Office of the Science Advisor

The Office of the Science Advisor (OSA), led by the Agency Science Advisor and the Chief Scientist, provides leadership in cross-Agency science and science policy development and implementation to ensure the best possible use of science at the Agency. The OSA accomplishes this through these functions: the Science Policy Council (SPC), the Risk Assessment Forum (RAF), and the Program in Human Research Ethics (PHRE), Observation and Modeling (GEOSS, CREM, and FEM), and Environmental Technology.

The Science Policy Council mission is to integrate policies that guide Agency decision makers in their use of scientific and technical information.
The Risk Assessment Forum mission is to promote consensus on risk assessment issues and to ensure that this consensus is incorporated into appropriate Agency risk assessment guidance.
The mission of the Program in Human Research Ethics is to provide review, including peer review, of proposed and completed research with human subjects and the development of standards and education in the conduct of such research.
The observation and modeling-related programs seek to collectively measure air, water, and land in order to produce and manage better information about the environment; and promote consistency and consensus among environmental model developers and users.
The Environmental Technology Initiative seeks to catalyze the development, verification, and deployment of sustainable technologies that help solve environmental problems.