Oak Ridge National Lab

Farewell Field Station & More

Stephanie Letourneau1 Comment

*Sometimes I use affiliate links in my content. This won’t cost you anything and will not harm our mother earth. I just might get some funding to go toward filling my logbook and sharing more with you.

Happy almost New Year!!!

2018 has certainly been a year of ambition, learning, success, and new experiences. From earning the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship to my DOE summer internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), I have had career advancing opportunities and personal development experiences. I am beyond blessed to have earned many scholarships this year that are assisting with my tuition and study abroad costs.

I have worked hard, battling the obstacles of my Crohn’s Disease, to pursue my passions. I am proud to say I have made Juniata’s Dean’s list both semesters in 2018. I look forward to continuing this work next semester in a warmer climate….see you soon Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands!

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Finals

After returning from Thanksgiving Break, the field station had our last few classes. Final exams were just around the corner. We had 2 exams, our nature photography portfolios, a GIS project, a research paper from our semester long projects, and an group presentation of our research results. Needless to say, our plates were full and we were feeling the stress.

Before the stress really hit, many of us participated in one of Juniata’s many traditions on campus by attending the Madrigal Dinner and Dance on December 1st! During dinner, our faculty and professors are our servers and we end the evening by singing holiday carols. You really have to be there to understand the full experience, it is quite unique. Afterwards, there is a dance in the gym. It is a fun night to dress up with friends.

Also, I visited the Terrace Mountain Alpacas farm to pet some alpacas.

As a stress buster, our awesome Resident Director planned a white elephant gift exchange and we made cookies!

I am going to miss the field station a lot, especially the people I had the opportunity to meet and get to know. People often ask me if I like living at the field station, especially since it is so far from campus. I tell them, “Yes! I love it because of the location, but mostly because of the people”. Being on Raystown Lake in the middle of the woods was beautiful and relaxing.

However, I think the people made the biggest difference. I learned so much about myself and who I want to be personally and professionally. I was able to get to know people who I never would have on campus. I made new friends, created memories with genuine and beautiful people, and had a lot of fun being me. I cannot thank everyone enough for all their support, acceptance, and knowledge they have shared.

So long Raystown Field Station!

Raystown Lake

If any current or prospective Juniata students are interested in studying at the field station, I highly suggest it. It is a great immersion opportunity, like study abroad, but less culture changes and still near campus (I also suggest you study abroad but you will be hearing about that for the next few months).

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American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting

Day One

The day after I had my final presentation and moved out of the Raystown Lake Station, I traveled to Washington, D.C. for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. I used Metro from the Shady Grove station to get downtown on both days I attended the conference. When I first entered the convention center, I was overwhelmed. There were people everywhere and it was a huge facility. I quickly located the registration desk, which was also massive.

After getting my official badge, I connected with my mentor from Oak Ridge National Lab. It was nice to see a familiar face in a sea of strangers in heels and blazers. I met many of her colleagues and connections, which was very exciting. Together, we went to the oral presentation titled, “Centennial: Transformational Contributions over the Past 100 Years in the Biogeosciences I”. It was an interesting series of presentations because it encompassed my knowledge from my internship over the summer and new aquatic concepts from the classes I had just completed.

After I grabbed lunch, I explored the exhibit booths and talked to a few graduate school programs. It was a great experience to practice asking questions and to start thinking about what is important for me about graduate school.

Before I knew it, it was time to present my poster. I was in the session titled, “Plant-Soil Interactions Under Global Warming: Learning Mechanisms from Multiyear Field Experiments and Natural Gradients”. I had practiced talking about my research at the end of summer at the ORNL intern’s poster session, but this was my first time presenting at a larger conference and completely alone. I was pretty nervous.

However, time flew by during the presentation time frame. I stayed at my poster for a majority of the time during the 1:40pm to 6:00pm time frame. I continuously had researchers approach me to discuss my project. I was able to reconnect with and discuss future interests with many scientists that I knew from working at ORNL. Also, I had a Juniata alum, Liz Cushman, come to my poster to network with me. I am excited to have more professionals in my circle of connections.

