GRO

Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Student Fellowships Newsletter 

TheForum

Issue 2, 2005

What Is It?

The Fellowship Information Inventory was recently created to help the EPA stay connected to

its former and current fellows in the STAR and

GRO Fellowship programs. In response to

Congressional inquires about the success of

these two fellowship programs, this online information database helps track important measures

of success for the fellows and the program.

Using information from the fellow’s application

and file, EPA staff have created individual pages

that can be accessed via the Internet only by a specific fellow. To access and update their inventory

pages, fellows can visit the Information Inventory

website at http://www.scgcorp.com/fellowship/

index.asp and/or the new users page at http://

www.scgcorp.com/fellowship/new_fellow.asp.

GRO Fellows in the Information Inventory

At the New Users Page, fellows use their fellowship identification number (GAD ID) beginning

with “U” and followed by six numbers to retrieve

their records (i.e., U916000). Then, fellows create

a personal username and password to login and

access their individual data pages. The New Users

Page also provides specific instructions for

updating information and obtaining additional

references on using the Information Inventory.

Within an individual record, different sections

contain fellowship, biographical, and contact

information from the fellowship file. More

importantly, the EPA needs all GRO fellows to

update information on their post-fellowship

activities, such as graduate studies, employment, and scientific publications or awards.

There is also room to add or edit termination

comments on the administration of the program

and retrospective comments on the fellowship.

In this issue

1 GRO Fellow Sacoby Wilson 

1 Introduction to the Fellowship Information Inventory

The Fellowship 

Information Inventory 

Inventory—continued on page 2

Sacoby—continued on page 2

GRO Fellow Sacoby Wilson

Sacoby Wilson was focused and determined

when he started his undergraduate work. He

had a master plan. He knew that he wanted to

pursue an academic career beyond undergraduate school and, to do this, he needed a multitiered approach to getting the skills he would

need. Sacoby created his own program at Alabama A&M. He was a Biology major with a

focus on Ecological Toxicology and a minor in

Environmental Science. Academically, Sacoby’s

course of study was focused enough to be relevant and broad enough to provide him with a

range of skills. The second part of his plan

was to get an internship every year so that he

could meld his academic pursuits with practical

applications. When he ran across information

on the EPA’s GRO program, it made sense for

him to apply. Given the opportunity to get

funding for school – combined with a guaranteed summer internship after his junior year –

this program was perfect for Sacoby. In the

summer of 1996, Sacoby interned with the Air

and Toxics section of the EPA’s Region 4 

in Atlanta, GA. His main project was a risk

assessment of non-methane organic compounds in the region. He also worked on a

study that assessed heavy metals and health

effects in Tennessee.

During his internship, Sacoby gained a deep

respect for those working on risk assessments

and health exposure risks at the EPA. He saw

firsthand how difficult it is to work at 

the EPA when the burden of proof is on 

the scientists, and all too often the offices

doing this work are

understaffed and

overburdened. Despite these challenges, there are 

a dedicated many

who come in to

work everyday because they believe in their work and their

Agency.

For Sacoby, this internship was an opportunity

for him to learn more about air pollutants and

sources of air pollution. He also gained the

skills needed to do health exposure and risk

assessments, skills that he continues to use

today.

This summer, Sacoby gained his MS/PhD from

the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

in Environmental Science and Engineering Environmental Health Sciences. During part of

his graduate studies, Sacoby had a different

EPA fellowship from the Science to Achieve

Results (STAR) program. Going back to the

EPA for funding, Sacoby was awarded a STAR

fellowship for part of his graduate work. He

studied environmental monitoring and spatial

temporal mapping and estimation of atmospheric ammonia near industrial pork operations. For his dissertation, he measured ammonia (a major air pollutant) emitted from confinement houses and the storage lagoons 

near where people live and work. Most work in

this area has been done on the pork farms
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themselves and not in the surrounding areas

and towns around the farms where people work

and live. Sacoby used passive diffusion tubes to

monitor areas around schools and homes near

the pork operation. He mapped out the data

using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

to look at the distribution of ammonia in space

and time.

Never one to limit himself, Sacoby worked with

The West End Revitalization Association on

Environmental Justice during his time in graduate school, where he dealt with health disparity

issues for communities of color in Mebane,

NC. In addition, he worked with Dr. Steve

Wing’s National Institute of Environmental

Health Science, funded on a grant that looked

at community health effects of intensive hog

operations (CHEIHO). In 2005, Sacoby was

chosen as an Environmental Leadership Fellow

with the Environmental Leadership Program

(ELP). ELP is an organization that brings leaders from diverse backgrounds to work for a just

and sustainable future.

In September, Sacoby begins his post-doctorate

work as a fellow with the Robert Wood Johnson

Health and Society Scholars program at the

University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.

He will be working on community-based participatory research for environmental public health.

Sacoby is inspired by what he does, because his

work allows him to focus on the ideas of diversity, equity, and justice. If this is a goal to which

you aspire, Sacoby recommends that when you

go into your internship experience, pour your

soul into it. This will allow you to maximize

your experience. Internships are all about

exposure and relevance; finding this balance

will help to provide a foundation for your

career. Sacoby also recommends that if you are

planning to go to graduate school, look for your

own external funding sources (such as the

EPA’s STAR fellowship program). Having your

own external sources of funding allows you to

do innovative, creative, multidisciplinary, outof-the-box research, and allows you to create

and design the program you want.

The Information Inventory and You

Whether you are an alumni or current GRO fellow, it is imperative that you login to the Fellowship Information Inventory and update your

information as soon as possible. This information is crucial for helping EPA staff keep in

touch with you in a timely manner. It will also

help us respond to requests from other offices

or Congress. Updated information on your

post-fellowship activities and contributions to

the environmental field serve as important performance measures for the GRO Fellowship

program.

Under the Fellowship’s terms and conditions,

you are required to provide updated information

during and for a number of years after your fellowship ends. We hope you will look beyond the

requirement aspect and update your information

to help continue this program. If you have any

questions about the Fellowship Information

Inventory, please consult the Web site for more

information or e-mail fellowsinventory@epa.

gov for assistance.

Sacoby—continued from page 1 Inventory—continued from page 1