PRESIDENT’S INVITED COLUMN
I invited Barry Nussbaum of the EPA to write an article describing the activities in statistics at the EPA because there was some concern that
many statisticians don’t know what various agencies do. Certainly, a few words won’t fully describe all the activities of an agency, but they may
interest you in contacting him or others at his agency for more information.
~Tony Lachenbruch, ASA President
Statisticians and the EPA: What’s the
Connection?
Barry D. Nussbaum, Chief Statistician, USEPA
T
he EPA is a federal regulatory agency charged with protect-
ing human health and the environment. So what is the role
of a statistician, and how does it differ from statisticians else-
where? Some of the observations might surprise you.
With Whom Do We Work?
For reasons that must date back to the year Congress passed the
Law of Large Numbers, statisticians seem to be considered the folks
who sit in some back room and derive joy in analyzing data, try-
ing to find something “significant.” I recognize that to many, our
profession is one in which deviation is a standard. But, here at the
EPA, we are not in the back room. The problems are very real and
very applied.
You are a member of a team usually charged with investigating
policy directions, analyzing regulations, or supporting enforcement
actions. It is imperative you learn the concerns (and nomenclature)
of others on the team. Yes, that means going out on a limb to know,
Barry D. Nussbaum and ASA President Tony Lachenbruch
understand, and integrate the legal, engineering, scientific, eco-
nomic, and policy perspectives of the problem. The statistician will of bacteria; and evaluating airport de-icing fluids. The appli-
undoubtedly be examining data and information pertinent to the cations are quite varied, and they are in all the areas of envi-
problem and must present the analysis in a cogent, understandable, ronmental protection.
and relevant manner. This explanation (especially to nonstatisti-
cians) is crucial. I often think the term “explanatory power” when
How Do We Coordinate?
used in the context of an analysis of variance to describe the percent-
With statisticians scattered throughout the EPA’s programs, labs,
age of variance of one variable due to another is child’s play com-
and regions, how do we stay connected? To a large degree, that is
pared to the explanatory power required to concisely and accurately
my job. There are several activities we sponsor to enable the statis-
explain complex statistical arguments to the rest of the team.
tical community to interact with each other, despite the disparate
location of many. We have a directory of employees in statistics
What Do We Do?
and related fields. We hold a monthly teleconference to discuss
As we are part of project teams, EPA statisticians are widely scat- upcoming events; highlight problem areas that might affect sev-
tered throughout the offices of the EPA, supporting our air, water, eral people; and share career opportunities, including openings at
pesticide, toxics, or research programs. Examples of what we do the EPA. We have two “in-person” meetings a year, one coordinat-
include designing surveys for a variety of situations, such as nation- ed with our quality staff and the other coordinated with our GIS
al aquatic assessments or requirements of emergency coordinators; community. We sponsor academic guest lectures, workshops, and
attributing risk to environmental stressors; developing experimental seminars. We encourage participation in professional functions of
designs to assess genetically modified organisms; predicting ozone the ASA and Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology. We
levels; recalling cars for excess emissions; designing and imple- offer consulting services within the EPA. We encourage affiliation
menting a motor vehicle tampering survey; reviewing correlations and mentoring programs with universities. We represent the EPA
between blood lead and environmental lead; modeling occurrence on the Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy.
2 AMSTAT NEWS MAY 2008
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