2005 Scientific and Technological Achievement Award (STAA) Overview

2005 - Overview | About STAA | Level I Awards | Level II Awards | Level III Awards | STAA Honorable Mentions

The STAA review program is a long-standing partnership between the Agency and the EPA Science Advisory Board. Each year since 1980, Agency scientists and engineers have submitted nominated scientific and technological papers through an internal Agency review process managed by the Office of Research and Development (ORD).

The SAB convenes an experienced interdisciplinary group of scientists and engineers to evaluate the nominations. The SAB review panel produces a set of award recommendations which ORD uses to prepare the actual awards.

Recognition of the authors of the award-winning papers helps establish publication in peer reviewed journals as normative. In 2003 and 2004, the Agency honored those EPA authors receiving the highest level of awards at the annual Science Forum. While recognizing that there are limitations on what the Agency can do for those scientists and engineers who are not employees, the Panel would also like to see some form of recognition for the non-EPA co-authors of papers receiving awards, even if it is only a letter informing them that a paper to which they contributed had received an Agency award for its quality.

Publicity about the STAA program encourages employees to participate, adds luster to the awards, and makes the general public more aware of the quality and depth of EPA science. Making the public aware of the quality of EPA science and its publication in the peer reviewed literature improves the credibility of the science underpinning Agency decisions on important scientific issues of specific importance to EPA.

The Recommendations on the FY2004 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) Nominations report is available at: https://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/sab_05_005.pdf (PDF) (40 pp., 420K, about PDF)