technology transfer, newsletter, repository, communication, training, World Wide Web.

Conference on Hazardous Waste Research

S.C. Grant, C.A. Wolfe, L.E. Erickson, and B.A. Leven,
Kansas State University

 

Goal: The goal of this project is to hold an annual research conference on hazardous substance research and to provide opportunities for individuals from public and private sectors to share technical information regarding the management of hazardous substances.

 

Rationale: Conferences provide good opportunities for the exchange of information. The conference serves as a mechanism of technology transfer by bringing together researchers, regulators, and industry to discuss relevant and timely research impacting everyday government and business decisions.

 

Approach: Kansas State University's approach has been to expand the Conference on Hazardous Waste Research to include issues of technology transfer and training. The conference is hosted in alternate years by other universities.

 

Status: The 12th Annual Conference on Hazardous Waste Research was held in Kansas City, Missouri, May 19-22, 1997, with more than 250 people participating. Researchers from around the country and abroad attended the conference to present and hear papers, participate in panel discussions, and view posters and exhibits. Workshops presented at the conference included 8-hour HAZWOPER Refresher Course, Acid Mine Drainage Short Course, Application of Chelating Agents for Removal of Heavy Metals from Soils, and Prepared Bed Bioremediation of Contaminated Soils. The 1998 Conference on Hazardous Waste Research will be held at Snowbird, Utah, May 18-21, 1998. It will be co-sponsored by U.S. EPA, Center for Environmental Technologies at the University of Utah and Utah State University, Army Research Office, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, Waste-management Education and Research Consortium, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and National Mine Land Reclamation Center. The 1997 conference proceedings are being prepared for publication on the Internet and in print form.

 

Clients/Users: University faculty and environmental professionals participate in and benefit from this conference annually.

 

Keywords: conference, information exchange, research.

Waste Management: Development of Pollution Prevention Educational Materials for Farms and Small Acreages

S.M. Niemeyer, W.E. Woldt, M.F. Dahab, and R.D. Grisso, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

Goal: Objectives of this project are to modify traditional pollution prevention techniques to suit farm and acreage audiences; transfer current technology to a new group of users; introduce the concept of pollution prevention to farmstead operators, householders, and acreage owners and help them understand the nature of their waste stream; suggest alternatives and consequences of each alternative; and assist with decisions about alternatives within the rural community.

 

Rationale: Pollution prevention has been established as one of the highest priorities at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the solution of first choice to environmental problems. A review of previous pollution prevention efforts indicates that existing resources have been directed toward traditional industrial processes. An industry that has apparently been left out of these educational efforts is production agriculture at the farm scale. Rural conditions and dispersed populations result in a lack of services or opportunities for economical and appropriate disposal of solid and hazardous waste materials. As a group, farm operators and acreage owners are stewards of the land and responsible for more natural resources than their urban counterparts. Agricultural farming industry uses hazardous materials daily, and many of these wastes contain some of the 17 chemicals that have been targeted for reduction by the EPA.

 

Approach: The proposed approach to rural waste management is the modification of traditional pollution prevention techniques to suit farm and acreages audiences. This implies a transfer of current technology to a new user group. Educational materials developed will introduce pollution prevention to farmstead operators and acreage owners, help them understand the nature of their waste stream, suggest alternatives and possible consequences, assist them in making decisions about the alternatives, and build a pollution prevention "ethic." This project will transfer pollution prevention technology to an industry that has been neglected. It is expected that this effort will result in less environmental pollution from waste that is currently stored and generated on farms and acreages. The process and materials could serve as a model for a nationwide pollution prevention effort as a key element in solving the rural waste management dilemma.

 

Status: Literature was reviewed as a basis for content of the program. Objectives of the program were coordinated with Farm-A-Syst and Home-A-Syst programs. States contacted include Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, Mississippi, and Alabama. Content has been developed with interactive materials and teaching guides. Drafts were written for four educational units and educator’s guides in the program: 1) Pollution Prevention Overview, 2) Pollution Prevention for Ag Production, 3) Pollution Prevention in Acreages, and 4) Pollution Prevention for Households. A series of waste management fact sheets has been published as resource materials. Materials were sent out to other professionals for technical review. Following review, draft materials were revised for final publication. Copies of the final publications were printed and distributed. This project is completed.

 

Clients/Users: Those in agriculture-related fields will be interested in this project.

