Environmental Risk Assessment
ENVR 490/590 Capstone

Specifications for Risk Assessment Project 2012

Goal

The purpose is to develop a conceptual model and an initial risk assessment appropriate to the project that also includes calcualtion, uncertainty analysis, and risk communication.

The results will be presented in as a platform presentation, a poster and as a written report. 

• The platform presentation will be a power point presentation that will cover the salient points of the analysis.  The team should be able to answer appropriate questions and defend the analysis.
• The poster will be in the designated format for Scholars Week and presented as part of the Sigma Xi Student Poster Research Session.

• The written presentation is due following the power point presentation incorporating answers to the questions and with any final changes to the analysis.  The style is the same as in the review papers but with a limit of 15 pages of text, with tables and graphics included in the total.  Citations or appendixes are not included in the 15 page total.

The instructor acts as the Project Director for all projects.

The reports for each project should include at minimum

1. A background introduction to the site of the study.
2. The steps of the risk analysis through the initial steps of a regional risk assessment using the relative risk model.   The project includes through step 4: “Make a Conceptual Model that ties the stressors to the receptors and to the assessment endpoints” and will include a plan of action for the remainder of the steps.
3. The background of the conceptual model will be presented in textual form so that the decisions made in construction are transparent to the reader.
4. A map of the site and the risk regions will be presented along with the distribution of important endpoints, sources and habitats.
5. An uncertainty analysis of the conceptual model will also be presented.
6. Appendixes including data sources, sources of stakeholder values, etc will be compiled as documentation for the conceptual model development.