Network Innovation Grant

The State of Water Quality and Monitoring Protocols in Southern California

$17,920 awarded to Council for Watershed Health in 2012

Fellow(s): Christine Lee, Nancy Steele, Linwood Pendleton

Topic(s): Environmental Engineering & Toxicology

Three Switzer Fellows are collaborating on the technical, policy and economic dimensions of a proposed shift in EPA protocols for water quality monitoring of beaches and waterways. This project was formed in response to the threat of severely reduced federal funding for local water quality monitoring, and more stringent requirements from EPA on the kinds of monitoring that will provide the best data for protecting public health. Through this collaboration, Fellows will test and compare the results of different water quality monitoring methods, and include an assessment of the economic implications of a change to stricter or looser standards. This project focuses on the Los Angeles River and will test the benefits and limitations of new DNA-based water quality monitoring techniques. The project will culminate in the development of a cost-benefit analysis of different monitoring techniques used by public health laboratories in Los Angeles. Dr. Christine Lee is currently based in Washington, DC, and is a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Dr. Nancy Steele is the Executive Director of the Council for Watershed Health in Los Angeles; and Dr. Linwood Pendleton is the Director of Ocean and Coastal Policy at Duke University's Nicholas Institute of Environmental Policy Solutions and Acting Chief Economist for NOAA.

Meet the Fellows on this Project

Christine Lee

2008 Fellow

Christine Lee is a scientist in the terrestrial hydrology group who focuses on applications of remote sensing to water quality, water resources, and ecosystems management. Christine Lee joined JPL in 2014 after working for 2 years at NASA...

Nancy Steele

1993 Fellow

Dr. Nancy Steele focuses her work on the protection and conservation of land and water, striving always to have a direct positive impact on nature and humanity. She is a professional executive manager who has founded and led nonprofits and served on boards of directors. Endlessly curious, she applies a scientists mind to answering questions that result in turning data into actionable knowledge resulting in good policies and practices.

Linwood Pendleton

1994 Fellow

I am the ED of the Ocean Knowledge Action Network and the Science Director for the Moonjelly Foundation. I facilitate a close community of people from around the world who want to share knowledge about co-designing ocean science for a healthier and more diverse ocean. At Moonjelly, I work with our Indigenous and local partners to create new ways of applying bottom-up, trust-based philanthropy to fund traditional and local knowledge collection as well as Indigenous researchers and scientists.