SFS Annual Meeting

5/21/2019  |   09:00 - 09:15   |  253 AB

AN INTRODUCTION TO NOVEL TOOLS FOR SCOPING AND PROBLEM FORMULATION TO FURTHER TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE The development of environmental assessments is a complex process, integrating and synthesizing scientific information from multiple sources across disciplines and scales to inform a decision. The initial phases involve scoping and problem formulation. While much of the focus of translational science has been on the conveyance of information to stakeholders and decision makers at the end of the process, translational science also has critical inputs at the beginning. Stakeholder involvement during scoping clarifies needs and formulates expectations. Novel applications of tools facilitate this process. For example, conceptual models are used to frame and refine questions similar to PECO (Population, Exposure, Comparator, Outcome) statements in human health systematic reviews that help focus stakeholder discussions. Similarly, systematic maps of the literature elucidate critical gaps. Current literature screening tools are geared towards human health issues, though categorization of the broader ecological literature could easily be accomplished. These tools can further scoping and problem formulation by integrating scientific information at the outset of an assessment to lead stakeholders through a transparent process.

Britta Bierwagen (Primary Presenter/Author), US EPA, bierwagen.britta@epa.gov;


Scot Hagerthey (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, hagerthey.scot@epa.gov;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/21/2019  |   09:15 - 09:30   |  253 AB

BUILDING EFFICIENCIES INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OZONE INTEGRATED SCIENCE ASSESSMENT-ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs) are developed as part of National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) reviews. The ISAs identify, evaluate, and integrate the breadth of evidence to yield conclusions on the causal nature of air pollutant-related effects on human health and welfare and provide the scientific foundation for the policy decisions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently initiated the latest review of the Ozone NAAQS under an accelerated timeline and has modernized its systematic review methodologies to streamline assessment development. This has included the use of Population, Exposure, Comparator, and Outcome (PECO) statements to guide screening of the potentially relevant ecological literature, employed SWIFT-ActiveScreener for more efficient title/abstract screening, and generated systematic evidence maps to visualize the magnitude and diversity of evidence across ecological endpoints, study designs, and geographic locations. Implementation of these methods increased the consistency and efficiency of full-text review and data extraction and will ultimately improve evidence integration and synthesis as the Draft Ozone ISA is developed. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the EPA.

Jennifer Nichols (Primary Presenter/Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, nichols.jennifer@epa.gov;


Tara Greaver (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, greaver.tara@epa.gov;


Jeffrey D. Herrick (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, herrick.jeff@epa.gov;


Meredith Lassiter (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency , lassiter.meredith@epa.gov;


Ryan Jones (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, jones.ryan@epa.gov;


Emmi Felker-Quinn (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency , felker-quinn.emmi@epa.gov;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/21/2019  |   09:30 - 09:45   |  253 AB

NOVEL METHODS FOR TARGETED LITERATURE SEARCHING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS The identification of relevant literature for ecological reviews or meta-analyses is time-consuming, especially for assessments with broad, multidisciplinary scope. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepares Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs) to evaluate effects of criteria air pollutants, such as nitrogen and sulfur oxides and particulate matter, which contribute to nitrogen and sulfur deposition to ecosystems. The gold standard for literature collection in ecological systematic review is keyword searching within databases, but keyword searches can collect hundreds of thousands of references, precluding complete review by subject matter experts in pursuit of evaluating relevant research. To aid in systematic review of ecological endpoints, EPA has utilized two tools from information science: citation mapping and automatic topic classification. Both tools use an existing set of references to identify new relevant literature based on bibliographic information or word frequency/patterns. These methods have allowed experts to identify relevant material more efficiently. Furthermore, these tools are broadly applicable beyond ISAs and stand to benefit other complex environmental assessments. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the EPA.

Ryan Jones (Primary Presenter/Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, jones.ryan;


Jennifer Nichols (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, nichols.jennifer@epa.gov;


Danielle Moore (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, moore.danielle@epa.gov;


Emmi Felker-Quinn (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency , felker-quinn.emmi@epa.gov;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/21/2019  |   09:45 - 10:00   |  253 AB

THE FRESHWATER HEALTH INDEX AS A TOOL FOR TRANSLATIONAL FRESHWATER SCIENCE: APPLICATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA AND ASIA The Freshwater Health Index (FHI) is a framework capable of characterizing freshwater systems at the river or lake basin scale as dynamic socio-ecological networks. The framework helps end-users transform data into simple, intuitive indicators that cover human water uses, the effects of these uses on freshwater ecosystems and, the role that governance and stakeholders play in sustainable and equitable delivery of services. Constructing the FHI requires convening a full range of stakeholders at the beginning, and throughout the assessment process, to scope basin-specific information needs, develop scenarios, and jointly interpret results. This presentation explores how the FHI can facilitate translational freshwater science through its capacity to make scientific knowledge tangible and actionable not only to policy makers but also to a broader group of stakeholders. We show that the application of the FHI in seven countries over the past three years has enabled the creation of a structured iterative process for stakeholder engagement. This process helps foster understanding on the contributions of healthy ecosystems to water-related services, discussions of problems in the water governance system, and consideration of differing priorities and tradeoffs.

Derek Vollmer (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, dvollmer@conservation.org;


Kashif Shaad (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, kshaad@conservation.org;


Nick Souter (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, nsouter@conservation.org;


Sarah Hauck (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, shauck@conservation.org;


Natalia Acero (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, nacero@conservation.org;


Bruno Coutinho (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, bcoutinho@conservation.org;


Eddy Mendoza (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, emendoza@conservation.org;


Ivo Encomenderos (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, iencomenderos@conservation.org;


Maria Clara Marques (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Conservation International, mmarques@conservation.org;


Lina Zuluaga (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Independent, linazzuluaga@gmail.com;


Octavio Rodriguez (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Independent, octaviorodrigu@gmail.com;


Maira Bezerra (Primary Presenter/Author), Conservation International, mbezerra@conservation.org;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/21/2019  |   10:00 - 10:15   |  253 AB

USING CONCEPTUAL MODEL DIAGRAMS AS LITERATURE SCREENING AND EVALUATION TOOLS A key part of the problem formulation phase of environmental assessment is the development of conceptual model diagrams. These diagrams, which explicitly illustrate hypothesized pathways between sources, stressors, and responses relevant to the focal issue, are used in scoping and structuring the assessment. These diagrams also can provide a useful framework for initial evaluation of the literature-based evidence relevant to each pathway, to identify the available body of evidence. As part of a project examining potential drivers of increasing phosphorus concentrations in lakes, we developed a series of conceptual model diagrams. We then used these diagrams to structure a rapid literature screening process that quickly evaluates the available literature in a standardized, transparent manner. Standardized literature database searches were conducted for each pathway in a diagram; for each pathway, a set number of returns was screened at the title/abstract level to identify papers that explicitly evaluated or quantified relationships between the variables in that pathway. Ultimately, this process generated a “heat map” across the pathways, highlighting knowledge gaps and hotspots across the focal issue and helping to more effectively focus the assessment (and potentially future research).

Kate Schofield (Primary Presenter/Author), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, schofield.kate@epa.gov;


Micah Bennett (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, bennett.micah@epa.gov;


Sylvia Lee (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, lee.sylvia@epa.gov;


Meridith Fry (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, fry.meridith@epa.gov;


Stephen LeDuc (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Environmental Protection Agency, leduc.stephen@epa.gov;


Tammy Newcomer-Johnson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US EPA, Newcomer-Johnson.Tammy@epa.gov;


Emily Meehan (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US EPA, meehan.emily@epa.gov;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.