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About SESD
US-EPA, Region 4, SESD, Athens, Georgia
[ Organization ]Located in Athens, Georgia, the Science and Ecosystem Support Division (SESD), through its scientific and technical support services, provides a solid foundation for decision making by a wide variety of environmental programs and initiatives. SESD, with its state-of-the-art laboratory facility and its multidisciplinary staff of chemists, biologists, engineers, and other scientists and professionals, serves as the primary provider of scientific and technical expertise and environmental data for the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Region 4 program offices located in Atlanta, Georgia.
SESD's principal field components are the Ecological Assessment Branch and the Enforcement and Investigations Branch. Within these branches, human health and environmental issues, questions, requests, and problems are brought to the table, and field studies, investigations and training activities are designed, implemented, and/or conducted.
The Analytical Support Branch and the Quality Assurance Section, in partnership with the SESD's field components, produce the quality analytical data necessary to make a variety of environmental decisions. In addition, the Immediate Office and the Management and Technical Services Branch provide other critical administrative, program, and technical support services.
SESD Publications and Data on the Internet
Publications and data found on this web site consist of information obtained from studies and investigations conducted in the southeastern United States in support of a variety of environmental programs. These studies were conducted using a variety of sampling and analytical techniques which meet the highest standards of scientific integrity and quality control. Many of these studies and investigations were quite small in scope. Others involve large geographic areas, sometimes over an extended period of time. In many cases the data from these studies have been collected from suspected "hot" spots and not from random samples. Interpretation of the data associated with these studies and investigations necessitates an understanding of the sampling objectives and procedures that can only be described adequately by a corresponding report or through a discussion with the principle investigators.
The SESD Publications Index lists technical reports and guidance documents published by SESD that are available "online" from this web site. The web pages for these "online" documents will contain a brief overview or summary readable by standard web browsers. The full document is usually included as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. Many times these documents will contain appendices that include analytical data results or contact information from which that information is available.