Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Student Fellowships Newsletter Issue 1, 2005
Porche Spence: An Alumni Profile
Porche Spence a 2000-2001 Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) fellow was en-
couraged to apply to the EPA Greater
Research Opportunities (GRO) Under-
graduate Student Fellowship Program by
a professor at North Carolina Central
University. As this fellowship would be an
opportunity to receive money for school
and work for an agency such as the EPA,
Porche knew that this was an opportunity
that she could not pass up.
In the summer of 2000, Porche interned
with the EPA in Atlanta, GA, in the Waste
Management Division. Porche's summer
project was investigating the effects of
chemicals in groundwater on health. On
this project she was exposed to site assess-
ments that looked at groundwater and soil
exposure and the efforts toward cleanup,
wrote articles on a variety of environmental
justice issues, developed a database of envi-
ronmental justice issues, developed a data-
base of environmental justice media con-
tacts, and was able to participate in a region-
al enforcement stra-
tegy meeting, where
the focus was on "Wet-
lands Violations of the
Clean Water Act."
As part of her internship experience, Porche
was given the opportunity to travel to
Anniston, AL. Anniston, AL, grew to fame in
2000, when more than 3,000 citizens of
Anniston filed a class action suit against
Monsanto for damages allegedly caused by
releases of PCBs into the area's air, lakes,
rivers, and soil. These citizens allege that the
company knew it was releasing PCBs into the
atmosphere, knew the hazards that accompa-
nied exposure to PCBs and, consequently, did
nothing to stop the discharges and did not
take the appropriate measures to protect
those living in Anniston. While in Anniston,
Porche (who has asthma) experienced a small
part of what the residents in Anniston con-
tended with. While in Anniston, Porche's
asthma was exacerbated, and she found it very
hard to breathe. There was a horrible stench
Porche Spence:
An Alumni Profile
A Fellow's Summer Project: EPA's
Office of Science and Technology
A Fellow's Summer Project: EPA's
Office of Water, Region 9 Water
Porche—continued on page 3
It's a Whole New World Out There.
Are You Ready?
2004-2005 GRO—Summer Placement
Contrarian Advice for Career Fair
Attendees
"Cyah Says"
A Fellow's Summer
Project: EPA's Office of
Science and Technology
The Office of Science and Technology
(OST) is responsible for developing sound,
scientifically defensible standards, criteria,
advisories, guidelines, limitations, and stand-
ards under the Clean Water Act and the Safe
Drinking Water Act. OST also is responsible
for developing risk assessment methodolo-
gies and providing risk assessment support
for the Office of Water in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. These
products articulate the goals and provide the
regulatory framework for restoring and
maintaining the biological, chemical, and
physical integrity of the nation's water
resources, for protecting the nation's public
water supplies, and for achieving technol-
ogy-based, pollution-control requirements.
The three Divisions that make up OST—
Engineering and Analysis Division, Health
and Ecological Criteria Division, and
Standards and Health Protection Division—
are committed to protecting human health
and the environment by carrying out
research on the effects of pollutants that are
discharged into our nation's surface waters.
They focus on such diverse programs as
technology-based controls and pollution-
prevention techniques for industrial dis-
chargers, human health and environmental
risks, risk assessments, and state water qual-
ity standards.
OST—continued on page 3
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
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It's a Whole New World Out There. Are You Ready?
Do your future plans include a steady job, a clear
career path, regular pay raises, good benefits, and
some sense of job security? If employers take
Bruce Tulgan's advice, a lot of these things will be
designed out of the workplace. It might be time to
think about "Plan B."
Tulgan is the President of Rainmaker Thinking,
Inc., and the author of Winning the Talent Wars
(WW Norton, 2001). He advises employers on
how to build a workforce for the 21st Century.
The essence of his message is that companies,
agencies, and organizations need to create an
entirely new relationship with workers—one that
will involve only a small core group of permanent
employees.
Here's what he's saying to employers:
1. Talent is the show. One great person is
worth a whole bunch of mediocre people.
