Scope of Design & Analysis Team Activities

• Document and communicate information on statistical design, analysis and implementation with clients
• Identify and perform research on statistical survey design and analysis
• Assist in development of designs for clients at the national, regional, and State/Tribal scale.
• Serve as design and analysis advisors to clients
• Work to assure that compatible, comparable designs are used in all Team activities
• Determine sample frames appropriate for Team use
• Develop and use common definitions of terms
• Maintain a linkage to research developments in survey designs, landscape and ecological indicators
• Provide a referral service for aquatic resource monitoring related information via web site
• Conduct technical transfer workshops on design & analysis topics
• Provide technical design and analysis support to activities such as development of CALM guidelines
• Liaison with EPA OW to provide design and analysis assistance as appropriate
• Work to assure consistent implementation of design characteristics in EPA OW data systems  Go to Top

In working with an EPA Region, State, Tribe, or federal agency on a monitoring design the type of technical assistance available includes:

• Participating in initial discussions to clarify the monitoring objectives, define the resource of interest, and measurements/indicators involved. This typically is an iterative process involving one or more meetings and email exchanges. Many of these topics will be revisited when a survey design is proposed. This process is iterative and keeping design objectives clear throughout the process is essential.
• Completing a probability survey design to meet the monitoring design requirements. This also includes providing documentation of how to use information and initial information required for subsequent statistical analyses.
• Answering questions that arise after initial site evaluations and field reconnaissance
• Providing statistical estimation assistance in form of providing statistical algorithms to complete standard statistical analyses using the weights that accompany the survey design. This includes procedures on how to adjust initial weights and construct standard estimates. 
• It is not expected that all the analyses and writing of a report would be done for a Client. The intention is to transfer the procedures to the Client so that they can do this. Almost always it is necessary to jointly do one or more typical analysis. The Team will conduct training courses for States and other Clients to aid this process.
• Completing the necessary statistical analyses, interpreting the results, and reporting monitoring program results remain the responsibility of the organization requesting the monitoring design.  Go to Top

The Team will develop and present workshops and short courses on probability-based monitoring program design. The workshops will be half-day or day sessions held in conjunction with national scientific meetings or at EPA Regions. The workshop intent is to give an overview of the role of probability-based survey design in monitoring programs and introduce the basic concepts required to implement and analyze the designs. The short courses will likely be 4-days with the objective of training others how to implement probability-based survey designs and how to complete population estimates. The short course will be linked to the Office of Water Watershed Academy.   Go to Top

The Design & Analysis Team collaborates with the Office of Water on issues related to aquatic monitoring design. This includes participating  in activities of the Office of Water Regional Monitoring Coordinators and collaboration with STORET and Assessment Data Base (ADB) development staff to ensure STORET provides information necessary to support the statistical analysis of probability survey designs and that ADB accepts the results from probability surveys. Go to Top

Contact Monitoring Design & Team Representatives:

Overall Team Coordinators: Tony Olsen Olsen.Tony@epamail.epa.gov & Walt Galloway Galloway.Walt@epamail.epa.gov

Office of Water representative: Susan Holdsworth Holdsworth.Susan@epamail.epa.gov

Web Site Development and Maintenance (aka:Webmaster): Dan McKenzie McKenzie.Dan@epamail.epa.gov