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Final Report: VT's EPA EPSCoR SIP and SEER Project to Implement Initiatives to Increase the Competitiveness of the State's Academic Environmental Scientists and Engineers
EPA Grant Number: R827784E01Title: VT's EPA EPSCoR SIP and SEER Project to Implement Initiatives to Increase the Competitiveness of the State's Academic Environmental Scientists and Engineers
Investigators: Allen, Christopher W. , McIntosh, Alan
Institution: University of Vermont
EPA Project Officer: Winner, Darrell
Project Period: November 1, 1999 through April 30, 2002
Project Amount: $195,469
RFA: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) (1999)
Research Category: EPSCoR (The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)
Description:
Objective:The Statewide Improvement Plan (SIP) section of the Vermont U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program is described below:
The Stimulus Grants Program was initiated to allow Vermont scientists and engineers to assemble the exploratory background needed to develop a proposal for major federal funding; and enhance research in EPA-relevant issues in Vermont's research universities and 4-year colleges. Three new Stimulus Grants were awarded following a competition in fall 2001. Susan Sutheimer, Professor of Chemistry at Green Mountain College, and University of Vermont faculty members Donald S. Ross (Plant and Soil Sciences) and Jeffrey W. Hughes (School of Natural Resources) received new awards. In addition, University of Vermont faculty members Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux (Geography); David Fleming (Biomedical Technologies); and Beverley Wemple (Geography) continued their projects, with Dupigny-Giroux and Wemple submitting final reports in January 2002.
The Postdoctoral Fellowship Program was designed to provide human resources to move a University of Vermont environmentally relevant research program to a higher competitive level. The competition was widely advertised with all Deans, Chairs, and Directors being supplied with full details of the solicitation. The candidates were reviewed by our EPA EPSCoR advisory group, which consisted of EPA EPSCoR leadership and faculty members with research expertise in environmental research. The committee awarded funds for a postdoctoral fellow to Dr. J. Ellen Marsden, School of Natural Resources, at the University of Vermont. Dr. Marsden recruited and hired Mark A. Beekey, Ph.D.
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase (0) Program was designed to provide seed funds to the Vermont Science and Engineering entrepreneurial community to develop projects that could compete for federal Phase I awards in areas of environmental relevance. The solicitation for this competition was sent to 1,500 Vermont private-sector individuals and firms. The proposals were included in the panel review of all of Vermont EPSCoR's Phase (0) proposals. The panel consisted of scientists and engineers with a background in the areas proposed for support, state agency representatives, and persons with SBIR experience. Three awards were made: A.J. Rossman of Drake Solar Design, Bradley Eldred of Analytical Services, Inc., and John Amadon of Dog River Alternative Fuels.
The issue of Diversity Support (Women and Minorities) was of significant interest in the SIP component of the Vermont EPA EPSCoR program. There are challenges to the enhancement of ethnic diversity in Vermont because the state has a homogeneous population (97 percent Caucasian). Our approach to diversity enhancement involved awareness of the importance of this issue in SIP and Science and Engineering Environmental Research (SEER) awards and availability of funds to bring potential graduate students in this category to the campus for recruitment purposes.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):Using Marginal Tree Populations To Detect and Differentiate Climatic and Biogeochemical Change (Hughes)
For the tree species we studied (sugar maple [Acer saccharum]), there was evidence of decline rather than expansion within the uppermost 25 to 50 m of the sugar maple trees' current elevational distribution: sugar maple trees had noticeably sparse canopies, and radial growth was slow and declining. This was contrary to expectations. The decline in radial growth of trees was easily detected in cores from trees growing 25 to 50 m from the elevation limit and not from trees growing at the limit or at modal parts of the range. This surprising finding suggests that trees growing near their range margins-not at their range limits-may be the best early indicators of ecologically meaningful changes in the growing environment.