2. Staff the work, not the jobs. Create a giant,
fluid talent pool, and you can let your core
group of traditional employees shrink to a
small fraction of its current size.
3. Pay for performance, nothing else. Stop
paying long-term salaries and start negotiating
with employees the way purchasing agents do
business with outside vendors.
4. Train for the mission, not for the long haul.
Get people up to speed, boot camp style, and fill
skill and knowledge gaps as they occur.
Are you ready for a free agent nation? Are you the
"one great person" employers are looking for? Do
you think you would prosper financially at a place
that "pays for performance—nothing else?" Can
you imagine a world in which most people have
lots of work to do, but don't hold a traditional job?
Whether or not most employers actually follow Tul-
gan's advice, it would be wise to plan for the possi-
bility. Consider using internships, part-time jobs, vol-
unteer experiences, even class projects as "practice
fields" for your involvement in the new economy.
How might that work?
First, try to forget about hourly wages. Pretend
that you will only get paid when you complete a
"deliverable" (e.g., a document, an event, a map, a
recommendation, an agreement, whatever).
Second, get clear about what your deliverables are,
how they will be measured, and when they are
due.
Third, deliver the goods in high-quality fashion,
on time and under "budget." Make sure that
the final product is even better than what was
expected.
Fourth, get the training you need as you go along.
When possible, train yourself.
Fifth, keep a careful record of your deliverables,
and build a portfolio of your successes. As the num-
ber of jobs decline, professional portfolios (exam-
ples of actual work) are likely to replace resumes
(lists of past jobs) for many professionals.
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Porche—continued from page 1
in the air, and during her time in Anniston
she did not see any animals; not even a bird.
During her internship, Porche was working on
her Bachelors of Science in Environmental
Science, with a concentration in Biology.
Her undergraduate work had prepared her
for the research side of environmental policy,
but doing this internship for the summer
enabled her to see how research is turned
into policy. She was able to see first-hand
how policy is applied in the form of indus-
try regulations and then enforced by the EPA.
Going into the internship, Porche had no
expectations, but she was aware that you get
out of the experience what you put into it.
Porche had a great experience working for
the EPA that summer. It helped her gain a
better sense of what she wanted to do and
the role she wanted to play in working with
the environment.
Porche attained her BS in Environmental
Science from North Carolina Central Uni-
versity in May of 2001, and in the fall of
2001 she returned to work on her Master of
Science degree in Earth Science, which she
completed in May of 2003. Porche also had
2 to 3 other internships with the EPA
before being hired as an EPA contractor in
2003. &
OST—continued from page 1
2004-2005 GRO Fellowship Class
Summer Placement
Ten undergraduate students make up the 2004-2005 GRO Fellowship Class. ECO and the EPA are happy
to welcome these talented students for the 2005 summer program.
Erin Englert
Louisiana State University
Major: Environmental Engineering
This summer, Erin with be working with Louisiana
State University's Hazardous Substance Research
Center, a center funded by EPA.
Joseph Guido
University of North Dakota
Major: Chemical Engineering
This summer, Joseph will be working with EPA's
Region 9 Water Division.
Krystal Hamlett
Lincoln University
Major: Cell and Molecular Biology
This summer, Krystal will be working with EPA's
Region 3 Office of Watersheds.
Clancy Kadrmas
University of North Dakota
Major: Chemical Engineering
This summer, Clancy will be working with EPA's
Region 9 Superfund Division.
Megan Killian
Towson University
Major: Environmental Science
This summer, Megan will be working in EPA's
Region 1 Atlantic Ecology Division.
Wendy Lucero
University of California, Santa Cruz
Major: Environmental Chemistry
This summer, Wendy will be working in EPA's
Region 2 Microbiology Lab.
Megan Mauler
Rice University
Major: Civil and Environmental Engineering
This summer, Megan will be working at EPA Head-
quarters Office of Policy Economics and Innovation.
Mia Robbins
Xavier University
Major: Biology
This summer, Mia will be working in EPA's Region
4 Air Pesticides and Toxics Management Division.
Shaka Rucker
Phoenix College
Major: Economics
This summer, Shaka will be working at EPA
Headquarters Office of Science and Technology.