 

Keywords: waste management, pollution prevention, farms, education.

Virtual Library: Transferring HSRC Research Results Through the Internet

L. E. Erickson, J.P. McDonald, and D.L. Tillison, Kansas State University

 

Goal: The goal of this project is to publish the Journal of Hazardous Substance Research, an electronic, peer-reviewed journal distributed via the Internet.

 

Rationale: Investigators believe distributing this journal via the Internet will improve the delivery time of HSRC findings and information about related research. It should also provide an inexpensive alternative to library subscriptions and offer a means for evaluating the Internet as a vehicle for the delivery of refereed research results.

 

Approach: The journal will publish selected papers on hazardous substance research. Manuscripts will be selected for publication by a team of editors following peer review by members of the editorial board, HSRC advisory committees, and other qualified individuals. The journal will be freely accessible via the Internet to industry, as well as the public at large. Anyone interested will be able to easily follow up with researchers by electronic mail or any other means of communication.

 

Status: An editorial team and advisory board have been established and a Web site is in place. Investigators have begun to solicit manuscripts. Information concerning manuscript submission is now on-line, and a call for papers has been created and distributed. Adobe’s Acrobat software and its portable document format (PDF) technology have been chosen as the preferred tools for publishing articles on the Internet, rather than HTML, the simple programming language used to create Web pages. Abstracts will still be available in HTML format and searchable with existing search engines. A variety of potential funding mechanisms identified during the early stages of this project made formal evaluation difficult. Future plans include marketing research and studies to identify reliable methods for indexing, cataloging, and archiving the journal. Investigators expect a number of manuscripts to be submitted, peer reviewed, and published, which should provide a better understanding of publishing processes and finance mechanisms. This project is in its first year.

 

Clients/Users: This form of virtual publishing offers tremendous cost/benefit potential to industry, academia, and the general public by providing more fluid access and distribution of scientific and technological information.

 

Keywords: Journal of Hazardous Substance Research, publishing, Internet, World Wide Web, Web site, manuscripts, editorial.

Public Information Services

S.C. Grant, Kansas State University

 

Goal: The HSRC Technology Transfer Public Environmental Information Services program fills a significant void in public understanding of complex scientific and technical issues related to hazardous substances in our environment. The primary focus is the widest possible dissemination of technical and socio-political-economic issues related to hazardous substances presented in layman's terms. All available media have been asked to participate including newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and specialized agencies such as state extension and continuing education services. Though some media sources cannot participate effectively due to resource limitations, interest in the program is high.

 

Rationale: Although media sources and agencies are presently utilized to provide information to the public, much environmental information is based on editorials, letters to the editor, controversial subject presentations by non-technical reporters, newsletters, and editors. Very rarely are technically-qualified presenters used to write news articles or to provide radio/TV programming, especially for smaller papers and broadcast stations. Much public understanding of technical issues is, therefore, inaccurate, based on misinformation and emotionally driven content. We have had numerous requests from public organizations and some media sources for articles, presentations, and "newsworthy" information on center activities and research results.

 

Approach: To accurately enhance public awareness of technical issues involved in hazardous waste management, the center is undertaking the following actions:

 

· Developing quarterly feature editorials or news articles on hazardous substance issues of public concern, and/or information on new applications of completed research projects. These articles are distributed to all daily and weekly newspapers in Kansas who agreed to participate and, starting in July 1993, to participating newspapers throughout the ten states of EPA Regions VII and VIII. The articles are also sent to consortium universities and the other HSRCs as appropriate. Public response to the articles has been positive and requests for assistance, information, and confirmation have increased.

 

· Developing periodic articles of a specialized nature to be sent to industrial "in-house" publications of hazardous substance generators and handlers.

 

· Developing at least two radio spots for Public Service Announcements regarding facts on hazardous materials and new research findings. This was accomplished, but was considered unsatisfactory use of resources due to the few stations that agreed to carry the announcements, or that agreed to play them at a time when interested citizens are awake.

 

· Developing a speaker’s bureau. The speakers cover a wide range of topics relevant to individual environmental interests and expertise, research projects underway, and the general mission of the center. Content of the presentations range from technical lectures in disciplines of engineering and sciences commensurate with the graduate level to speeches in layman's terms for service organizations, schools, and the general public. Extensive use of speakers on consortium campuses has also been important.

