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Final Report: Developing Competitive Environmental Research in Arkansas (Strategic Improvement Plan)
EPA Grant Number: R827685E01Title: Developing Competitive Environmental Research in Arkansas (Strategic Improvement Plan)
Investigators: Kennedy, Richard H.
Institution: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
EPA Project Officer: Winner, Darrell
Project Period: August 1, 1999 through July 31, 2001
Project Amount: $500,000
RFA: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) (1999)
Research Category: EPSCoR (The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)
Description:
Objective:The objective of this research project (Strategic Improvement Plan) was to promote the competitiveness of environmental scientific and engineering (S&E) research in Arkansas. To accomplish this objective, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Office was established to support and monitor the three Science and Engineering Environmental Research (SEER) projects that were funded as part of the Arkansas EPSCoR award (Improved Reproductive Risk Assessment by Elucidation of Comparative Metabolism, Principal Investigator [PI]—Jay Gandy; TCDD-Induced Insulin Resistance, PI—Philip A. Kern; and Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization in Metal Finishing, PI—Malay Mazumder), and to develop and implement a Web site that supports and promotes environmental S&E efforts in Arkansas. The office worked to ensure that state matching funds were acquired and distributed appropriately, and provided administrative support for budgetary issues, reports, and periodic review of SEER progress. In addition, the Program Director worked to identify additional sources of funding for environmental research. Progress of the SEER projects was monitored based on scientific presentations and publications, trainees involved, and applications submitted to federal agencies for continued support. With respect to the Web site, it was made available on the Arkansas Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) Home Page. It was originally designed to list investigators' research interests, research services available in the state, information about scientific meetings, opportunities for funding, and current findings of U.S. EPA-related projects in our state.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):Much of the time and effort spent by the Program Director (Dr. Richard Kennedy) and Coordinator (Ms. Eszter Jacob) focused on administrative issues. State matching support was obtained through the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority (ASTA), and Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) were negotiated with the subrecipient sites to ensure appropriate transfer of direct and indirect costs from both federal and matching funds. Additional time and effort were spent reviewing expenditures and approving the payment of invoices submitted against the MOAs, and preparing requests for no-cost extensions that were required because of a delayed start date as well as technical and personnel issues that arose with one of the SEER projects. The MOA with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock was not finalized until October 8, 1999, with the state match being released on January 17, 2000.
During the course of this award, Dr. Kennedy also was asked by ASTA to present information regarding the U.S. EPA EPSCoR Program to state legislators. A poster describing progress to date was developed and presented. This is not a lobbying activity, but rather is organized by ASTA and presented periodically as a method of keeping our legislature aware of the important research being conducted by state colleges and universities.
The ACES Home Page was developed (http://www.uams.edu/aces/ 
) during the award
period. Progress on this project was somewhat delayed because of time spent
by Dr. Kennedy and Ms. Jacob on the administrative issues discussed above;
however, by the end of the award, the site was made available. Unfortunately,
initial response by environmental S&E personnel in the state was marginal,
and attempts were made to determine how the utility of the site could be improved.
Efforts to enhance the awareness and usefulness of the site were made, and
we continue to monitor its use.
As indicated in the objectives, Dr. Kennedy did attempt to identify additional private and federal sources of support that could be used to enhance Arkansas' competitiveness in environmental S&E. The economic climate in Arkansas during the award period diminished the chances of securing money from private and nonprofit sources, and the program did not lend itself to support by federal sources beyond those of the U.S. EPA. As indicated below, one of the SEER projects was funded individually by a federal agency. We continue to search for additional support.
Finally, the U.S. EPA EPSCoR Office monitored the progress of the SEER projects, as demonstrated by the attached reports. Although the success of individual projects varied, in general, the scientific outcomes were good. In total, the three SEER projects resulted in the publication of eight peer-reviewed manuscripts or reports, and seven presentations at regional and national meetings. In addition, the project entitled TCDD-Induced Insulin Resistance (PI—Philip A. Kern) received additional federal funding from the U.S. Air Force (project entitled TCDD-Induced Insulin Resistance, a contract with the Air Force Health Study of Brooks Air Force Base), which allowed the investigators to extend their research on dioxin toxicity to Agent Orange veterans.
Conclusions:The objective of promoting the competitiveness of environmental S&E in Arkansas was accomplished as a result of the research conducted by the SEER projects. Data obtained in each project were disseminated via peer-reviewed manuscripts and reports as well as by presentations at national meetings, and one of the projects was expanded through additional federal support. All of these results increased awareness of environmental research in our state, thus increasing our competitiveness for continued funding. The Web site, although still a "work in progress," is developed, and continuing efforts are designed to improve its utility and provide a site that promotes collaboration and scientific development for the state.
Supplemental Keywords:South Central Region, Arkansas, AR, 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, TCDD, TCDD-Induced Insulin Resistance, Arkansas Center for Environmental Studies, ACES, Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, ASTA, dioxin toxicity, Agent Orange, Air Force Health Study. , ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Geographic Area, Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, Health, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Risk Assessment, Risk Assessments, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Environmental Chemistry, pollution prevention, State, exposure assessment, clean technology, reproductive risk management, cleaner production, insulin resistance, human health risk, metal plating industry, comparative metabolism, metal finishing industry, exposure, assessment technology, human exposure, Arkansas
Relevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
Original Abstract