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About STAA
The EPA’s STAAs promote and recognize scientific and technological achievement by EPA employees. STAA is among the most prestigious of EPA scientific award programs.
WHAT IS STAA? The STAA program is an agency-wide competition sponsored by the Office of Research and Development (ORD) that recognizes outstanding scientific and technological papers published by EPA employees. Each year since 1980, EPA scientists and engineers have submitted their publications to a panel convened by EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB convenes an experienced group of scientists and engineers who review and evaluate the nominations. The SAB review panel then produces a set of recommendations that ORD uses to select the actual awards.
WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY? To be eligible, the nominated research must be published in a peer-reviewed journal, initiate or revise a scientific principle or procedure, and be recognized as a major achievement within its field of study. Publication date limits are set each year at the time of the formal announcement. The competition is EPA-wide and only EPA employees are eligible. Each award cycle identifies several categories to recognize for that particular year. In the past, categories have included:
- Control Systems and Technology
- Ecological Research
- Health Effects Research and Human Health Risk Assessment
- Monitoring and Measurement Methods
- Transport and Fate
- Review Articles
- Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration
- Integrated Risk Assessment
- Social Sciences
- Environmental Futures
- Environmental Statistics
HOW DOES STAA WORK? Four award levels are granted in each research category:
- Level I: $5,000, a congratulatory plaque, a letter of appreciation, and a certificate.
- Level II: $2,500, a letter, and a certificate.
- Level III: $1,000, a letter, and a certificate.
- Honorable Mention: a letter and a certificate.
Monetary awards are distributed according to each author’s contribution to the total effort.
HOW TO APPLY: Application procedures and materials, as well as information on past awards, can be found on: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/staa/annual/2008/current_comp.html.
CONTACT: Maggie Breville (breville.maggie@epa.gov), U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC; Telephone: 202-343-9779; Fax: 202-233-0681.