 

Status: Radio and television interviews, seminar participation, and communications with professional organizations, faculty members, and citizens have been varied and numerous during the course of the project. Quarterly feature articles for 86 local or weekly papers and 11 regional newspapers were written and released. Quarterly feature articles were also published in HazTech Transfer, the center’s newsletter. Responses to the articles have been received through mail, FAX, phone, and electronic mail. This project has been completed; however, the center is continuing to provide information to the public through other programs such as TOSC.

 

Clients/Users: This project is of most interest to the general public.

 

Keywords: information, editorials, public, media.

Libby, Montana, Superfund Site: Prepared-Bed Bioremediation in Buried Lifts as Affected by Oxygen Concentration in Soil Gas

R.C. Sims, Utah State University

 

Goal: The main goal of this project is to contribute to assessment and management of soil bioremediation systems to increase the rate of treatment and, therefore, decrease the time required for achieving required treatment levels for unsaturated soil.

 

Rationale: The rationale for this project is based on the need for more rapid remediation of contaminated sites that are currently using bioremediation systems.

 

Approach: A full-scale evaluation of continued treatment of buried lifts of unsaturated soil will be performed. This will be accomplished by measuring the rate of disappearance of PCP and the 16 priority pollutant PAH compounds in individual lifts of soil below the surface lift. Field-scale measurements of oxygen concentration in each lift will also be measured and related to the rate of PCP and PAH disappearance. In addition, laboratory confirmation tests will be used to determine the effect of oxygen concentration on the rate and extent of disappearance of PCP and PAH in soil samples taken from each buried lift. It is anticipated that sampling at depths greater than those performed before (one and two feet below the surface) will show a decrease in concentration with depth. If a relationship is found between soil gas oxygen concentration in buried lifts and rate of disappearance of PCP and PAH, then bioventing will be tested as a management option for increasing oxygen concentration in buried lifts. Results will be used to determine the potential for decreasing the required time for treatment of soil in prepared-bed systems.

 

Status: Conclusions concerning mineralization of 14C-pyrene in a laboratory microcosm evaluation of contaminated soil taken from the site with regard to the effect of soil-gas oxygen concentration are summarized as follows: there is a definite effect of soil gas oxygen concentration on the mineralization of 14C-pyrene; there is a significant increase in mineralization rate and extent of 14C-pyrene at soil gas oxygen concentrations from 2% through 21%; mineralization of 14C-pyrene at 0% oxygen concentration in soil gas is not significant; and mineralization of 14C-pyrene was confirmed to be due to biological processes. Conclusions regarding the chemical mass of 14C-pyrene in contaminated soil taken from the site are summarized as follows: mineralization was the dominant fate mechanism at all non-zero oxygen concentrations; soil-extractable 14C was the second largest fraction of recovered 14C and was the dominant fate for 14C-pyrene incubated at 0% oxygen concentration; soil-bound 14C was the third largest fate mechanism at all non-zero oxygen concentrations; and volatilization of 14C was minimal for all oxygen concentrations evaluated. Conclusions regarding the effect of soil-gas oxygen concentration on non-radiolabeled pyrene present in the contaminated soil are summarized as follows: loss of pyrene was significant at soil-gas oxygen concentrations of 5% and above; loss of pyrene was not significant at soil-gas oxygen concentrations below 5%; and no significant loss of pyrene occurred in poisoned microcosms over the range of oxygen concentrations from 0% to 21%. Based on results and conclusions for radiolabeled pyrene and for non-radiolabeled pyrene, a recommendation for soil-gas oxygen would be a minimum of 5% in buried lifts of a prepared-bed bioreactor in order to maintain conditions conducive for continued biodegradation of pyrene. This project is completed.

 

Clients/Users: This project will be of interest to government agencies, industry, and university faculty members.

 

Keywords: Superfund, prepared-bed bioremediation, buried lifts.

Native American and Other Minority Institutions (NAOMI) Program

S.C. Grant and W.M. Griswold, Kansas State University

 

Goals: Goals are to disseminate information on hazardous substance issues to Native American and other minority persons through a seminar program and to involve faculty and students from Native American and other minority colleges in research, technology transfer, and training relating to hazardous substance problems, especially those on Native American and other minority lands.

