Innovation

2017 Regional-State Innovation Projects

EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) provided an opportunity for the EPA regions to submit proposals for projects using innovative approaches to address regional and state science priorities. The selected projects address environmental and human health problems in 14 states across all 10 regions through partnerships between ORD, regional offices, and states. They focus on a wide variety of issues from non-point source nitrogen pollution and volatile organic compound emission detection to harmful algal blooms and roadway air pollution near schools. The projects employed one or more innovation approaches to work on solutions to these problems: five use citizen science and crowdsourcing, one uses a challenge and prize competition, seven use advanced monitoring technologies, and one uses social science. These projects directly address challenges faced by state agencies and demonstrate how advancing science is essential to the work of states and EPA regions. Find out more information about the projects below.

2017 US Map showing locations of Regional-State Innovation Projects

EPA Region	Partners	Title of Project
Region 1 and 2	New York State Department of Health Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection The Nature Conservancy Barnstable County, MA Suffolk County, NY	Advanced Septic System Nitrogen Sensor Challenge
Region 3	West Virginia Department of Natural Resources Maryland Department of Natural Resources Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection	Detecting Sensitive Aquatic Species using Environmental DNA
Region 4	Georgia Environmental Protection Division	Low Cost Sensors for Real-time Continuous Water Quality Monitoring
Region 5	Great Lakes National Program Office Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	Using Citizen Science to Analyze Underwater Video in the Great Lakes
Region 6	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality	Novel VOC Sensor System for Fugitive Emission Detection
Region 7	EPA Office of Research and Development Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Kansas Department of Health and Environment	Use of Next-Generation Molecular Tools for Harmful Algal Blooms and Microbial Source Tracking to Support Watershed Restoration in Kansas and Nebraska
Region 8	Montana Department of Environmental Quality Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks	Montana’s Smith River Algae Crowdsourcing Project
Region 9	California Air Resources Board CalFire Bay Area Air Quality Management District Oakland Unified School District Urban ReLeaf Higher Ground of Oakland	Building Capacity to Measure Air Pollution Mitigation Strategies at Schools
Region 10	Oregon Dept. of Agriculture Oregon State University extension service Local conservation districts	Is it working? Barriers and Incentives to Nutrient Management for Southern Willamette Valley Farmers