Introduction - Science For Environmental Protection: The Road Ahead - page 4

with a wide range of experts, particularly for integrating emerging work in so-
cial sciences and information technology with advances in exposure assessment
and risk assessment.
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AT THE
US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA has been aware of the implications of the rapid growth of scientific
data, concepts, and technical tools and has begun to incorporate many scientific
advances into its major activities. It has also made substantial efforts to compre-
hend the unprecedented complexities of emerging environmental problems and
to prepare to respond appropriately to the challenges that these developments
pose for both its research and its regulatory responsibilities. However, because
EPA is a regulatory agency and is not fundamentally a science agency, the role
EPA plays supporting science to protect the environment and human health can
sometimes be challenging.
FIGURE 1-1 The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment conceptual framework. Indirect
drivers of change (such as demographics, economic factors, science, and technology) can
cause changes in ecosystems, which in turn can have direct effects on human well-being.
These interactions can exist on local, regional, and global scales and can cause changes in
both the short term and long term. Direct and indirect feedbacks among drivers are com-
mon. For more information on this particular framework, see MEA 2003 and MEA 2005.
Source: Adapted from MEA 2003.