About the Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division

What We Do
Our Research
Management
Branches
Main Office Location

What We Do

The Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division (GLTED) focuses on developing new methods to predict the effect of chemicals on our nation’s freshwater ecosystems. The Division incorporates traditional and predictive toxicity using advanced tools to produce science to inform ecological risk assessments of chemicals by EPA’s Program Offices and Regions.

GLTED primarily focuses on freshwater coastal ecology, linking the ecological integrity of receiving waters to watershed effects, and developing indicators and sampling protocols for freshwater ecosystem assessments. GLTED uses an array of factors to assess and predict outcomes of clean up and revitalization efforts. Intrinsic to this division’s mission is building the functional resiliency of watersheds and coastal systems to human-driven flows of chemicals, sediment, and invasive species. 

Our Research

• ECOTOX Knowledgebase
• SeqAPASS
• SSD Toolbox
• Markov Chain Nest Productivity Model Estimating Tool
• Markov Chain Nest Productivity Model
• Adverse Outcome Pathways
• National Aquatic Resource Surveys in the Great Lakes
• Remediation to Restoration to Revitalization
• Ecosystem Services
• Dredged Materials Decision Tool (DMDT)

Management

Dale Hoff, Director

• Phone: 218-529-5011
• Email: [email protected]

Mary Hautajarvi, Program Operations Staff Chief

• Phone: 218-529-5060
• Email: [email protected]

Branches

• Ecosystem Services Branch (ESB): Joel Hoffman, Branch Chief
  ESB quantifies the outputs of freshwater ecosystems and how they contribute to human well-being and social welfare. ESB develops ecological, biophysical and socioeconomic indicators of ecosystem services, create models for translating ecosystem structure and function into human benefits which are used to quantify tradeoffs among services resulting from management actions including environmental remediation and restoration. 
• Systems Toxicology Branch (STB): Michael Hornung, Branch Chief
  STB conducts research in pathway-based approaches to predicting toxic effects of chemicals in ecological receptors.  Areas of emphasis include adverse outcome pathway development and quantification, extrapolation across chemicals, species and biological levels of organization and development of quantitative structure activity models.
• Molecular Indicators Branch (MIB): Adam Biales, Branch Chief
  MIB uses bioinformatic and molecular biology approaches to reduce uncertainty in assessing the ecological risk posed by single chemicals, chemical mixtures, and sources of chemical exposure.  MIB research characterizes responses in test species and in vitro systems across different levels of biological organization, from the intracellular level to the whole organism focused on the complexity of real-world exposures.
• Translational Toxicology Branch (TTB): Will Backe, Acting Branch Chief
  TTB conducts research providing expertise, methods and models for determining chemical effects in ecological receptors and interpreting those effects within the context of ecological risk assessment and other regulatory applications.  Areas of emphasis include dosimetry prediction and modeling, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, development of toxicity test methods, synthesis of toxicity test results, and population level effects of chemicals.
• Watersheds and Water Resource Branch (WWRB): Anna Hess, Branch Chief
  WWRB conducts research that links the ecological sustainability of receiving waters to watershed integrity. WWRB integrates new technology with evolving ecological methods in a systems approach to understanding the impacts of anthropogenic stressors on diverse water body types and multiple spatial scales. 

Main Office Location

US EPA ORD Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure
Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division
6201 Congdon Boulevard
Duluth, MN 55804
Contact: [email protected]