James Shine

"People love whales," explained Shine, who is an assistant professor of aquatic chemistry in the Department of Environmental Health, "but if you wanted to do a real marine mammal population study, you would need to cover more area than what the MWRA does. As an academic scientist, I could dismiss the ad hoc observations. But I have learned that such work can have societal relevance, and sometimes, that is just as important."

Shine sits on an independent nine-person scientific advisory group called the Outfall Monitoring Science Advisory Panel that helps the MWRA and state agencies ensure the cleanliness of Massachusetts Bay. Until 2000, the MWRA discharged treated wastewater into Boston Harbor, a waterway once considered one of the most polluted harbors in the country. The practice was ended four years ago when officials opened a pipe that extends from the Deer Island Treatment Plant to a point nine-and-a-half miles east in Massachusetts Bay. The hope was that the larger and deeper bay, with a wider range of temperatures, would flush out pollutants better than Boston Harbor.

The new outfall pipe did not come without concerns. The ocean’s current in the region generally flows from north to south. Officials, as well as vocal citizens’ groups, wanted to make sure treated sewage would not contaminate Cape Cod or the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

"The big concern was, ‘Would we just be exporting the whole problem we had in Boston Harbor out to the bay?’" said Shine. "Nobody wanted that to happen. So the New England office of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection worked with the MWRA to create an extensive monitoring program as part of the discharge permit."

	Deer Island Treatment Plant in Massachusetts Bay (MWRA photo)

"If there are any violations or problems, the MWRA has to notify us," explained Shine. "We review them, and then tell the EPA and the state either, ‘Ok, this is not so bad. We’ll discuss what corrective actions could avoid this in the future.’ Or, we could say, ‘This is a disaster. We need to meet right now, and the state and EPA need to take corrective action immediately.’"

As much as the panel advises the MWRA on actions to take, it also steers the agency away from unnecessary projects, which can place the scientists in the challenging position of explaining their thinking to the wider public. For example, the MWRA initially was required to develop a complex computerized model that could predict how changes to the food chain in Massachusetts Bay would affect whales in the area.

"Academic science could not construct such a model and be sure of its predictive ability," said Shine. "We could not expect the MWRA to come up with one. It’s easy for us as scientists to say, ‘This is untenable,’ but how do you explain that to people who are genuinely concerned about whales?"

In the end, at the scientific panel’s urging, a more realistic goal was set where nutrients and the food on which the whales feed are measured frequently. The idea is that safeguarding food sources will ultimately help protect marine animals, without wasting time on a model whose predictions would hold little value. To educate the public, Shine and his colleagues worked with representatives of several community groups–first explaining the rationale to them and then supporting the groups’ efforts to spread the word.

The situation taught Shine a lesson in human relations. "I learned about relevancy," he said. "What may be of concern to a scientist may mean little to the average person. As a researcher, I know that you should monitor nitrogen-to-phosphorous-to-silica ratios in the water during the months of March to April, but if I walked up to somebody on the street, he would care less. You know what matters to him–the humpbacks and the right whales. I used to not think much about societal relevance, but now I understand it does have a role in what we do."

The scientific advisory panel is currently facing a communications challenge similar to what the food chain model presented. After reviewing 10 years of data on Massachusetts Bay, the panel has concluded that some of the monitoring stations set up by the MWRA are redundant and could be dropped from the program. The proposal is under review.

"You can imagine that people may be concerned if any stations are removed," said Shine. "Instead of trying to explain statistical concepts such as spatial and temporal auto-correlation, we came up with an analogy that we hope will be immediately accessible.There is a cell phone commercial in which a man asks a caller, ‘Can you hear me now?’ with each step he takes. He could probably ask the same question at every tenth step and still successfully test the range of the cell phone. The same can be said about the monitoring stations. We think we can still get the same kind of information about the health of the bay without needing so many stations."

Shine’s work on the panel has given him a sense of accomplishment that exceeds the boundaries of his office at Landmark Center. "I ended up at a school of public health because I wanted to do science for public service," he said. "I could be researching strontium isotope ratios in manganese nodules at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean–very interesting stuff, mind you–but I wanted to conduct basic science that was directly applicable to solving problems of marine pollution. I have that training, but now, I also have insight into how that kind of science actually gets used in the real world–by not only other researchers but also by the public. That’s invaluable."