 

Rationale: EPA Regions VII and VIII contain 18 predominantly Native American colleges, two predominantly black colleges, and two predominantly Hispanic colleges. A relationship between the center and Haskell Indian Nations University has been established to enhance dissemination of much-needed hazardous substance information, research, training, and technology to Native American persons. Additional relationships with Native American, black, and Hispanic colleges will be developed.

 

Approach: The goals will be reached through 1) development of a satellite-delivered seminar program on hazardous substance and other issues for minority faculty and students, 2) funding for cooperative research and technology transfer projects between minority institutions and center consortium institutions, and 3) funding for cooperative research and technology transfer projects at minority institutions.

 

Status: The Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center (HERS) is continuing to administer the NAOMI program in cooperation with HSRC. The HERS advisory board has approved a training proposal that will provide environmental analysis training for tribal environmental professionals. NAOMI program funds will be used to produce a video project that will culminate in a satellite uplink program. Earth Medicine, a bi-monthly newsletter published by HERS, continues to keep the NAOMI Consortium updated on NAOMI activities. The publication is distributed at no charge to more than 1,700 addresses. NAOMI Seminar videotapes are available for use in the library of Haskell Indian Nations University and nationwide through interlibrary loan. HERS is now on the World Wide Web with its own home page, which features program descriptions, information on upcoming events, the on-line version of the Earth Medicine newsletter, and links to environmental and tribal resources. (The URL is http://www.nass.haskell.edu/HERS/HERS.html.) HERS and Haskell have been involved with the Kansas State University Environmental Technology Curriculum Development project in a number of ways, including technology workshops and participation in the development of curriculum components. NAOMI has traditionally been federally funded, but continued funding of NAOMI activities from the U.S. EPA is uncertain. Haskell established HERS to permit broad-based private funding, as well as funding from government. One such private source, a partnership between Haskell and a commercial aircraft manufacturing firm, has produced a research and summer internship program for Haskell faculty and students. Another partnership agreement with an environmental technology firm will involve remediation efforts on lands impacted by military operations within the Missouri River Basin. This project is in its fourth year.

 

Clients/Users: Tribal professionals and laypersons, faculty at minority and non-minority institutions, and minority and non-minority members of industry will be interested in this project.

 

Keywords: Native American, minority seminar program, research, training.

Guidance for Use of Prepared-Bed Land Treatment as a Bioremedial Technology

J.L. Sims and R.C. Sims, Utah State University

 

Goals: The goals of this project are to (1) develop a guidance manual on use of prepared beds for bioremediation of contaminated soils and (2) develop an interactive, computerized decision support system incorporating information contained in the guidance manual.

 

Rationale: Guidance concerning application of prepared-bed land treatment technology is required by decision makers responsible for cleanup of contaminated soils. There is currently, however, no technology transfer guidance specifically on use of prepared-bed systems for treatment of contaminated soil.

 

Approach: The guidance manual will be developed during the first year of funding. The computerized decision support system will be developed during the second year of funding, using the Tripod Decision Support System software and incorporating information contained in the guidance manual. During the third year of funding, the guidance manual and decision support system will be finalized, based on user input and review. These guidance materials will utilize checklists, decision trees, and graphics, as well as explanatory text to aid the decision maker in understanding potential applications and limitations of the technology.

 

Status: Initial project activities focused on the collection of information for inclusion in the guidance manual. Writing of the document commenced in 1995, with a rough draft undergoing peer review at Utah State University late in the year and during early 1996. Other activities in 1996 have included both extensive document revision and conversion to computer format. Because of the extensive revisions currently underway, the external review was delayed. It was sent for external peer review in November 1996. Results of these reviews will be incorporated and the document will be provided to the user community. Although investigators are behind schedule, they believe a much better and more useful product will result. Future plans include completion of the final versions of both the manual and the computerized decision support system. The guidance materials will also be professionally published. This project is in its final year.

 

Clients/Users: This project will be of interest to industry and government agencies.

 

Keywords: guidance manual, computer decision support system, bioremediation, prepared-bed land treatment.

Bioremediation of Petroleum-Contaminated Soil Using Vegetation

M.K. Banks, A.P. Schwab, and R.S. Govindaraju, Kansas State University

 

Project no.: D93-01

 

Goal: The overall goal of this project is to demonstrate, in a field situation, that vegetation will enhance the biodegradation of petroleum in contaminated soil and to showcase this remediation technology to allow for effective information transfer to interested industry and governmental agencies.