Baseline Date From a High-Elevation Watershed in the Green Mountains (Ross)
Stream-flow data were collected by installing the pressure transducer behind an existing V-notch weir. The pressure was calibrated to stream depth, which allowed calculation of flow. The data will be combined with similar data from another tributary of Brush Brook. The overall objective of our research was to better understand the effects on nitrogen deposition on watershed nitrogen losses. Another project is to examine nitrification processes in the soils of the watershed. The data from this project will be used to model the movement of nitrogen through the ecosystem and attempt to predict the effects of changes in the amounts of N in deposition. Additional funding will be sought to continue the sampling and chemical analysis of the stream.
Establishing Vertical Water Quality Baseline Data for Lake St. Catherine (Sutheimer). This project sought to establish a set of vertical water quality data to monitor chemical changes in the lake on three occasions during the winter of 2001-2002. Samples were analyzed for total phosphorus, pH, temperature, and oxygen. Good characterization of Lake St. Catherine, especially if zebra mussel infestation does not occur, will give some good indication of zebra mussel requirements or inhibitors beyond those already known.
Bone Lead Concentrations of Local Residents (Fleming). For the overall population surveyed, we found a cross-sectional average annual increase in bone lead concentration of 0.23 µg/g. This result is consistent with a recent study of residents of Southern Ontario, Canada. This apparent rate of increase with age is less than that observed in a British population, but greater than that observed in Northern Finland. These results may be interpreted as an indication of local environmental lead exposures. Notably, the rate of increase with age appeared to be higher in males than in females for the Burlington population.
Developing a Baseline for Monitoring Drought Stress in Forested Ecosystems in Vermont (Dupigny-Giroux)
Various combinations of these three components yielded important moisture observations. In using remotely sensed data as an input to a drought monitoring and mitigation scheme, scientists and policymakers will be able to better quantify the magnitude of the impacts in a given sector, almost instantaneously and without recourse to interpolation. The latter is of particular importance in Vermont, where spatial variations in the landscape are so rapid over small areas that generalizations often are flawed.
Sediment Flux and Water Quality in Vermont's Mountain Streams (Wemple)
Ranch Brook and West Branch watersheds showed a similar and expected positive correlation between total suspended solid (TSS) yield and discharge. Little information exists on stream flow and sediment yield in high-elevation basins in Vermont. The data collected during this project provide important baseline information on the dynamics of material yield in this landscape. The data, and efforts that follow from this project, will be used to develop predictive models to evaluate the potential impacts of high elevation development and should serve as an important baseline for evaluating impacts of proposed ski area development in the West Branch Basin.
Zebra Mussel Experiements (Postdoctoral Fellowship)
Our surveys of Lake Champlain indicate that zebra mussels are prominent in shallow bays containing sand, silt, and mud. Furthermore, zebra mussels were present in many bays containing aquatic macrophytes. In these bays, zebra mussels formed dense mats at the base of aquatic macrophytes, as well as attaching to stems within the water column. The presence of dense submerged aquatic macrophytes may facilitate the expansion of zebra mussels into the northern part of Lake Champlain, where they now are absent or in very low densities. The spread of exotic macrophytes may further compound the expansion of zebra mussels into habitats characterized by soft sediments.
The effect of zebra mussel colonies on infaunal invertebrates is not what one might predict. Infaunal invertebrate diversity and abundance are greater in soft sediments colonized by zebra mussel colonies than in adjacent areas lacking zebra mussels. The increase in diversity and abundance primarily is because of vertical migration by infaunal invertebrates into overlying zebra mussel mats. This migration of infaunal invertebrates into the zebra mussel mats may be a response to low oxygen in the substrate beneath zebra mussel colonies. However, our analyses also reveal that many individuals remain in the sediment beneath zebra mussel colonies. These data suggest that many infaunal invertebrates may be more resistant to impaired water quality than previously thought, or that they may easily adapt to changes in habitat structure.
The results of our foraging success experiments indicate that zebra mussel colonies on soft sediments decrease the foraging success of benthic feeding fish. An increase in percent zebra mussel coverage significantly reduced the number of chironomids removed during the foraging trial. Based on these data, we suggest that the spread of zebra mussels throughout Lake Champlain will impact populations of small benthic foraging fish species by decreasing available foraging area and reducing foraging success.
