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Research Programs
Research Branches
Research at the AED focuses on ecological effects of human activities on coastal waters and watersheds of the Atlantic seaboard, with particular emphasis on effects of these activities on populations of fish, shellfish, and aquatic-dependent wildlife. This research is designed to improve the ability of the Agency, coastal States, and Tribes to:
- monitor and assess ecological condition of coastal ecosystems;
- identify waters that have been damaged and diagnose causes; and
- develop predictive models of population responses and ecological condition under varying combinations of stresses.
Contact: Wayne Munns
- Monitoring, Assessment, and Diagnosis of Ecological Condition
- Wildlife Risk Assessment
- Developing Stressor-Response Relationships
- Effects of Contaminated Sediments
This timeline highlights some of the programs and activities and displays some of the variety in research.
1972 Gonadal cancer was 1st reported in mollusks when found in clams from Narragansett Bay, RI
1976-1988 TheMussel Watch program was designed using mussels as sentinels of chemical contamination
1978 Staff went to France to assist the French Government after the Amoco Cadiz oil spill
1983 Field Verification Program was begun in collaboration with the US Army Corps of Engineers to validate test methods developed in the laboratory in the estuarine environment
1983 Complex Effluent Program tested toxicity in estuarine waters
1987 Quincy Bay Project evaluated damage to shellfish & flounder in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, inducing tumors in caged oysters
1987 PCB risks were evaluated in sediments in New Bedford Harbor, Mass.
1988 Ecological Risk Assessment protocol was developed in Allen Harbor, RI
1989 Staff responded to the World Prodigy oil spill in Jamestown, Rhode Island & to the Valdez oil spill in Alaska
1989 EPA’s Ecological Risk Assessment Framework was tested in the field in Portsmouth, NH
1990-2006 Monitoring of eastern coastal waters of the U.S. using probabilistic design was begun and continued through 2006.
1996 Staff responded to the North Cape Barge oil spill in Rhode Island