Kathryn Semmens
Ursinus College
Major: Environmental Studies
This summer, Kathryn will be working in EPA's
Region 3 Environmental Assessment and
Innovation Division. iJJ>
This summer, Treda Smith and William
Swietlik of the Health and Ecological Criteria
Division will be working with Shaka Rucker,
one of our 2004-2005 GRO recipients from
Phoenix College. Shaka will be working with
the Chemical Criteria program and will be
given several specific opportunities to partici-
pate in EPA activities related to the develop-
ment, derivation, and implementation of
chemical criteria to protect aquatic life.
William Swietlik and
the Health and Eco-
logical Criteria Divi-
sion are no strangers
to the EPA Fellows
summer program. In
the summer of 2002,
EPA Fellow Brandon
Peebles, a Marine and Brandon Peebles
Environmental Science major from Hamp-
ton University, spent his summer internship
with Bill in the Health and Ecological
Criteria Division. ij>
OW — continued from page 2
Guido (2004-2005 GRO Fellowship
Recipient) from the University of North
Dakota. Joseph's summer project will allow
him to gain knowledge in public policy and
regulatory implementation. Through infor-
mation review and case development,
Joseph will gain an understanding of the
data needed to make a defensible case and
the legal process the Agency must use to
take enforcement actions. Joseph will travel
with an inspector to regulated sites and
experience first-hand the environmental
issues facing the Region 9 area.
Joseph will be moving to the San Francisco
area with fellow University of North
Dakota 2004-2005 fellowship recipient
Clancy Kadrmas. Clancy will be working
with Michael Gill and Michael Montgomery
of EPA's Region 9 Superfund Division.
Clancy's summer project will be working to
encourage renewable energy at Waste Clean-
up sites.
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Contrarian Advice for Career Fair Attendees
Career fairs are the perfect place to distribute
your resume, right? Not necessarily. Try this
strategy and see if you don't have better results.
First, make a circuit of the career fair and gather
written information from employers that interest
you. Find a quiet place to read this material
quickly, identifying projects and programs that
sound intriguing, and write down questions.
Second, go back to the booths that interest you
and ask questions that reference the materials
you just read. You'll be demonstrating that you're
the type of person who does their homework
and is seriously interested in the employer. Also,
ask about key future challenges facing the em-
ployer. Where do their problems and opportu-
nities lie? Finally, ask if there is a "type" of person
who tends to succeed best at this firm or agency.
What kind of person are they looking for?
Third, ask the recruiter about his or her person-
al experience with the employer. Why does she
work there? What does she like? How did she get
her job?
Fourth, be sure to get a business card!
Fifth, go home and think about all you've learned.
Sixth, adjust your resume to fit the needs and
interests of the employers that most interested
you.
Seventh, send your adjusted resumes to the re-
cruiters you met. In your own cover letter, men-
tion the conversation you had and say something
about the interaction that stuck with you. Be per-
sonal. Point out that you've written a resume that
relates direcdy to that employer and enclosed it.
Eighth, follow up within a few days to talk about
opportunities.
Career fairs are about meeting people—not
dropping off pieces of paper. Good luck! S&
Porche Spence realized early in her internship
that the experience was going to be what she
made of it. Your internship Project Advisor
and/or Mentor, aside from having you com-
ssigned proiect, w£
; you to enioy
your internship
erience. Often, there are
downtimes in an internship. It is your respon-
sibility to take the initiative in these down-
times to fill your time in useful ways. My sug-
gestion is that you take time to research your
agency and find out what other kinds of proj-
ects are being worked on. Most of the time,
Web site. When you find a project you are
interested in, take the time to talk to your
mentor/advisor about the possibility of using
your downtime to volunteer your services to
that project. By taking this kind of initiative,
you are declaring to your agency that you are
a creative problem solver; and, by working on
several projects, you will learn new skill sets
that may help you gain your next internsh
entrance into graduate school.
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