Protection
. MtSkk

DECEMBER 2015
v>EPA
United States
Environmental
Agency
Where are they now?
Catching up with GRO Fellows
Serina Robinson
"I grew up in South Dakota in a farm land-owning
family so my first interest in the environment came
from my rural surroundings and seeing the effects
of industrial agriculture on ecosystems of my
childhood," says Serina Robinson, a 2013 Greater
Research Opportunities Fellow and graduate of
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. Serina was
always interested in biology and chemistry (one of
her two college majors), but thanks in part to the
GRO Fellowship has focused her academic career
on microbiology. "The fellowship was critical for
funding years of research experience that helped
me hone my interests and apply for a Ph. D. program
in microbiology," she says.
Before beginning her doctoral studies in the
microbiology, immunology and cancer biology
program at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
Minn., Serina wiil put her undergraduate major in
Norwegian to good use as a Fulbright Scholar at the
Arctic University in Tromso, Norway. She'll study
the effects of warming Arctic temperatures due
to climate change on methane-oxidizing bacteria.
Her work uses bioinformatics, an interdisciplinary
field that develops methods and software tools for
understanding biological data, to study changes
in bacterial protein and microbial RNA expression
under different temperature conditions.
"This research wiil improve understanding of how
alterations in the metabolism of these bacteria
due to climate change will affect the global carbon
budget and the health of Arctic ecosystems,"
Serina explains. The global climate budget is an
examination of carbon cycle sources and sinks
on a global level. The carbon cycle describes the
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Serina Robinson (continued)
movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused
throughout the global ecological system called the
biosphere.
In addition to being a Fulbright Scholar, Serina
is the recipient of a National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellowship for her doctoral
work. Her research will focus on the use of
computational approaches to study the human
microbiome - the collection of microbes living
on and in the human body - and its connection
to disease. Serina credits the GRO Fellowship
for helping her compete for the Fulbright and
NSF graduate fellowships, "Thank you EPA GRO
Fellowship for funding my research experience and
passion," she says. "The Fellowship gave me a leg
up for these awards!"
Serina also calls the GRO Fellowship, particularly
the internship, "an exceptional chance as an
undergraduate to delve into environmental research
with EPA." She broadened her research experience
during her internship in an ecotoxicology lab at the
Mid-Continent Ecology Division, Duluth, Minn.,
where she studied fish instead of microbes. "I
gained appreciation for the daunting challenges
faced by scientists who identify, test and prove
the dangers of chemicals in our environment,"
Serina says. The internship helped her understand
the complexities and challenges associated with
translating scientific data into policy and regulation.
"I'm excited to someday contribute and play my
own small role as an environmental scientist," she
says.
Internship Reflections 2015: GRO Fellows share their
thoughts on their summer internship experiences
About her internship at the Atlantic Ecology Division, Narragansett, R.I.,
Jennifer Bailey says, "I believe that my time here has given me the skills,
both academic and professional, necessary for my success in graduate
school. This was an incredible experience and I would definitely recommend
it to anyone interested in toxicology" Jennifer is a biology major at Norfolk
State University, Norfolk, Va.
"My project proved to be an incredible learning opportunity that provided me
with a tremendous amount of guidance and insight into EPA and my future
goals," says Ashley Funk, an environmental studies major at Wellesley
College, Wellesley, Mass. Her internship in Region 5, Chicago, III., on
sustainable water infrastructure and green infrastructure solidified her interest
in empowering rural communities. "My project gave me insight into how I may
continue to do that work in the professional world," she says. Makari Krause,
who studies environment and economic politics at Claremont McKenna
College, Claremont, Calif., learned about mobile sources and carbon
pollution during his internship in San Francisco, Calif. "Some of the most
important lessons that I learned this summer were the technical skills used to
manipulate data and the conceptual skills of utilizing data to have a greater
impact on the world," he says.

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"I had not had very much microbiology lab experience before coming to
EPA, so most of the techniques that I learned were new to me," says Zev
Greenberg about his internship at the Ecosystems Research Division,
Athens, Ga. Zev, a chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology major
at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., expects to apply the lab techniques he
learned while working in a developmental biology lab.
Trevor Dunn reports that he acquired a wide array of new skills in areas
including laboratory procedures, equipment use and field sampling during
his internship at the Region 3 lab in Wheeling, W. V. He also refined his
existing skills. "Even though I had a fair amount of experience in the field
prior to starting my internship, I was able to solidify many of my previous
skills through applying them in the field this summer," says Trevor, a fisheries
and wildlife management major at Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste.
Marie, Mich.
Sederra Ross has studied chemistry, physics, aerospace and engineering but
chose to take on a new challenge, learning about environmental justice in her
internship in Region 4, Atlanta, Ga. "This summer I learned about the ideas that
cannot be learned in books and research labs. I learned about people, passion,
drive, teamwork, leadership, equality, justice and underserved communities,"
she says. Sederra, a chemistry major at Clark Atlanta University, says that her
internship experience has broad relevance: "The knowledge I gained and skills
I learned during this internship will help me be a better college student and a
better student leader."
AMBER WHITE,
MONTANA ETTEN-BOHM,
RYAN DUCHANOIS
KERRY PHAN

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svEPA
United States
Fm/irnnmpntal Prnt<=»rtinn
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Research
and Development (8723P)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
EPA/600/N-04/198
December 2015
www.epa.gov/ord
REBECCA ANDREUCCI

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