June 2023

From AI to cost-cutting study techniques, Waterborne's Innovation Team is driving the future, today

Innovation, on behalf of our clients and our planet, is the driving force behind Waterborne’s mission to create a sustainable future. We understand that it is through innovation that we can move our work forward and stay ahead of industry trends and regulatory changes. As we’ve shown in our articles on exposure modeling and cover crop below, seeking out new and better solutions benefits us all. From employing AI to developing lower-cost monitoring equipment, pioneering change has fueled our work and, more specifically, our Waterborne Innovation Team, for decades and allowed us to develop and implement innovative strategies that address environmental challenges.

While every Waterborne employee is encouraged to seek out new methodologies and processes within their work, it’s our core Innovation Team, comprised of experienced scientists and engineers, who drive our product innovation, research, study design, and management. They are driven by a passion for discovery and meeting the expanding needs of our partners across various industries, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and more.

To push the boundaries of what’s possible, our Innovation Team has focused on several cutting-edge research areas. One such area is the development of...

>> Read the full article

Cover crops: improving the pollinator and agriculture industry timeline

Pollinators are the hardworking backbone of the agriculture industry, impacting global markets and crop yields as they move from plant to plant. Improving this most fundamental of relationships is an ongoing quest for experts in both industries.

A recent event sponsored by CropLife America showcased a brilliant solution to the transportation migratory honeybees ahead of the California almond growing season: cover crops. Cover crops bloom just prior to and just after almond trees, thereby providing bees trucked in from Idaho a longer season. The result is a stronger hive and healthier bees.

The cover crops provide additional environmental benefits. They supplement orchard soil with organic matter and provide a protective top layer to lock in moisture and protect lower layers from heat effects. A win-win!

Photo by SAREP of a mix of yellow mustard, black mustard and canola grown between rows in an orchard.

A look back at 30 years of exposure modeling

From PIRANHA through to PWC 2.001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to exposure modeling for pesticide registration has changed greatly since Waterborne opened its doors 30 years ago. Below we take a look at exposure modeling’s evolution:

Figure 1 shows a timeline of exposure models for ecological and drinking water risk assessments... Read the full message >>

Waterborne's Story

Comments from K. Balu on 30 years as a Waterborne client

"My association with Waterborne started when Pat and Marty founded the company in 1993.. I was a project leader managing environmental contract studies for CIBA-GEIGY (later became Novartis and now Syngenta). We initiated a major large-scale retrospective; groundwater monitoring study for a major herbicide to address groundwater issues with USEPA. This study was conducted by Waterborne involving 2000 rural wells in 20 major agricultural states in the USA. This study also involved interaction with several State Agencies. This major study was successfully completed by Pat Holden and other staff at Waterborne, with credit going to the excellent talents available at Waterborne.

I continued to work with Waterborne with a few prospective groundwater (PGW) monitoring studies to meet the requirements of new product registration for CIBA-GEIGY. USEPA guidelines for this highest-tier study (PGW) were in the early stages of development. With the great talents available at Waterborne and the leadership of Pat, we were able to complete these registration requirements with USEPA. With the successful completion of these major projects, Waterborne became the preferred contractor for the new Novartis and Synrgnta in several areas, including large-scale river monitoring of the major herbicide, ecological risk assessment, and environmental field studies. In my opinion, staff at Waterborne showed great talents, good planning, sincere efforts, attention to details, good customer relationship and other qualities that are the unique qualities of Waterborne... >>Read the full message

K. Balu worked as a Senior Group Leader for environmental studies at CIBA-GEIGY R&D department with responsibility for meeting the requirements of new and existing products registration and reregistration with expertise in monitoring, and environmental fate assessment.

Innovating pollinator research: from pollen collection to drift analysis

Providing innovative approaches to pollinator studies and research has long been a popular request amongst Waterborne's clients. Our scientists have been applying innovative solutions and technologies to pollinator research for years, including population and ecological modeling (using the BEEHAVE model), statistical analyses (applied to novel study designs, and critical examination of laboratory and field studies), application of risk assessment tools for alternative approaches (using EPA’s BeeREX model to investigate screening-level risk to surfactant chemicals), and most recently investigating novel ways to study pollen collection and sampling techniques as well as developing methods for quantifying pollen drift.

>>Learn more here

Join Waterborne's team at ACS Fall 2023

Waterborne will be sending a team of experts to the ACS FALL 2023, Harnessing the Power of Data event in San Francisco, CA this August 13th - 17th. For information about scheduling a meeting during the event, please contact Andy Jacobson.

Waterborne Environmental is a renowned consulting firm that has provided innovative solutions to the world’s most complex environmental problems since 1993. Our experienced, unbiased scientists and engineers work across industries to evaluate environmental, ecological, and human risks. Our work spans across industry and regulatory agencies to support the balance in the needs of a growing population with the environmental impact on our valuable natural resources.

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