Modeling Specialist at EPA - ORAU

The EPA National Student Services Contract has an immediate opening for a full time Modeling Specialist at EPA position with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.

The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.

What the EPA project is about

The Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE) supports ORD by providing solutions-driven research to rapidly evaluate the potential human health and environmental risks due to exposures to environmental stressors and ensure the integrity of the freshwater environment and its capacity to support human well-being.  CCTE researchers are developing and applying cutting edge innovations in methods to rapidly evaluate chemical toxicity, transport, and exposure to people and environments.  Within CCTE, the Chemical Characterization and Exposure Division (CCED) performs research to develop and advance analytical chemistry, computational chemistry, and cheminformatic approaches that are critical to the rapid characterization of the presence, structural characteristics, and properties of chemicals that underlie chemical exposure, environmental fate, toxicokinetics and toxicity.

As a team member, you will work within a multi-disciplinary research team and will provide technical support for the development of computational models of exposure to chemicals via multiple pathways, including contact with consumer products (e.g., upholstered furniture, apparel, consumer packaged goods) and contaminated environmental media (e.g., air, water).

How you will apply your skills

Specific duties will include, but are not limited to:

• Conducting internet and literature searches to compile datasets of exposure-related information (e.g., chemical concentrations in environmental and biological media, consumer product use);
• Conducting internet and literature searches of chemical-specific pharmacokinetics-related information (absorption rates, half-lives, volumes of distribution);
• Collecting, extracting, transcribing, and organizing data (e.g., in spreadsheets and databases);
• Identifying (via searches of peer-reviewed and government literature) simple, screening-level exposure scenarios for different exposure pathways relevant to PFAS;
• Implementing simple models into computational code using any number of open-source programming languages/environments (e.g., python, R);
• Providing route- and pathway-specific exposure estimates for selected chemicals;
• Curating data on consumer product chemical concentrations from Material Safety Data Sheets using EPA-designed curation tools (e.g. assigning products to exposure-related product categories, scraping data from files using scripts, or hand-curating chemical information and concentrations from PDF files).;
• Performing statistical analysis of data using Excel, the R statistical software package or other software; and
• Performing quality control of curated data (data entered by third party).

Communication-related duties will include:

• Compilation and summarization of data and literature references into organized computer files;
• Participation in team discussions on progress and planned activities;
• Interaction with other members of the development team as well as EPA scientists;
• Preparation of graphs and charts to display data and modeling results;
• Communication of results via presentation(s) and/or written reports; and
• Thorough documentation of all work as directed by EPA mentor to comply with EPA quality assurance procedures for transparency and reproducibility of work.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

• Demonstrated experience in computer programming languages (e.g., python, R, Matlab, SAS);
• Demonstrated education and/or experience using spreadsheets and/or statistical software (e.g. SAS, R, SPSS, etc.) to analyze data; and
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with others as part of a team.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

• Experience applying knowledge of exposure assessment and/or computing and mathematical modeling to the assessment of chemical exposures.

Location:  This job will be located 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 $32.01 for hours worked.

Hours: Full-time.

Travel: No overnight travel will be required.

Expected start date: The position is full time and expected to begin July 2024. The selected applicant will become a temporary employee of ORAU working as a contractor to EPA. 

For more information, contact EPANSSC@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

• Be at least 18 years of age and
• Have earned at least a master’s degree in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, applied sciences, environmental health, public health, exposure science, computer sciences, information technology, or a related discipline from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months and
• Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.

EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.