2002 Sea Grant State Fellow, Edward Salinas
Former State Fellow Now Working for Environmental Consulting Firm
June 13, 2004–A California Sea Grant State Fellow with the CALFED Bay-Delta Program in 2002, Edward Salinas earned his doctorate degree in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of California, Davis, in May 2004. He is now a project manager at Pacific EcoRisk, an environmental consulting firm in Martinez, Calif.
At Pacific EcoRisk, Salinas oversees tests for determining the toxicity of wastewater from businesses with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. The tests are mandatory for businesses that discharge into streams, rivers, lakes or coastal waters. He also leads the company’s research on the effects of mercury and endocrine disrupters on aquatic organisms.
As a graduate student, Salinas studied the effects of pulp mill effluent on sea urchin reproduction. His research led to the discovery of a compound that prevents sea urchin sperm from fertilizing urchin eggs–a sort of molecular condom. The compound was tested in primates and has since been patented for use as a human contraceptive.
The Cordelia Slough (Suisun Marsh, San Francisco Bay-Delta) is an important rest stop for birds on the Pacific Flyway. Oil spills and other forms of contamination in the marsh threaten not only local but also transient wildlife. As a California Sea Grant State Fellow, Salinas spearheaded a workshop to educate scientists, resource managers and stakeholders about contamination issues in the Bay-Delta watershed. Photo: California Department of Water Resources
As a state fellow, he helped raise awareness of contamination issues at restoration sites in the San Francisco Bay-Delta by organizing a conference for scientists, resource managers, farmers, environmentalists and others with a stake in water and water quality.
“I’ve gone from academia to government to private industry,” Salinas said, referring to his time as a graduate student, state fellow and industry consultant. “Each one is unique.”
“As a state fellow, I was looking at things from a very broad perspective. It has been invaluable for broadening my horizons.”
[Article (below) on Edward Salinas excerpted from the California Sea Grant newsletter July-Aug 2002.]
Sea Grant State Fellow Organizing Workshop on Contaminants in Bay-Delta
Three months into his California Sea Grant State Fellowship, Edward Salinas has discovered first-hand the challenges and rewards of approaching science not as a laboratory exercise but as a part of the decision-making process for managing resources as vital as drinking water for more than 25 million Californians.
Salinas is spending his nine-month fellowship with the California Resources Agency as a science advisor to the CALFED Bay-Delta Program. As such, he is organizing a workshop on the effects of endocrine-disrupting contaminants in the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem. This work entails identifying appropriate session topics, selecting speakers and reading a whole lot of scientific literature on what is already known about the effects of contaminants–heavy metals, pesticides, even by-products of hormone supplements–on marine and human health.
After completing his California Sea Grant State Fellowship in 2003, Edward Salinas won a fellowship in the CALFED Science Program. In 2004, he joined Pacific EcoRisk, an environmental consulting firm. Photo Credit: Jana Machula.
The workshop, titled “Endocrine and Reproductive Impacts of Contaminants in the Bay-Delta System,” will be held in January in the San Francisco Bay area. Ultimately, what is learned could lead to new regulations on discharging contaminants into the Bay-Delta or to other actions that might assist resource agencies in meeting water-quality standards set forth by the federal Clean Water Act.
The workshop will help the state draw a road map for expeditiously addressing gaps in knowledge, he said. “Some key unknowns are: ‘How do multiple contaminants interact? And what are the effects of restoration projects on the bioavailability of toxins?’” The CALFED Science Program will issue a call for research proposals that will be based on the workshop’s findings.
“My experiences as a fellow are really different than graduate work,” said Salinas, whose doctoral thesis examined the effects of pulp-mill effluent on sea urchin reproduction. “I am now asking, ‘What are the big questions? Who is out there looking for answers?’” Salinas is on track to receive his doctorate from UC Davis in the fall.
.gif){kind=logo}