SBIR Phase (0) Solar Soil Vapor Extraction (Solar SVE) (Rossman)
The experiment is running smoothly. The heating and monitoring wells are set; the tracking photovoltaic (solar) array and wind turbine are generating electricity to heat the sediment; and the data acquisition (DAQ) sensors are installed, calibrated, and currently collecting data with all cables and wires protected in conduit and buried. One year of background (unheated) sediment temperature data have been collected, and the temperatures were measured at the control monitoring well. Sediment heating data will be downloaded monthly for the next year.
Research To Evaluate a Capsule Filter System to Field Concentrate Groundwater and Finished Water Samples for Human Enteric Virus Analysis (Eldred)
There currently are few options for convenient neutralization of chlorine during
sample collection. Syringe pumps are one option, but field-friendly chlorine
neutralization systems may represent an area for product development. Although
variable influent/reservoir results made recovery efficiency difficult to determine,
the filters clearly recovered viruses in the matrices examined. The flow rate
allowed by the limited amount of surface area in these capsule filters is inadequate
for real world sample collection. Further research should consider filters capable
of viral retention at flow rates 
1.0 liters per minute (LPM), which is
approximately 10 times the capacity of these units. Size exclusion media, including
hollow fiber ultra filters, should be examined, as should charged media.
Dog River Alternative Fuels, LLC (DRAF) (Amadon)
The byproduct has been characterized and found to be a potentially valuable soil amendment. Field trials were conducted on four agricultural sites or Treatment Blocks, where two rates of byproduct were topdressed following the first hay cut of 2001. A control, lime, and manure treatment was included in the experimental design of each Block. There were four replicates of each treatment within each Block. Because of adverse weather conditions (drought) that affected crop growth, only two of the four Blocks were sampled and assayed as proposed. The results were variable and suggest that topdressing on forage crops is not the most beneficial reuse, although soil test data demonstrated positive increases in pH, soil organic matter (OM), and potassium.
To compensate for the data loss from the effects of the drought, as well as to minimize field plot variability, a series of laboratory scale soil incubations was set up with treatments comparable to the field Blocks. Based on these results, DRAF believes that their byproduct does have beneficial reuse value, and methodologies for farm-scale use are being designed.
Diversity Support (Women and Minorities)
In the SIP Stimulus Grant component, two awards went to women, and one to a woman of color. This accounts for one-half of the total awards made in this program. Furthermore, the EPA EPSCoR postdoctoral award mentor was a woman. In the SEER component, the lead Principal Investigator of the three-person faculty team was a woman. Two women were brought to campus to interview for admission to the graduate program in Environmental Engineering using EPA EPSCoR funds.
Journal Articles:No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 5 publications for this project
Supplemental Keywords:climate change, watershed chemistry, lake water quality, lead, drought, sediment invasive species, solar energy, water quality, biofuels. , Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Water, Air, Scientific Discipline, RFA, ECOSYSTEMS, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Water & Watershed, climate change, Ecology, Ecological Risk Assessment, Air Pollution Effects, Atmosphere, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Ecological Monitoring, Watersheds, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecosystem Protection, Forestry, Ecology and Ecosystems, risk assessment, water quality, Global Climate Change, ecosystem indicators, forested watershed, landscape characterization, forest resources, ecological indicators, environmental monitoring, forest ecosystems, ecosystem impacts, Vermont, aquatic ecosystems, climate variability, ecosystem assessment, sediment transport, lake ecosysyems, soil vapor extraction, Lake St. Catherine, ecological assessment, forests, watershed assessment, climate change effects, nitrogen loading, EPSCOR, nitrogen deposition
Relevant Websites:
http://www.veggiediesel.com 
http://www.jhlumber.com
http://www.drakersolar.com
http://www.snr.uvm.edu/emarsden/zmsoftsediment.html
http://www.uvm.edu/EPSCoR/EPA.html
Progress and Final Reports:
Original Abstract