About the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER)

On This Page:

What We Do
Management
Divisions
Locations

What We Do

The Center for Environmental Solutions & Emergency Response (CESER) plans, coordinates and conducts an applied, customer-driven, national research and development program to improve decision making by EPA, federal, state, tribal and local agencies, when faced with challenging environmental problems in the built environment.

The Center develops and provides applied scientific and engineering solutions, technologies, and cutting-edge innovations to protect and remediate our air, land, and water resources, and critical infrastructure challenged by systemic and acute environmental contamination.

CESER assists customers across the nation with effective and innovative approaches to safeguarding public water systems and remediating contaminated soil, sediments, urban areas, and groundwater.  Contamination sources include those traditionally managed through environmental regulation and emerging environmental stressors, as well as potential threats from terrorism or natural disasters.

CESER advances approaches and guidance for sustainable materials management including waste management and the development of decision support tools for effective environmental and disaster management strategies.

The Center develops, evaluates and applies research and demonstration methods on various scales spanning laboratory to pilot to full field scale to provide the most useful scientific solutions in support of EPA’s mission and the Office of Research & Development (ORD) Immediate Office of the Assistant Administrator's  mission and strategic vision.

CESER provides technical support to EPA regions and programs, states, tribal nations, and federal partners, and serves as the interagency liaison for EPA in homeland security research and technology. CESER interfaces with ORD and other EPA offices and other Federal and nonfederal organizations relative to CESER programs and services.

Management

Greg Sayles, Director

• Biography
• Phone: 513-569-7607
• Email: [email protected]

Yvonne Murphy, Deputy Director

• Phone: 919-541-5220
• Email: [email protected]

Kirk Scheckel, Associate Director

• Phone: 513-487-2865
• Email: [email protected]

Jay Garland, Associate Director

• Phone: 513-569-7334
• Email: [email protected]

Divisions

The Center is made up of five divisions:

• Groundwater Characterization and Remediation Division
• Homeland Security and Materials Management Division
• Land Remediation and Technology Division
• Water Infrastructure Division
• Technical Support Coordination Division

 

Locations

CESER is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH with staff also located in:

• Ada, OK
• Research Triangle Park, NC
• Edison, NJ
• Washington, DC

There are also scientific technical support staff located in each EPA region.