 

Rationale: Recent research has suggested that vegetation may play an important role in biodegradation of toxic organic chemicals, such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in soil. Establishment of vegetation on hazardous waste sites may be an economic, effective, low maintenance approach to waste remediation and stabilization.

 

Approach: Several petroleum-contaminated field sites will be chosen in collaboration with three industrial partners. These sites will be thoroughly characterized for chemical properties, physical properties, and initial PAH concentrations. A variety of plant species will be established on the sites, including warm and cool season grasses and alfalfa. Soil analyses for the target compounds over time will allow us to assess the efficiency and applicability of this remediation method. By successfully remediating these industrial sites and publishing the results, other companies will be made aware of this technology and may adopt it for use on contaminated sites nationwide.

 

Status: Parallel studies of bioremediation and phytoremediation were conducted at a Gulf Coast crude oil spill location. A sampling plan was designed, and sampling locations have been marked and samples taken. Based on the results of this study, Exxon seeded the entire bioremediation area with cool season annual rye in May 1996. The last sampling date for the field site was May 8, 1996. All of the vegetated plots had statistically higher TPH degradation than the unvegetated plot. Microbial and fungal plate counts were performed on soil from the unvegetated grass and St. Augustine grass plots. In July 1995, four experimental plots were established at the Chevron refinery. Time-zero sampling of 20 samples/plot was taken prior to seeding. Soil samples were taken at three-month intervals, beginning with the time of establishment. The native California grass mixture, tall fescue, and the erosion-control mixture have decreasing TPH concentrations as a function of time. Future plans include continued research at the Chevron site. Soil samples are being analyzed at Kansas State University. This project is nearly completed.

 

Clients/Users: This project will be of interest to university researchers, members of industry, and government agencies.

 

Keywords: bioremediation, petroleum contamination, soil, demonstration.

Technical Outreach Services to Communities (TOSC) Program

J.P. McDonald, Kansas State University

 

Goals: Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC) provides technical assistance to interested individuals and community groups who live near hazardous waste sites. The program is designed to supplement EPA’s Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program that provides grants to community groups for sites on EPA’s National Priority List (NPL). The Technical Outreach Services for Communities program exceeds the scope of EPA’s TAG program by providing assistance to communities, groups, and individuals, regardless of the site’s status in Superfund (i.e., proposed or final NPL), and the regulatory program taking the lead in site cleanup activities. Additional goals of the program include:

 

Rationale: EPA and Congress have shown increasing interest in the level of community involvement in the decision-making process at hazardous waste sites in general, and specifically under the Superfund process. In 1986, Congress strengthened requirements for community participation in Superfund when it passed the Superfund Amendments and Re-authorization Act. These requirements were further strengthened when the revised National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (NCP) was released in 1990. One effort in support of furthering community involvement is EPA’s Technical Assistance Grants program, where EPA provides community groups up to $50,000 per site for the purpose of obtaining outside technical assistance. This program has had success, but has been hampered by administrative burdens placed on community groups to obtain the grants and is limited to sites designated on the NPL.

 

Approach: The program provides a variety of services to interested citizens in the 10 state region:

 

Status: The TOSC program has continued to provide education and outreach services to ten communities impacted by hazardous waste cleanup projects. Emphasis this year has been in moving TOSC from the pilot to the program stage by supporting six additional sites, among other activities. The scope of the proposed TOSC program has been greatly increased. In addition to base TOSC funding, the EPA has agreed to allow Haskell Indian Nations University to establish a national Technology Outreach Services to Native American Communities (TOSNAC) program designed to assist tribal needs, on a pilot basis. These activities will help tribal communities affected by hazardous substance contamination issues overcome significant cultural and legal barriers in dealing with these issues. In addition to providing tribal communities with workshops, hands-on assistance, and personal expert assistance, TOSNAC activities will include needs assessment and communications techniques targeted specifically for Native Americans. TOSC also received additional funds to support redevelopment of urban sites through the EPA Brownfields program. Support is being provided to the Bonne Terre, Des Moines, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Wellston pilot projects in EPA Region 7. This project is in its fourth year.

 

Clients/Users: Researchers, members of industry, and citizens will be interested in this project.

 

Keywords: communities, outreach services, Technical Assistance Grants, National Priority List.

