The EPA Environmental Research and Business Support Program has an immediate opening for a full-time Eco-Health Literature Review Analyst position with the EPA facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.
What the EPA project is about
EPA’s Office of Research and Development’s Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) national research program conducts research to help communities make better decisions to sustain a healthy society and environment. SHC provides useful science and tools for decision makers at the federal, regional, state, and community levels to help communities restore and revitalize contaminated sites and recover from and prepare for extreme natural events. The science of ecosystem services is a key component of SHC research efforts, as nature’s benefits to society include buffering natural and man-made hazards and supporting healthful and vibrant places to live, work, and play.
The role of ecosystem services in human health and well-being is a key research area for SHC and the Environmental Public Health Division, Epidemiology Branch, which contributes to the national SHC research plan. SHC’s Eco-Health Relationship Browser (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-eco-health-relationship-browser) is a popular and user-friendly tool that summarizes the scientific literature on eco-health linkages; it is under continuous development since its public release in 2014.
It is part of SHC’s EnviroAtlas decision and learning platform, a high-visibility research product also under continuous development.
What you will be doing
As a team member, you will support the update of the Eco-Health Relationship Browser (Browser) to include the publication years 2016 through 2018.
You will participate as a member of a multi-disciplinary research team that includes other student contractors and trainees. You may be asked to present work performed as a poster at a scientific conference, internal EPA seminar, and/or stakeholder workshop.
Required skills
•Demonstrated experience in scientific literature review and synthesis
•Expertise with Microsoft Excel and EndNotes software
•Strong written and oral communication skills
How you will apply your skills
•Locating and reading 150-200 research articles that have previously been identified as meeting broad inclusion criteria for the tool;
•Creating an EndNotes file in the format of previous files for this project and entering descriptive information about each publication as a unique record; Revising existing summaries in the Browser tool’s master Excel file to reflect the new material;
•Creating new information nodes in Excel as needed to incorporate any new health issues identified in the updated literature; and
•Supporting the addition of a new ecosystem field in the Browser to enable the inclusion of “blue spaces,” their ecosystem services, and health issues that have been linked to their provision or degradation. The addition of this new component will require a systematic literature review following the criteria outlined in the foundational Browser publication (Jackson et al. 2013. International Journal of Public Health 58:747-755).
Location: This job will be located at EPA’s facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Salary: Selected applicant will become a temporary employee of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $28.99 for hours worked.
Hours: Full-time
Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.
Expected start date: The position is full and expected to begin June 2019. The selected applicant will be a temporary employee of ORAU working as a contractor to EPA. The initial contract period is through May 14, 2020, with potential optional periods to follow.
Working conditions: This position will involve work in an administrative setting and is not expected to involve exposure to hazardous elements.
Questions: EPAjobs@orau.org do not contact EPA directly.
Program Information: www.orau.org/epa
•Have a Master’s degree in ecology, environmental public health, science communications, library science or a closely related field of study in the last 24 months, and
•Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.