![[logo] US EPA](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081106080031im_/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
2004 Progress Report: Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) from the Commonwealth of Kentucky (SIP)
EPA Grant Number: R829419E01Title: Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) from the Commonwealth of Kentucky (SIP)
Investigators: White, David
Institution: Murray State University
EPA Project Officer: Winner, Darrell
Project Period: October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2004 (Extended to September 30, 2005)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004
Project Amount: $457,137
RFA: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) (2000)
Research Category: EPSCoR (The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)
Description:
Objective:The objective of the Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) is to enhance competitive research in environmental problems in the Commonwealth of Kentucky under the management of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Subcommittee of the Kentucky Statewide EPSCoR Committee through information exchange activities, fellowships, and review processes. This effort will assist the investigators of the Science and Engineering Environmental Research (SEER) Projects as they address research on environmental and human health biomarkers and the use of biomarkers for pollution prevention in Kentucky.
Progress Summary:Two Special Conferences on Biomarkers have been held in conjunction with the Kentucky Statewide EPSCoR Conference, one in May 2003 and one in May 2004. Speakers in the 2004 session included Darrell Winner, EPA, National Center for Environmental Research, Washington, DC; Prasada Rao Kodavanti, EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC; Harrell E. Hurst and Steven Myers, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY; Howard Whiteman and Bommanna Loganathan, Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, Murray State University, Murray, KY (Developmental Stability in Amphibians as a Biological Indicator of Chemical Contamination and Other Environmental Stressors); and Russell A. Barnett, Kentucky Institute for Environmental and Sustainable Development, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (An Overview of the Biomarker Presentation to the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission).
On March 5, 2004, we presented results of the two SEER research projects to the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission (KEQC). The KEQC is a seven-member citizen advisory board that works to strengthen the public role in solving environmental problems in our communities and the state and serves as an advisory board to the governor and other state officials on environmental matters. Presentations to the Commission usually are limited to 15 minutes, including time for commissioner questions. Questions about the research and its implications lasted 45 minutes, and the Commission was extremely impressed by the research and the results to date. A summary of the meeting was presented at the 2004 Statewide EPSCoR conference. Results of the meeting were made available statewide on the KEQC Web site.
Members of the Kentucky EPA EPSCoR Committee continue to meet regularly with SEER grant investigators, both in Louisville and Murray. The committee is tracking publication of the results and new proposals are being developed. To date, we have been satisfied with the progress being made.
Other progress includes a revamping of the Web site, which now is connected
to the Kentucky EPSCoR site and is searchable through the Association of Ecosystem
Research Centers (AERC) Web Site. The site location has migrated to http://www.murraystate.edu/qacd/cos/hbs/epaepscor-program.htm 
and also can be accessed at http://www.kyepscor.org/ky_epscor_programs.htm .
All reports are maintained on the Web site, including the 2004 reports for
the SIP and both SEER grants. Two members of the Kentucky EPSCoR Committee
(Drs. White and Farrell) were re-elected in 2005 to 3-year terms on the Kentucky
Statewide Committee, which has provided a broader outlet for the importance
of long-term funding for environmental research in the Commonwealth.
State matching funds through the Kentucky Statewide Committee for the 2001-2003 budget year were held up in the Kentucky legislature (no State budget passed) through April 2003, slowing some aspects of the research. All funds were released to us in April; however, we did not expend as much of the supplemental undergraduate/graduate student funding and travel funding as we had planned for both years. Thus, we asked for and have received two, 1-year no-cost extensions for the entire project. Both SEER grants plan to take advantage of students and travel during the final year of the project.
Future Activities:The Statewide EPA/EPSCoR Committee will assist the two SEER grants in completing all aspects of the research and producing final reports to EPA.
Journal Articles:No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this project
Supplemental Keywords:pollution prevention, human health biomarkers, ecosystem
protection, environmental exposure and risk, SEER, Kentucky
,
Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, Health, RFA, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Risk Assessments, amphibians, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, Biochemistry, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Environmental Chemistry, biomarkers, causal mechanisms, clean technology, population decline, bioindicator, butadiene, hazardous emissions, human health risk, alternative materials, environmental risks, amphibian bioindicator, exposure, biomarker, pollution prevention research, human exposure, pollution prevention, air emissions, diagnostic tool
Relevant Websites:
http://www.murraystate.edu/qacd/cos/hbs/epaepscor-program.htm
http://www.kyepscor.org/ky_epscor_programs.htm
Progress and Final Reports:
2003 Progress Report
Original Abstract
Final Report