DURHAM, N.C. – Nicholas School faculty member Deborah R. Gallagher has been awarded a two-year, $150,000 Brownfields Training, Research and Technical Assistance (BTRTA) Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

She’ll use the grant to study mechanisms to increase public participation in brownfields decision making in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. Brownfields are abandoned or underused industrial or commercial properties that are environmentally contaminated but are considered potential sites for redevelopment.

Gallagher is visiting assistant professor of resource and environmental policy at the Nicholas School. She studies the interaction of business and the environment, with special emphasis on environmental management systems, public/private sector partnerships and environmental policy implementation. She is one of only six investigators nationwide to be awarded a BTRTA Grant this year.

BTRTA Grants are designed to focus brownfields attention on environmental and human health conditions in low-income communities and to provide research, training and technical assistance to these communities to enable them to stimulate economic and beneficial uses. EPA will fund successful applicants for periods ranging from one to five years up to a total of $300,000 each.