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Basic Information
The
Mid-Continent Ecology Division is one of nine Divisions within EPA's
National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory. Five
of the Divisions address human health effects and the remaining
four, including our Division, are focused on the ecological effects
of toxic chemicals, genetically modified organisms, nutrients, habitat
alterations, and global climate change. Within this context, this
Division is responsible for providing leadership in ecotoxicology
and freshwater ecology by advancing scientifically-sound approaches
for monitoring trends in ecological condition within the Great Lakes
and Rivers, identifying impaired watersheds and diagnosing causes
of degradation, and establishing risk-based assessments to support
restoration and remediation decisions.
The Division maintains research facilities in Duluth, Minnesota and Grosse Ile, Michigan.
Read the most recent issue of our newsletter MED in Review (PDF) (11pp, 361K, About PDF)
Download the PowerPoint Show (6.4 MB) of our Division's Virtual Tour.
The Mid-Continent Ecology
Division began in 1964 as the National Water Quality Laboratory
under the U.S. Public Health Service and was soon transferred to
the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration of the Department
of the Interior. A 1970 reauthorization of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Administration created the Environmental Protection Agency,
of which the laboratory in Duluth became a part. In 1975, the laboratory
and its station in Grosse Ile, MI, became part of EPA's Office of
Research and Development and were re-named the Environmental
Research Laboratory - Duluth. Finally, in 1995 the Laboratory was
incorporated within the newly created National Health and Environmental
Effects Research Laboratory as the Mid-Continent Ecology Division.
Since the early days of its inception, the Division has been a leader
in freshwater ecology and ecotoxicology. The Division is making
great strides in advancing indicators and designs for monitoring
ecosystem condition and diagnosing causes of impairment in large
freshwater systems and watersheds. Development of mass-balance models
for the Great Lakes, including the initial eutrophication models
that were used to guide the restoration of Lake Erie, continue to
be the foundation for developing forecasting models across the country.
The Division continues to be a leader in developing chemical criteria
and establishing risk assessment techniques to identify and evaluate
adverse effects of toxic chemicals, either alone or in combination
with other stressors. Products from research conducted over the
history of the Division have contributed in significant ways to
public and industry policies and practices to protect the nation's
aquatic ecosystems.
For more information on the history of EPA visit EPA's history page.
Click here for a listing of the Division's MED Telephone Directory and Management & Administration Contacts. |
The mission of the Mid-Continent Ecology Division is to provide scientific information for use in predicting and assessing the effects of pollutants and other stressors on our nation's freshwater resources. The Division accomplishes its mission in partnership with its sister Divisions of NHEERL, other ORD laboratories, and EPA Program and Regional Offices. Partners also include States, Tribes, other federal and international agencies, and research organizations in the private and non-governmental sectors. To meet the information needs of the Agency, ORD's national laboratories and centers strive to integrate "problem-driven" research with "core" research programs, in a holistic manner consistent with the Agency's ecological risk assessment paradigm. "Problem-driven" research addresses classes of problems associated with specific regulatory authorities (e.g., the Clean Water Act); "core" research programs address cross-cutting and future Agency challenges. The "problem-driven" research is designed to strengthen the scientific basis for those approaches that have proven effective in the past, while "core" research is designed to provide fundamentally new tools and approaches that take advantage of cutting-edge scientific knowledge and technical advances. To support and complement areas of expertise in other NHEERL and ORD Divisions, the Mid-Continent Ecology Division's research activities are focused within the realms of freshwater ecology and ecotoxicology. Consistent with NHEERL's role and mission, the Division's research areas contribute to multi-organizational programs designed to improve the ability of the Agency, States, and Tribes to adequately monitor and assess ecological condition of freshwater ecosystems, with an emphasis on the Great Lakes and Great Rivers; to identify impaired waters and diagnose causes of degradation; and to forecast future condition based on varying stressor combinations and loads. Underlying the advancement of assessment, diagnostic, and forecasting capabilities is the developm ent of quantitative relationships between chemical and non-chemical stressors and the responses of freshwater ecosystems and aquatic life and wildlife species.