Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Student Fellowships Newsletter Issue 1, 2006
HOW WILL YOU GRO?
Brandon Jones was a GRO
Fellow in the summer of 1991 in Anchorage,
Alaska. Brandon focuses on the importance
of making genuine connections with leaders
and peers, helping others, taking risks, and
making the most out of new situations.
Why did you apply for the GRO
Fellowship Program?
I remember my advisor mentioning that there
was an opportunity for this fellowship.
Where did you intern?
What were your responsibilities?
I interned at the EPA Operations Office, where
my primary project was gathering data and
writing a short paper on using natural and
manmade wetlands for wastewater treatment.
At the time, the majority of Alaska's rural
communities had a lack of sewage treatment
systems. Their wastewater moved into streams
and rivers, so there was concern by the EPA
and other agencies about how the cold
Alaskan climate would impact this type of
wastewater treatment (i.e., use of wetlands).
My research and paper focused on the best
ways to utilize natural and manmade wetlands
for treatment given those climate conditions.
What school did you go to?
What year did you graduate?
I went to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania,
and I graduated in 1991.
What were your
expectations? Were
those expectations met?
I knew I wanted to do something related
to aquatic science, so I looked at all the
places that were involved in aquatic-related
research. When I saw Alaska was an option
for wetland studies, I thought, "When else
would I ever get a chance to go to Alaska?"
One of the good things was that once I got
there, I was able to visit other agencies to do
my research, and meet people and talk with
them. A highlight was that there was another
ECO intern from Jackson, Mississippi—
Phelisa Smith. I really connected with her,
and we are still great friends to this day.
The office director in EPA's Anchorage Operations
Office presented a special opportunity to me and
I did two weeks of field work in Northern Alaska
above the Arctic Circle (the north face of the
Brooks Range) with a team that was funded by
EPA from Corvallis, Oregon.I analyzed airborne
toxins that were floating over from Asia. We col-
lected mosses, lichens, fish, and ground squirrels,
to be analyzed for environmental contaminants.
I was happy with the overall experience. I
was happy to have the chance to go to the
Arctic Circle. I think it helped not to have too
many specific expectations. I was open to the
experience, and because of that, I was open
to the opportunities.
What was the most important thing you
took away from your internship?
Getting to work in the office that was responsi-
ble for coordinating some of the Exxon Valdez
cleanup efforts in Prince William Sound was
pretty neat. The friendship I made with Phelisa
was a great thing, and the chance to go to the
Arctic Circle on the two-week field expedition
was definitely a highlight.
How did the internship change or develop
your perspective on the environment?
I knew the environment was a dynamic
system before I went, but I think being there
increased my curiosity about it, and I began
to really reflect on how much we still don't
know about nature.
What advice would you give to future
GRO fellowship classes?
Step out of your comfort zone. Be open. Make
sure you network and make connections, and
keep those connections open. Make connec-
tions with the people that you're learning from
to broaden your network of contacts. You may
need guidance, recommendation letters, and
mentoring during the course of your career—
constant communication within your network
can only help you professionally.
Continued on page 4 . . .
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
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2005-2006 GRO FELLOW PROFILES
Katherine Buettner
Major: Chemistry with minor in mathematics
College: Lafayette College
Project Advisor: Susan Richardson
Office/Location: EPA, National Exposure
Research Laboratory Ecosystems Research
Division/Athens, GA
Project Description: Katherine is participat-
ing in a drinking water disinfection by-prod-
ucts (DBFs) study aimed at understanding
by-product occurrence and formation in
drinking water treated with different disinfec-
tants. This internship will develop her skills
in chemical processes, methods and testing.
She will also be writing a report summarizing
her findings on DBPs.
Gary Chan
Major: Civil Engineering
College: The City College of New York
(CUNY)
Project Advisor: Helen Grebe, Regional
Coastal Monitoring Coordinator, USEPA
Region II, DESA
Office/Location: USEPA Region II, Division
of Environmental Science and
Assessment/Edison, NJ
Project Description: Gary is working with
the New York Bight Water Quality Helicopter
Monitoring Program, gathering information
that will identify key water quality factors
about the waterways around New York
Harbor, the beaches of Long Island, and the
Jersey shore. Daily surveillance is done for
floating debris and oil slicks. Weekly water
samples are taken using helicopters and
then tested for levels of bacteria (fecal
coliform and enterococci), phytoplankton,
and dissolved oxygen at the shore and up
to nine miles offshore.
