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Environmental Modeling and Exposure Assessment FacilitY

The primary goal of the Environmental Modeling and Exposure Assessment Facility (EMEAF) is to facilitate the research efforts of Center investigators by providing a variety of services and equipment needed to understand the relationship between contaminants and other agents found in rural environments and their impact on human health. The EMEAF accomplishes this goal by offering Center investigators:

  • Aid in research design, grant writing, and data analysis
  • A cost-effective instrumentation lending service
  • Guidance on modeling and display of contaminants and affected populations
  • Expertise in measuring environmental contaminants

Specific Aims

Given the exposure hazards faced by residents and workers in rural areas such as chemical and biological agents that exacerbate asthma, it is essential that coordinated, interdisciplinary studies be conducted to determine how to best protect and enhance the health of rural residents. These studies will necessarily involve research design; state-of-the-art instruments for measuring contaminant concentrations; methods for assessing typical time-weighted-average and extreme exposure levels; and statistical methods for evaluating data. The EMEAF has been created to address these and other Center needs through the following specific aims:

  • Support EHSRC research cores and pilot studies with exposure assessment equipment and training
  • Enhance resources and expertise for modeling and mapping airborne contaminants to better elucidate the relationship between those contaminants and human health effects
  • Offer expertise in the measurement and modeling of all sources of environmental exposures (air, water, and ground) to facilitate multidisciplinary research among EHSRC investigators
  • Provide expertise and facilitate interaction in the continuum of exposure assessment and statistical analysis
  • Train researchers in modern geo-spatial technologies and methodologies to compute time-space varying exposure estimates
  • Develop improved computational models to estimate human lung behavior and the deposition of particles in the lung

EMEAF Leadership

Director: Patrick T. O'Shaughnessy, Ph.D.
Analytical Chemistry Specialist: Hans-Joachim Lehmler, Ph.D.
Aerosol Measurement Specialist: Thomas M. Peters, Ph.D.
Exposure Assessment Specialist: R. William Field, Ph.D.
Computational Fluid Dynamics Specialist: Ching Long-Lin, Ph.D.

Members

  • Kevin Kelly, PhD
  • Ralph Altmaier, MS
  • Travis Kleinschmidt, BS