I ended the evening in DC with a delicious dinner at Tiger Fork with a former coworker from my internship at Audubon Naturalist Society.

My inspirational fortune at dinner
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Day Two

I arrived to the conference later on the second day due to a doctor’s appointment, but I was just in time for the oral presentation, “Building Stronger Communities in Academia for Effective Education and Outreach II”. I was particularly interested in this series because one of my future mentors for my Hollings internship with NOAA this summer was presenting. It was a great way to learn more about the goals of their projects and gain inspiration for my future work. I also learned a lot about programs that encourage scientists to be educators of their own work.

After the presentation, I went to view the ocean sciences, hydrology, and biogeosciences posters being presented that day. I was able to talk to graduate students about their work and their academic journey. It was great to gain insight on different paths to take and opportunities available. I ended the day by joining my mentor from ORNL in an oral presentation session and hopping around to a few others. My experience at AGU was eye opening and inspiring. I made many connections, and had meaningful conversations about my career and my interests.

I would like to thank the Environmental Science and Studies Department at Juniata for funding my conference experience through the Environmental Fellowship. I look forward to more experiences like these!

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NOAA Site Visit

A few days after the conference in DC, I traveled to Williamsburg, VA for my official site visit for my internship this summer. I stayed at a hotel in Williamsburg and my mentors provided transportation to the site in Gloucester Point. As previously mentioned, I will be interning with the stewardship and education coordinators at the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia on the campus of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. My focus will be assisting with monitoring in different sites on the York River and translating these projects into educational pieces, such as a story map and a lesson plan.

During my visit, I toured the campus, met other staff members during their holiday party, and discussed details of what my project specifically will be.

I was also lucky to be able to visit one of the reserve monitoring sites. I went to Taskinas Creek reserve, which is part of York River State Park. I got to visit the marsh and see the established weather station. They have meteorological, biological, and water quality monitoring programs established there.

It was beautiful, even for being the middle of December. I have already learned a lot about coastal environments and marshes. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge more this summer about these ecosystems.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and exploring Williamsburg. I am very excited to spend the summer there!  

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Study Abroad

As many of you know, I am study abroad next semester in the Galapagos Islands. I will first stay in Quito for the first weeks before going to the islands. I leave for my semester on January 5th and I am currently preparing for the transition. I want to give my study abroad it’s own section on my site, so I will be creating another post later with more details about what is upcoming.

However, I did want to share some excitement with you. I have received the
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to help pay for my semester abroad! I am grateful for this financial assistance especially since there are thousands of dollars of extra fees associated with my program due to transportation, field trips, and entrance fees. To read more about this opportunity, see Juniata’s article.

Also, Juniata awarded me with one of The Thomas R. Kepple, Jr. International Opportunities Endowment awards to help with the cost of this trip. I am very lucky to have this support!

As part of the Gilman scholarship, I am required to complete a Follow-On Service Project to promote study abroad experiences and the Gilman program. I will be using my blog as my promotion platform and will be connecting with specific groups. My goal is to have students (high school and college) follow my blog while I am abroad and then I will talk to them in person when I come back about the experience.

See you next year!

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On The Road Again

Stephanie LetourneauLeave a comment

*Sometimes I use affiliate links in my content. This won’t cost you anything and will not harm our mother earth. I just might get some funding to go toward filling my logbook and sharing more with you.

Hello from Maryland! I am enjoying my few days home before I go back to Juniata College. I have completed my internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I was able to go. I learned many new researching skills, added interns and researchers to my network, and now have knowledge about fine roots, peatlands, and image analysis software.