Research and Re-Education for Displaced Defense (R2D2) Personnel Program

B.A. Leven and S.C. Grant, Kansas State University

 

Goals: Goals of this program are to fund research and technology transfer projects focused on hazardous substance and waste issues at U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) sites; develop and implement new cleanup technologies for the marketplace; and provide tuition reimbursement, financial support, and specialized training, and facilitate job placement for students impacted by DoD downsizing, in association with funded research projects.

 

Rationale: Large numbers of military personnel and DoD civilian personnel are being displaced by base closures and government downsizing. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) designated funding for re-education of these personnel in environmental fields and for research relevant to DoD sites.

 

Approach: Funded research, technology transfer, and training projects focus, whenever possible, on specific environmental problems and issues related to hazardous substances on DoD sites and installations. Qualified displaced military and DoD civilians are supported as graduate students (and in some cases, undergraduates) working on projects approved by the centers. The Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Center coordinates administrative aspects of the program (i.e., student recruitment, job assistance, program monitoring, and reporting) for the five centers nationwide. DoD and DOE will be given an opportunity to hire graduates of this program.

 

Status: Eighty DoD-related research projects, 46 of which have potential commercial applications, have been supported under this program. To date, 12 of these projects have been completed. This program has supported 72 displaced DoD students working toward baccalaureate and advanced degrees while serving as research assistants on these projects, and interns and program associates for other Hazardous Substance Research Centers activities. To date, 46 have completed degree programs. To help prepare these students for leadership positions in industry, government, and academia, the R2D2 program sponsored two professional development seminars during the 1996 and 1997 annual center conferences. A resume portfolio was created and posted on the World Wide Web to facilitate students’ placement in jobs and internships.

 

To transfer results of research projects and to provide job placement assistance for students, the national coordination office met with over 65 DoD labs, service agencies, research offices, and bases, and presented program results at over 20 DoD and other conferences/workshops. This has contributed to student job placement in environmental professional positions at rates exceeding 80 percent, at least three new and five potential co-funding arrangements for HSRC projects, and two co-funding agreements for an upcoming HSRC annual conference.

 

The program will continue to complete unfinished projects, provide student job placement assistance, and transfer research results through field demonstrations and workshops. This project has completed its second and final funded year.

 

Clients/Users: This project is of interest to displaced military and DoD/DOE civilian personnel, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, contractors, industry, and regulators.

 

Keywords: re-education, training, military, DoD, job placement assistance.

Collaborative Environmental Seminar Series

G.L. Godfrey, Haskell Indian Nations University, and W. Griswold and B.A. Leven,

Kansas State University

 

Project no.: TR96-05

 

Goals: The goal of this project is to produce a series of seminars primarily for audiences at Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) and other American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) colleges and universities. The seminars will provide technical information to students, faculty, and tribal environmental professionals throughout the U.S. through quality videotaped seminars, and to students and faculty at HINU through traditional seminars on campus. This project also includes continuation of Earth Medicine newsletter which links the seminar producers and the target audience.

 

Rationale: Although NAOMI program funds expired in December 1997, the most successful elements of this program receive continued support through center funds awarded in open competition. Seminars produced under the NAOMI program are distributed to approximately 130 participants at AIHEC colleges and universities, tribal environmental offices, other minority academic institutions, Kansas colleges, and HSRC consortium institutions. In a survey, these participants indicated that the videos are the most effective delivery method and that they are used primarily as classroom tools and staff development tools. Earth Medicine, the newsletter produced by Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center (HERS), publicizes the seminar series as well as other accomplishments of HERS.

 

Approach: The HINU Environmental Seminar Series will consist of four high-quality video programs per year, companion on-campus seminar presentations at HINU, and quarterly production of Earth Medicine. Selected programs will also be broadcast via satellite uplink to interested program participants. Success of the project will be evaluated by a semiannual survey of all program participants. Planning and production for the first year of seminars has begun. Video topics include pollution prevention opportunity assessments, environmental enforcement and justice in tribal law, environmental management and planning systems, and microscale chemistry. Formats for these videos will include panel discussions, case studies, and instructional approaches, using subject matter experts from tribal and other arenas. Earth Medicine has continued to publicize these and other events to a readership of more than 1,800, including tribal offices and colleges, HSRC consortium members, and EPA regional offices.

 

Clients/Users: Tribal professionals and laypersons, faculty at minority and non-minority institutions, and minority/non-minority members of industry will benefit from this project.

 

Keywords: Native American, minority colleges, seminar, newsletter, training.