ExxonMobil is looking for an applied ecologist to join our team of environmental scientists at ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences Inc. (EMBSI). As a member of the EMBSI team, you will work alongside scientists and engineers around the globe to understand, research, and develop health, environmental and product safety solutions for ExxonMobil and the communities we serve.  This position can be located in Clinton, New Jersey or Houston, Texas.

Description and job requirements can be found in 

Environmental Scientist (exxonmobil.com)

HDC SETAC Board of Directors 2022 Election Results 

Board Members

Gina Ferreira USEPA Region 2

Gina Ferreira works in USEPA Region 2’s Land, Chemicals, and Redevelopment Division (LCRD) serving as the sole human health and ecological risk assessor for all the division’s programs mainly the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and TSCA PCBs.   She provides risk assessment technical assistance to RCRA sites in New Jersey and New York as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  Some high-profile sites that she is working on in the HDC-SETAC area include Chemours (former DuPont) Pompton Lakes Works, Chemours (former DuPont) Chambers Works/Deepwater, Exxon Bayway Refinery, Chevron Perth Amboy, and Picatinny Arsenal. Gina is also working on risk assessment issues related to compliance averaging and TPH fractionation and several Office of Research and Development (ORD) projects related to incorporating ecosystem services into the hazardous waste site remedial process. For HDC-SETAC, Gina began as a Board Member in 2007, acted as Vice President in 2009 and subsequently served as President and Past President, and started as the Secretary in 2012. An example of an overlap of her EPA work and SETAC occurred in 2016 when a paper that she co-authored titled Ecosystem Services as Assessment Endpoints for Ecological Risk Assessment as part of a HQ Risk Assessment Forum’s ORD Technical Panel was published in the SETAC journal “Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management.”  The article provides risk assessors and remedial managers a method to present further justification for taking actions to protect environmental resources based on benefits to humans.

Ying Wang, Ph.D., WSP USA Solutions Inc.

I am a lead geochemist and technical principal at WSP USA, where I serve as a technical task leader for several large Superfund contaminated sediment sites (e.g., Upper Hudson River, Lower Hudson River, Lower Passaic River, Newark Bay, and Newtown Creek). I hold a Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry. My professional experience covers a broad range of environmental investigation and remediation work, from ambient air quality monitoring and health effect assessment to groundwater transport modeling, sediment investigation and remediation. As a geochemist at WSP, my work has been focusing on applying various statistical methods to support remedial investigation, feasibility study, sampling design, remedial design, and environmental pollution forensics at contaminated sediment sites. I have authored or co-authored 27 peer-reviewed publications with over 6,000 citations. I am an active member of the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC) PFAS team where I helped updating the AFFF section of ITRC PFAS guidance document.

I have been involved in HDC SETAC since 2016. I have given one platform presentation in 2019 Spring meeting and one short course in 2022 Spring meeting. I will also give a presentation at the 2022 SETAC North America conference. I am particularly interested in sharing my experience in environmental chemistry and statistics. I like what HDC SETAC has offered to the scientific community, particularly the professional networking opportunities. I would like to serve as a Board member to support HDC SETAC’s mission in promoting research and supporting students. I would also be happy to assist with meetings and networking events as well as help increase the visibility of HDC SETAC within the region.

Student Representative

Anthony Sigman-Lowery, University of Delaware
I am a PhD Candidate at the University of Delaware, and I am interested in joining the HDC SETAC board as a student representative because my research interests align with your mission, and I believe that my community-building talents will be an asset to the board.
I am studying the fate and behavior of novel brominated flame retardants in aquatic environments. My research will be the first to experimentally investigate their dissolved organic matter and octanol-water partitioning properties as well as their historic deposition in Arctic sediments and presence in freshwater plankton. This research aligns with the mission of HDC SETAC, as understanding the physicochemical properties, distribution, and bioavailability of emerging contaminants is critical to evaluating their environmental toxicity and informing potential regulation. Additionally, I am one of the founding members of UD’s Queer & Trans Graduate Student Union. As co-chair, I have overseen the growth of our membership to almost 200 members, partnered with student organizations and departments on social and educational events, and advocated for more LGBTQ+ inclusive policies across the graduate college. This leadership role has provided me with significant experience as a community and event organizer, which I believe will be vital to the role of growing student membership and developing and executing student activities. HDC SETAC represents an amazing opportunity for students to meet a diverse range of environmental professionals, discover potential career pathways, and learn how their research can actually impact the world. I would be honored to join the board as a student representative and lend my skills to this mission.

2022 Joint Spring Meeting Writeup.pdf

Saint Joseph's University currently have a fall semester opening for an adjunct faculty member to teach a course entitled GL 275 Intro. to Environmental Geology. This course will be taught on the campus of the former University of the Sciences, now known as University City campus of Saint Joseph's University.  

