Enhanced Scientific Leadership and Capacity in the US Environmental Protection Agency - Science For Environmental Protection: The Road Ahead - page 157

Building and enhancing capacity of young scientists to be innovators, col-
laborators, and systems thinkers with a transdisciplinary perspective will require
strong leadership, flexibility, and coordination. Given that a large percentage of
EPA scientists in ORD and other program offices are near retirement, it is criti-
cal for the agency to recruit a new generation of scientists who are well versed
in emerging tools (discussed in Chapter 3 and Appendixes C and D) and in
cross-disciplinary collaboration and who have been mentored by current scien-
tists. Mentoring will allow younger scientists to gain an understanding of years
of research and regulatory science from older scientists. One specific example is
in the field of statistics. Senior statisticians are important in EPA because they
have the knowledge and experience to mentor inhouse junior statisticians and
scientists, facilitate inhouse data analytic work, steer the agency to secure ap-
propriate expert support from outside, and ensure the quality of agency's statis-
tical work. The best type of person to fill this senior position not only has ad-
vanced statistical expertise, but also has substantive knowledge in other fields
and substantial teamwork experience.
To develop career paths and increase productivity of its newer scientists,
EPA needs to be vigilant in engaging them and fostering their professional de-
velopment. The committee supports ORD's efforts to clarify requirements for
promotion of scientists and engineers to senior levels (Anastas 2011). The pro-
motion criteria require substantial achievement that displays high scientific qual-
ity, relevance to EPA's mission, and impacts on decision-making. As is typical
of expectations in most academic institutions, scientists and engineers seeking
promotion to the GS-14 level are expected to be nationally recognized for their
contributions and those seeking promotion to GS-15 to have international recog-
nition. ORD's promotion criteria now highlight expectations for transdiscipli-
nary research, teamwork, and leadership (Anastas 2011).
EPA also needs larger and more senior cadres of scientists in fields in
which it wants to play a strong leading role among federal agencies (NRC
2010a). In a recent example, EPA's National Center for Computational Toxicol-
ogy (NCCT) was established to address the lack of toxicity data on the many
chemicals that are on the market and to do so in an efficient and cost-effective
manner (see Chapter 3 and Appendix C for more information about EPA's com-
putational toxicology program). Buoyed by the guidance and affirmation it re-
ceived from Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century (NRC 2007), ORD and NCCT
leadership set an ambitious path to address their charge. In its first 5 years, the
center has been able to break boundaries and build transdisciplinary collabora-
tions with other federal partners and the private sector both in the United States
and internationally. The science generated through the center's collaborations
has created momentum around computational toxicology research and influ-
enced research investments by other agencies and organizations, including the
chemical industry.
Optimizing resources, creating and benefiting from scientific exchange
zones, and leading innovation through transdisciplinary collaborations to ad-
dress the many challenges described in Chapter 2 will require forward-thinking