About the Software

Since 1988, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region 5 and Purdue University have worked together to develop environmental software programs that make complex subjects clear and understandable and learning enjoyable.

• Background
• Development
• Distribution
• Strategic Plan
• Principles
• Awards
• How people are using SEA

Background

In 1988, Region 5 established a partnership with students and faculty at Purdue University to develop two environmental software programs: Residential Waste Treatment Evaluation and Principles of Onsite Wastewater Treatment. By 1990 the partnership had produced six programs that ranged in complexity from simple linear tutorials to expert systems requiring the user to input data in order to receive a computer-calculated solution. All programs were developed for the IBM PC or compatibles. Our first programs were on water-related topics. The collection has grown to include new subjects such as solid waste, air pollution, and environmental assessment.

SEA directly benefits students, government and the general public, and has led to many public-private partnerships. We are leaders in applying interactive software to governmental regulation and outreach. We create affordable tools to help solve environmental problems.

Development

We are continuously developing new programs with Purdue. We fund projects through cooperative agreements from USEPA Region 5 and USEPA Headquarters. We are able to produce software at costs well below the usual rates by working in partnership with Purdue.

In addition to funding, EPA provides background materials including EPA outreach information, regulatory documents, and graphics. Students at Purdue write the software, under the guidance of professors in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department . EPA staff provide expert review of draft software products while the programs are being developed.

We make the final product available as shareware, with registration optional. Users are encouraged to share and recopy the programs, but the Purdue retains copyright on their programs to prevent their being modified and sold for profit.

Distribution

Distribution of the software continues to grow via this Web site and CD-ROMs from Purdue. We've used a variety of mechanisms over the years, including a Gopher site, electronic bulletin boards, and distribution on diskette via a barter system! (Since we lacked funding to purchase large quantities of diskettes for distribution, people would send us blank diskettes and we'd copy the programs they requested onto those diskettes and return them. That got much faster once we got a diskette duplicator.) We appreciate the help from other sites that link to us.

Strategic Plan

• Identify new partners for software development and implementation
• Develop new software programs using the latest multimedia technology
• Strengthen volunteer monitoring and online mentoring
• Broaden our focus to new subject areas like urban sprawl
• Continue foreign language translation of the software programs
• Continue international outreach

Principles

1. Use interactive technologies to make environmental science and regulations clear and easy to understand.
2. Develop and distribute software at extremely low cost in ways equally beneficial to government, students, faculty, and end users.
3. Work as a unique high-productivity team.
4. Use the software to help create major public-private partnerships.

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Awards

• 1991: USEPA Region 5 Bronze Medal
  
• 1992: USEPA Silver Medal
  
• 1995: USEPA Region 5 Regional Administrator's Award for Excellence
• 1999: Hammer Award

Here are a few examples of how people use SEA:

• In 1998, Web site visitors consulted EPA Grant Writing Tutorial more than 15,000 times and downloaded 1100 copies before the EPA Environmental Education Grant application deadline
• The EPA Office of International Activities uses Environmental Assessment Resource Guide and Case Study as an integral part of training courses in the former Soviet Union and the Baltics.
• SEA software has been incorporated into the curriculum in the San Antonio public schools, the University of Wisconsin, and Turin University, among others.
• Mercury in Hospitals led to a formal partnership between EPA and the American Hospital Association, and an agreement to eliminate mercury from hospital wastestreams by 2005.
• The International City/County Management Association signed a formal partnership and made Environmental Planning for Small Communities the core of its Local Government Environmental Assistance Network website.
• EPA Region 4 sought the SEA team's help to develop TV public service announcements in connection with the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; they won the CINE Golden Eagle Award.
• The U.S. Information Agency placed the software in 65 of its embassy libraries.

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