Interested individuals should contact Kevin Wolbach using the information below.

Would you be interested in judging student posters on April 6th 2022?

The Hudson-Delaware Chapter of SETAC has sponsored awards for several years at the Delaware Valley Science Fair (DVSF).  HDC welcomes any members to help out with judging for our special awards.  

It’s not too late to register!

In the past, HDC SETAC has supported the Delaware Valley Science Fairs by providing judges and awards.

Judging takes place on Wednesday, April 6th, 2022, at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA and is a full-day commitment.  Instruction and support are provided, as well as continental breakfast and lunch.  Moreover, it provides professionals an opportunity to see how STEM education is progressing in our schools, and to contribute to that process.

If you are available or know someone who might be interested, please register through STEM Wizard.

Currently the following judges have registered:

Don Nazario, Normandeau Associates, Inc.

The U.S. EPA-Region 2 is recruiting for two, GS-7/9, Life Scientist/Physical Scientist/Environmental Engineer (Project Officer), in New York, NY, via the Pathways Recent Graduates Program.  Please use this link to apply by the Feb 14^th closing date: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/635634300.

Hudson-Delaware Chapter (HDC) SETAC has a history of supporting the Delaware Valley Science Fair (DVSF) each year by providing cash awards for students.  HDC SETAC members have attended the fair and judged posters under the Special Award Category.  We look for and award posters that show research that closely aligns with HDC SETAC and our vision.

This year, Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF) will continue to provide a forum for  regional high school students to share their work and compete in a science research competition.  Even with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the DVSF was able to conduct virtual science fairs in 2020 and 2021.  This year, DVSF is looking forward to returning to an in-person event.

See details below about the 2022 science fair.  We welcome any HDC SETAC members who would like to volunteer their time to help judge posters.  And we thank our 2021-2022 Corporate Sponsors who help to provide these awards.

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Judging day for the 2022 Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF) will be Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. We hope your schedule will allow you to participate again.  Registration is open now through STEM Wizard.  There is a link in the judges tab of the www.dvsf.org website or you can access this site directly at https://dvsf.stemwizard.com/public_site/judge_register. Please feel free to share this link with colleagues.  Additional information is posted on our website if they would like to learn more about this exciting and worthwhile program.

Over the past two years, we have had over 1700 students participate in our science fair and we expect that number to increase. We are always looking for mentors to work with the students.  If you are interested in being a mentor, please register for our Mentorship Program. More information is available here: https://www.dvsf.org/mentorship-program

Delaware Valley Science Fairs continues to support students and their interest in STEM.  If you would like to learn more, please find us on Facebook (Delaware Valley Science Fairs – DVSF), follow us on Twitter (@DVSFairs), and connect with us on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Hudson-Delaware Chapter (HDC) was very happy to see WSP join our corporate sponsors.  

Please Welcome Erica McKenzie as she officially returns to the HDC SETAC Board of Directors

Thank you to all who voted in the 2021 election

HDC SETAC maintains a board of directors that manage the Hudson-Delaware chapter.  The board is comprised of 10-13 voting members including a student member when available.  Board members when elected serve a 3-year term and have the option for a longer term if they volunteer for an executive position such as vice-president, secretary, treasurer, or communications director.

Board members take an active part in all aspects of HDC SETAC and provide direct input into the activities and direction of the local organization.  Each year positions open up on the board so please talk with an active board member about the possibility of joining us soon to help shape and maintain the success of the Hudson-Delaware Chapter of SETAC. 

Webinar: PFAS Strategic Roadmap - EPA's Commitments to Action: 2021-2024

EPA released its PFAS Strategic Roadmap on October 18, 2021. The roadmap lays out EPA's whole-of-agency approach to tackling PFAS and set timelines by which the Agency plans to take concrete actions during the first term of the Biden-Harris Administration. The Roadmap fills a critical gap in federal leadership, provides a basic floor of federal protection, and supports states' ongoing efforts to address PFAS.

Join members of EPA's PFAS Council – senior policy and technical leaders from across the Agency – to learn more about the actions EPA plans to take in the coming months and years to protect public health and the environment from the impacts of PFAS.

This is the first of two public webinars that provide an opportunity for interested stakeholders to hear directly from EPA experts and ask questions about the Agency's research, upcoming actions, and timelines to achieve them.

Read the Roadmap and learn more about recent and upcoming EPA work on PFAS.

The second webinar on November 2, 2021 will provide an additional opportunity for members of the public to learn more about EPA's PFAS Strategic Roadmap. Register for the November 2, 2021 event here.