Stanley L. Olsen
Chair of Moral Values

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Augie Values

1999-2000

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Dr. Veith directs the EPA ecological research facilities located at Corvallis and Newport, OR, Duluth, MN, Grosse Isle, MI, Narragansett, RI and Gulf Breeze, FL. Collectively, these 600 federal scientists and support staff are developing biological criteria needed to protect our ecological resources. Using the rigors of risk assessment as a framework, the program is studying the fundamental ecological processes that influence the capacity of ecosystems for self-renewal. Recent hires including post doctoral appointments have included specialists in freshwater and marine ecology, forest and landscape ecology, population dynamics, metapopulation models, coral reef ecology, toxicology, molecular biology, GIS specialists, and chemists.

Education:

B.S., Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD; Chemistry, 1966
Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; 1967
M.S., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Water Chemistry, 1968
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Water Chemistry, 1970

Previous Positions:

1970-1972: Assistant Professor, Water Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 1970, I was asked to join the UW-Madison faculty to teach water chemistry and chemical oceanography, as well as to continue my research on PCBs and other toxic chemicals in the environment. Having first identified PCBs in the Great Lakes, it was clear that PCBs and dioxins/furans were having major impacts on the environment. However, the no-effect levels were 10,000 times lower than analytical detection levels and my research turned to ultra-trace analysis.

1972-1981: Research Chemist, US EPA, National Water Quality Laboratory, Duluth, MN.

The Duluth laboratory was the first in the U.S. to buy new GC/MS technology and I joined the government to develop water quality criteria for PCBs and develop methods for dioxins. I was the technical case coordinator for the landmark PCBS litigations against General Electric (Hudson River) and Outboard Marine Corp (Waukegan Harbor). These cases ultimately led to a ban on PCB production. During this period, the Toxic Substances Control Act was written, which created a need in EPA to develop predictive methods for identifying hazardous chemicals without test data.

1981-1984: Chief, Toxic Substances Branch , US EPA, Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth, MN.

The quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) that were developed in those early days led to formation of formal research programs to develop computer simulations for hazard identification. I led this group in the development of some of the first computer programs to calculate important chemical behaviors using only the chemical structure instead of bioassays. These methods were later incorporated into the risk assessment methodologies used worldwide.

1984-1995: Associate Director and Laboratory Director, US EPA, Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth, MN.

The Duluth laboratory focused a $15M research program, approximately 100 federal scientist and 150 collaborators on the freshwater ecology and ecotoxicology issues of the U.S. The program developed all of the water quality criteria for EPA, developed the science of wildlife risk assessment, and applied the principles of landscape ecology to the ecosystems of the Great Lakes, Great Plains, and Great Rivers. This research supported new approaches for evaluating the sustainability of the uses of natural resources.

Professional Activities:

EPA Science Council, U. S. EPA Office of Research and Development, 1995-present
Steering Committee, EPA/ECC Program on Toxic Chemicals, European Chemical Bureau
Advisory Board, International Workshop on QSAR
US/USSR Exchange Program, Project Leader with Institute of Inland Waters
QSAR advisor to German EPA, Schmallenburg, DRG
Visiting scientist in Chemical Inspection and Testing Institute-Japan:
Tokyo, Kerume, and Hita, Japan People's Republic of China/ORD Scientific Exchange Program
Chemical advisor on environmental criteria: World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Selected Publications:

Linthurst, R.A., Mulkey, L.A., Slimak, M.W., Veith, G.D. and Levinson, B.M. 2000. Ecological Research in the Officeof Research and Developement at the U.S. EPA. Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 19(4):1222-1229.

Mekenyan, O.G., G.T. Ankley, G.D. Veith and D.J. Call. 1995. QSAR for photoinduced toxicity of aromatic compounds. SAR and QSAR Environ. Res. 4:139-145.

Veith, G.D., McKenyan, O.G., Ankley, G.T. and Call, D.J.: 1995. QSAR evaluation of -terthienyl phytotoxicity. Environ. Sci. Technol., 29(5):1267-1272.

Veith, G.D. and McKenyan, O.G. 1993. Estimating the aquatic toxicity of soft electrophiles. Quant. Struct. Activity Relat., 12:349-356.

Veith, G.D. and Broderius, S.J.1990. Rules for distinguishing toxicants that cause type (I) and type (II) narcosis syndromes. Environ. Health Perspect., 87:207-211.

Veith, G.D., Lipnick, R.L. and Russom, C.L. 1989. Toxicity of acetylenic alcohols to the fathead minnow: narcosis and proelectrophile activation. Xenobiotica, 19:555-565.

Veith, G.D., B. Greenwood, R.S. Hunter, G.J. Niemi, and R.R. Regal. 1988. The intrinsic dimensionality of chemical structure space. Chemosphere 17:1617-1630.

McKim, J.M., Schnieder, P. and Veith, G.D.1985. Adsorption dynamics of organic chemical transport across trout gills. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol., 77:1-10.

Veith, G.D., D.J. Call, and L.T. Brooke. 1983. Structure-toxicity relationships for the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas: Narcotic industrial chemicals. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 40:743-748.

Veith, G.D., DeFoe, D.L. and Bergstedt, B.V. 1979. Measuring and Estimating the bioconcentration factor of chemicals in fish. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can., 36:1040-1048. CITATION CLASSIC in Current Contents

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