Ramya Ambikapathi
Major: Environmental Studies and Biology
College: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Project Advisor: Thomas Pfleeger
Office/Location: US EPA Western Ecology
Division/Corvallis, OR
Project Description: Ramya is contributing
to research that will be part of a larger project
to improve the pesticide registration process
under FIFRA. She is developing skills neces-
sary to conduct scientific research in both
greenhouse and field experiments. Her
research involves planting, growing and
harvesting domestic and native plants,
taking measurements and recording data.
She will also write a report summarizing the
findings for publication in scientific journals.
William Hardy
Major: Chemistry with minor in mathematics
and biology
College: Jackson State University
Project Advisor: Dr. Carol Farris
Office/Location: Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics/Washington, D.C.
Project Description: William is working in
the OPPT's Green Chemistry Program to help
develop and use new chemical products that
neither make nor use hazardous chemicals.
He is also assisting chemists in analyzing
the data contained in a technical database
of green chemistry technologies, some of
the finest technologies in the green
chemistry industry.
Christine Hauther
Major: Microbiology and Molecular
Cell Sciences
College: The University of Memphis
Project Advisor: Lidia Watrud
Office/Location: National Health &
Environmental Effects Research
Laboratory/Corvallis, OR
Project Description: Christine is working
with researchers on the Gene Flow Project
to develop methods to help determine the
environmental safety of genetically modified
crops. This internship will help her gain
knowledge of the multi-disciplinary methods
used in environmental risk assessment.
Information generated by the research will
assist Agency efforts to develop science-based
regulations and environmental policies.
Rebecca Larzelere
Major: Environmental Studies and Biology
College: SUNY Binghamton
Project Advisor: Kay Ho
Office/Location: Atlantic Ecology Division
at Narragansett/Narragansett, Rl
Project Description: The Atlantic Ecology
Division at Narragansett specializes in under-
standing, quantifying, and modeling the
effects of anthropogenic stressors on
coastal ecosystems and the development of
methods for assessing the ecological effects
of contaminated marine sediments resulting
from anthropogenic activities. Rebecca will
help develop methods to determine which
stressor may be responsible for degradation
in marine systems. She will also be interpret-
ing data and writing reports to communicate
the findings.
Julie Nicole Kadramas
(Renner)
Major: Chemical Engineering with
Biochemical Emphasis
College: University of North Dakota
Project Advisor: Stephanie Harris
Office/Location: Region 10 Laboratory/Port
Orchard, WA
Project Description: Julie is helping devel-
op analytic techniques in molecular biology
at a state-of-the-art laboratory. She will be
collecting field samples and doing laboratory
work that will help develop Bacterial Source
Tracking, a technology to identify non-point
sources of pollution.
Juan Gabriel Martinez
Major: Cell Biology
College: Arizona State University West
Project Advisor: Cynthia Peurifoy
Office/Location: Environmental Justice
Program Office/Atlanta, GA
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Project Description: Gabriel will be help-
ing provide greater opportunities for commu-
nities to participate in environmental deci-
sion making by developing tools that will be
used by Region 4 environmental justice
community stakeholders during environmen-
tal decision making processes. These tools
will help break down technical information
into formats that can be easily understood
by all and will be available for use by many
environmental justice communities to better
understand conditions in their community.
Nicole Mosley
Major: Chemistry
College: Jackson State University
Project Advisor: Althea Moses
Office/Location: EPA Region 7 Environmental
Justice Program/Kansas City, KS
Project Description: Nicole is working with
EPA officials to identify communities most
impacted by environmental hazards in Region
7. Through the use of GIS and GPS, as well
as through community assessments, she is
contributing to the development of schemes
that address these communities' concerns.
Immanuel Palugod
Major: Civil and Environmental Engineering
College: Bucknell University
Project Advisor: Alan Hecht
Office/Location: Office of Research and
Development; Sustainable Development/
Washington, D.C.
Project Description: Immanuel is working
to identify tools and expertise within ORD to
be included in a Sustainability Tool Box to
assist EPA regions, programs, states and
local governments in developing sustainable
environmental approaches. He will develop
an inventory of appropriate efforts, expert-
ise, and contacts, and organize this infor-
mation in a user-friendly format. His efforts
will be essential to go beyond planning a
Sustainability Research Strategy to
implementing one.
Lydia Sewell
Major: Environmental Biology and
Environmental Studies
College: Tulane University
Project Advisor: Robin Biscaia
Office/Location: EPA Region I/Boston, MA
Project Description: As part of her intern-
ship at EPA Region 1, Lydia is contributing
to the advancement of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
through regulatory analysis. She will be intro-
duced to cutting edge policy in the application
of environmental law and will be contributing
to the analysis of Massachusetts rules that
could support federal delegation of RCRA.
