During the last decades human ingenuity and activity have unfortunately resulted in the proliferation and the release of new man-made chemicals into the environment. This poses a magnitude of new questions. For example, are these chemicals harmful to human health? Do they threaten more sensitive wildlife species? How can we detect contamination in the field? What can we do to hasten their chemical destruction? Since environmental contamination touches everybody's life, it also raises other issues for scientists and engineers including the following. Which laws deal with this issue? Which state and federal agencies should be involved? How can scientists/engineers inform and work with the public to alleviate fear? Solutions to environmental problems are therefore a team effort. Thus, future scientists and engineers need (1) thorough training in their specific field, (ii) basic knowledge about socioeconomic law, engineering and science aspects outside their field, and (iii) an ability to communicate and cooperate with specialists in other disciplines. These are the goals of the proposed Superfund Cross-disciplinary Training Project. This training project will build on successful collaborations among the Superfund faculty and enhance/establish new activities that promote cross-disciplinary education. Students will be selected from currently enrolled and newly recruited graduate students on the basis of their ability, motivation and academic record. Emphasis will be placed in identifying and recruiting qualified individuals from under- represented groups in science and engineering. The Superfund Program Project is the ideal basis to develop such a training program for the scientist of the 21st century.
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