This Week in EPA Science

By Kacey Fitzpatrick

Heading back to school? Get a little science refresher by checking out some of our research! Here's
the latest at EPA.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Shore

Sengekontacket Pond-the same pond where Jaws was filmed 41 years ago-and the adjacent salt
marsh habitat at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary are threatened by both impaired water quality and
negative environmental changes, which have eroded almost ten feet of marsh in recent years. EPA
teamed up with a several other organization to build a living shoreline as a natural approach to salt
marsh restoration. Find out more about living shorelines in the blog The Use of Living Shorelines.

From Grasslands to Forests, Nitrogen Impacts all Ecosystems

To date, most U.S. biodiversity studies on the effects of nitrogen deposition had been focused on
individual sites, where fertilizer was applied and small plots were monitored through time. That's
why EPA researcher Chris Clark and a team of scientists from EPA and collaborators are exploring
the effects of nitrogen deposition in a first-of-its-kind study focused on multiple ecosystems across
the nation. The study was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. Read more about it in the blog From Grasslands to Forests, Nitrogen Impacts all
Ecosystems.

Researchers at Work
Research engineer Michael Tryby develops and evaluates engineering processes for EPA tools that
are used to protect public health and the environment. He currently works on our Stormwater
Management Model, which is a widely-used tool that supports Green Infrastructure initiatives

around the Nation and the world. Meet EPA Research Engineer Michael Tryby!

EPA Water Research Paper Earns Top Rank

A journal article by EPA's Tom Sorg was ranked #1 on the Top 20 list of published papers on arsenic
science in the journal Water Research. Read the journal article Arsenic species in drinking water
wells in the USA with high arsenic concentrations.

Presidential Environmental Education Awards

EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality recognized 18 teachers and 63 students
from across the country for their outstanding contributions to environmental education and
stewardship. Read more about the recent awards ceremony in this press release.

Need more science? Check out some of these upcoming events at EPA.

About the Author: Kacey Fitzpatrick is a writer working with the science communication team in
EPA's Office of Research and Development. She is a regular contributor to It All Starts with
Science and the founding writer of The Research Recap.