Megan Marie Skrip
Major: Biology and Environmental Studies
with minor in chemistry
College: The College of New Rochelle
Project Advisor: James Kurtenbach
Office/Location: Division of Environmental
Science and Assessment (DESAVEdison, NJ
Project Description: Megan is a fellow
in the Monitoring and Assessment Branch
of DESA. As part of EPA's bioassessment
program, she is assisting with stream and
lake monitoring, specifically sampling benthic
macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages to
gauge the quality of New Jersey waters.
Gabriel Trejo
Major: Civil Engineering
College: University of Texas, El Paso
Project Advisor: Safa Shirazi
Office/Location: Corvallis Environmental
Research Laboratory/Corvallis, OR
Project Description: Gabriel is helping
monitor the aquatic environment in streams,
including the distribution of pools, riffles,
mineral substrates and woody debris.
He will learn how to measure velocity
distribution in rapids over gravel substrates,
in slow pools of water, and in the wake
of woody debris and boulders.
Callie Van Koughnet
Major: Marine Science with minor in math
College: University of South Carolina
Project Advisor: Matthew Liebman
Office/Location: EPA Region I/Boston, MA
Project Description: Callie is performing
shoreline surveys on specific watersheds
draining to beaches in an effort to protect
public health by eliminating sources of bacte-
ria that cause beach closures. She is also
analyzing beach monitoring data and assisting
with public outreach events at coastal beach-
es. Her work will directly benefit local com-
munities by protecting public health and pro-
viding technical assistance.
Matthew Richard Williams
Major: Biology and Mathematics
College: Clarkson University
Project Advisor: Renee Searfoss
Office/Location: WPD, OCE, NPDES
Enforcement Branch/Philadelphia, PA
Project Description: During his time at
EPA Region 3, Matt will be helping the EPA
manage investigations of polluters and
indicate where the most significant environ-
mental benefits are being achieved. This
internship will develop his GIS skills and
analytical abilities and allow him to apply
them to strategic regulatory planning.
Timothy Currie
Major: Geography and International
Development & Social Change
College: Clark University
Project Advisor: Kelly Huynh
Office/Location: EPA Region 10, Office of
Environmental Cleanup/Emergency Response
Unit/Seattle, WA
Project Description: Timothy is working
on a project to assist EPA in identifying
what types of facilities commonly violate
RMP regulations. He will produce a
report that summarizes his findings and
make recommendations supported by
his research.
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CONGRATULATIONS!
Two GRO undergraduate alumni have
recommended for funding for EPA
duate fellowships
Dodie Arnold
2001-2002 GRO undergraduate
GRO Graduate Fellowship
B.S. Biology & B.A. Spanish
Meharry Medical College
MSPH Degree Candidate
Megan Mauter
2001-2002 GRO undergraduate
STAR Graduate Fellowship
B.S. of Arts
Yale University,
Ph.D Environmental Engineering
HOW WILL YOU GRO?
What are you doing now? How did you
get there?
Currently I am a Project Officer in EPA's National
Center for Environmental Research (NCER)
which is the office that manages EPA's STAR
grants program. I manage fellowships and
grants. How I arrived at NCER relates to making
connections. I was finishing my Ph.D at the
University of Delaware - College of Marine
Studies, and one of my lab mates, Gina
Perovich, went to work for the EPA. I was active-
ly looking for a job and developed a relationship
with the human resources administrator at the
Delaware Department of Natural Resources. In
one conversation about an open position, she
asked permission to forward my resume to her
relative who worked at the EPA. The relative was
the director of the EPA STAR Fellowship Program
and worked in the same office as Gina. I
interviewed, and got the position.
(Continued)
How did your connection with the
environment begin?
I always wanted to be an oceanographer or
study something related to the oceans. My
grandparents often took me fishing in the
lakes and rivers in Ohio when I was growing
up, so I believe my love of water and aquatic
environments started with them.
From a career perspective,
what inspires you?
Helping people inspires me. I think everyone's
overall purpose should be to help someone
else. When you operate in that vein, you look
at your job, life, and family differently. You
are more able to use your imagination and cre-
ativity. Instead of falling into the everyday frus-
trations of work, you look at things as a chal-
lenge, and you tend to use creativity to turn it
A
into an opportunity to help those in need.'O'
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