When I joined EPA in 2007, I did not envision becoming part of an extensive monitoring family. At that point I had been tasked with assessing how changes in stationary source emissions impacted air quality and deposition trends over time, so I sat down in my "new" chair (likely purchased around the time I was born) and got to work. I didn't realize then that the data used for our progress reports were collected by 100s of individuals across the country every week.

Now, years later I can fully appreciate the amount of work it takes to maintain and expand this incredible program. The last forty-six years of precipitation chemistry data from NADP have been used to characterize environmental changes due to shifts in local, regional, and even global emissions. The addition of ambient ammonia and mercury measurements in the early 2000s has helped answer new questions about particle formation and ecological impacts of air pollution, but there is more to do. I have been humbled by the opportunities to meet the site operators, park and national forest supervisors, program managers, and laboratory staff that are responsible for collectively making sure that NADP continues to provide the highest quality, long-term data record.

I hope this year's symposium theme, "Protecting the Health of Communities and Ecosystems in a Changing Climate", will help foster new research collaborations that link NADP's data experts with climate and health scientists to help answer today's multi-layered environmental problems. There are new tools, better models, and faster technology, but we need to continue to use our reliable, ground-based measurements as goal posts. This NADP community is well positioned to leverage the wealth of information already collected to summarize how short- and long-term climate impacts have resulted in environmental changes that challenge our ability to protect human and ecological health. I am excited to hear about your research, that will undoubtedly help the public advocate for cleaner air, water, and the environment.

Melissa Puchalski, Environmental Protection Agency
Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee