Rebecca Ann Efroymson
Landscape Ecology & Regional Analysis Group
Environmental Sciences Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036
Phone: (865)574-7397
Fax: (865)576-8543
efroymsonra@ornl.gov
Background/Education
- Ph.D, Environmental Toxicology, 1993, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- M.S., Environmental Toxicology, 1990, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- B.A., Biology/English, 1987, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA
Research Interests
All of my work relates to the interdisciplinary, applied field of ecological risk assessment. Several years ago, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory ecological risk assessment group performed risk assessments for contaminated burial grounds, ponds, streams, and watersheds on the Oak Ridge Reservation. My own work emphasized the evaluation of risks to plants, soil invertebrates and microbial processes from metals and organic chemicals. This work led to the identification of research gaps, i.e., tools that were needed to support ecological risk assessments, such as bioaccumulation models and ecotoxicity benchmarks. Lately, our risk assessment group has been supporting the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to develop fate, transport and exposure models; to incorporate large-scale spatial considerations into risk assessments; and to develop frameworks for ecological risk assessment of various stressors. I am particularly interested in comparative risk assessment, and I am always interested in doing science to support regulatory needs.
