All are welcome to participate in the upcoming webinar. Please RSVP to Naomi Hirsch to get call-in information.
Next-generation air monitoring
By Gayle Hagler, PhD, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
Tuesday, December 10th, 12 noon PT, 3:00 pm ET
Soon you will be able to lounge on a bench in a public setting and use your smart phone to get real-time data on the air quality around you. It’s all part of a project being co-led by EPA scientists Ronald Williams and Dr. Gayle Hagler.
Air pollution measurement technology is advancing rapidly towards smaller-scale and wireless devices, with a potential to significantly change the landscape of air pollution monitoring. The U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development is evaluating and developing a range of next-generation air monitoring (NGAM) technologies, with potential applications including supplementing regulatory air monitoring networks, fenceline monitoring of source emissions, and personal exposure assessment.
An example recent effort is the EPA Village Green Project – a solar-powered system incorporated into a park bench that measures fine particles, ozone, and meteorology and streams the data to a publically accessible website. EPA also recently led multiple workshops to stimulate collaboration among sensor developers and air monitoring participants, as well as supported technology development through sensor performance testing.
This presentation will provide an overview of emerging air sensing technologies and discuss challenges and opportunities for future air monitoring.
On Oct. 16th, Dr. Paul Slovic visited Oregon State University to share and discuss issues related to risk communication with graduate students enrolled in the TOX 507/607 seminar. This term the seminar is co-lead by the Superfund Research Center’s Research Translation Core and Training Core.
Dr. Slovic, a founder and President of Decision Research, studies human judgment, decision making, and risk analysis. His research and expertise fit nicely with this term’s seminar focus on training students to communicate science and risk effectively to audiences outside of academia.
Some key points came out of the Q and A session with Dr. Slovic.
After you publish a scientific paper, focus on how you will frame that information to the public.How can you help your audience conceptualize the bottom line of the research? The facts never speak for themselves, which is why scientists need to “frame” their messages to the public.
All information is conveyed with a frame. Framing in science and risk communication can be viewed as positive or negative depending on who the audience is and what kind of information is
being presented. There is rarely neutral framing. For that reason, it is important to have a clear message thoughtfully framed to invoke a desirable response by your audience.
Create messages that resonate with your audience.
2) The role of emotions and uncertainty.
Understand that risk perception comes from our gut feelings. How you share information makes a difference, creates an image, and impacts a person’s perception of risk.
Our emotions are often tied to our motivation, positive or negative. Information will lack meaning if it does not invoke emotion.
If something is uncertain, people can interpret it the way that they want. (Example: When scientists began sharing studies that cigarette smoking caused cancer, the tobacco industry wanted to cultivate doubt, so they could keep their profits.). With certain topics, industry and others want to emphasize the unknowns and cast doubt.
When research studies are not definitive, help the public understand the strengths and limitations of that study. Frame the information so it is not biased, focusing on what the science predicts and the implications of that prediction.
Be sure to present the data the best you can if you think people are distorting the data.
3) Visuals make research real and relevant.
Visual images are more powerful than statistics. Visuals help the mind process information. Make your research real and relevant by using visuals that invoke emotion and foster scientific understanding.
Discussion with Dr. Paul Slovic in the TOX 507/607 seminar on Oct. 16, 2013
Find and share this seminar’s highlights and related articles on Twitter with hashtag#TOX607
Erin Madeen at the UC Entrepreneurship Academy, September 17-19, 2013 @ UC DavisThe UC Davis Entrepreneurship Academy was a unique learning experience that teaches the basics of intellectual property as well as marketing and launching a new business. While I am not currently interested in launching a company, this experience provided valuable information on how to maintain flexibility with intellectual property.
As scientists, especially in the SRP, we are always developing new methods and systems to answer our specific questions. Many of those techniques or systems are patentable. Our goal as a federally funded program supported by tax payers is to provide accurate data that can be used to develop environmental policy for a better society. I was not aware that technology used to generate that data is patentable, only in the instance that it was not described in the public domain prior to applying for a patent. Additionally, once a patent has been applied for, the specifics of the technology can be presented in the public domain as a paper, or a presentation.
Also attending the academy were several prior SRP students from UC Davis and UC Berkeley who were able to patent technologies with their respective universities as students and are now launching companies with the technology licensed through the university.
It was an interesting experience to see the traditional binary of industry or academic lines blurred.
Group photo of the participants at the UC Entrepreneurship Academy with Erin Madeen in the center.
We are excited to be hosting the ISPAC 2013 Conferenceon September 8-12, 2013, on the beautiful campus of Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis.
ISPAC 2013 will focus on the research of Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PACs) on multiple fronts of analytical measurements, toxicology, organic synthesis, human exposure and health effects, and environmental presences, sources, fate and transport. It is a forum that brings together researchers worldwide to communicate, learn and advance the field of PAC. In addition, we intend to have an exhibition involving chemical products, analytical instrumentations and services involving PACs.
Engage on Social Media!
We will be tweeting highlights during the conference at #ISPAC13. Be sure to use the hashtag when sharing! If you are unable to attend, we hope you will stay connected and engage on Twitter.
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