Challenges & Successes

One thing not all my readers may know is that I have Crohn’s Disease. Unfortunately, I had a flare during the end of July and I spent one week in the hospital. The picture below perfectly expresses how trapped I felt; I wanted to go outside. I am very lucky to have to coworkers and the community that I do here. I had many visitors, including my mentor. I also was blessed to have so many people at home thinking of me and sending me flowers. I have spent quite some time now on the road to recovery. Luckily, I had already completed all my research, my poster, and just needed to wrap up my technical report. I am grateful that Department of Energy permitted me to complete my internship part time.

On my second day back at the lab, I presented my poster to other interns and researchers in the Environmental Sciences Division. It was exciting to share my research with so many people and to show how much I had accomplished regardless of my setbacks.

On August 9th, I had the opportunity to present my poster for researchers from all of ORNL, graduate recruiters, and other interns. It was really fun to be able to share my research with other scientists and interns. I am glad I felt healthy enough to be able to make it there.

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Other Environmental Science Division interns. Middle: Cameron Toerner, Right: Abbygail Ochs
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Presenting my poster on August 9th
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My Poster

In the future, I am excited to be able to attend the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in Washington, DC in December to present my research with my mentor.

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Research Results

My internship is now complete (well, when I submit the paper). That being said, I am very excited to finally be able to share the results of my research. If you need to refresh yourself more on the topic than what I am about to share, please go visit my post about Week 1.

I want to start by sharing this video from Department of Energy, highlighting the SPRUCE project as a whole. It is a great video to explain the long term goals of the project.

Above is an image of the poster I presented, which highlights important aspects of my results and conclusions. However, the image would be very small and hard to read if I pasted it here, so I broke it down below.

I have also included my 300-word abstract above the poster. Both convey basically the same thing, but the abstract is more developed content-wise and uses more complex language. The poster was designed as a visual aid for easy and quick reading, but also includes the graphs.

Choose the one that best fits your needs or read both!!

Abstract:

Quantifying fine-root branching response to experimental ecosystem warming utilizing image analysis software

Stephanie Letourneau (Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA 16652)

Avni Malhotra (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830)

Colleen Iversen (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830)

Peatlands store large amounts of soil carbon and this carbon is vulnerable to global change. Peatland carbon, if released into the atmosphere, could feedback into global warming via increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Fine roots are adaptive and integral to biogeochemical processes due to their role in plant nutrient and water acquisition. Thus, the fine-root trait-environment relationships are key to modeling whole-ecosystem responses to climate change. For example, branching intensity (a root trait describing number of branch tips per unit length of root) can adapt to changing moisture and temperature, but the extent and mechanism of root branching in peatlands is unknown. Further, environmental responses of branching relative to other traits, such as root length and diameter, are unclear in peatlands, and can relate to plant resource allocation strategies. We sought to determine (1) if image analysis software (WinRHIZO™) can be used to evaluate branching intensity and (2) whether shrub fine-root branching intensity increases with warming (and associated drying). To address these objectives, we analyzed images of fine roots collected from cores at the “Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments” (SPRUCE) experiment. In SPRUCE, ten experimental plots provide temperature and atmospheric CO2 gradients. WinRHIZO™’s tip counts did not correlate with manual counts (R2= 0.56, p<0.001), especially in images with numerous roots. Thus, for objective (2), we manually counted root tips in images. We found no significant relationship between branching intensity and warming in the ambient CO2 plots, indicating that branching may not be the first trait responsive to warming. Rather, fine-root length responded strongly to warming. Conversely, in plots with elevated CO2, branching and temperature correlated strongly and positively (R2=0.84, p =0.03). This result suggests that branching response to warming varies by CO2 concentrations. Our study provides valuable data on root traits for future global climate and peatland models.

Poster:

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Results and Discussion

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THIS LABEL IS SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE GRAPH ON THE RIGHT:

ρ=0.9, p-value=0.04

(copy and paste does not agree with me)

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I would like to thank my mentor Dr. Avni Malhotra and my co-interns for all of the support and encouragement along this journey!!! I learned so much and I had fun while doing it.

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Surprise!!

While I was ill, I received an email from Lee Popkin, the director of the John Muir Scholarship from the Sierra Club Catoctin Group. I received the John Muir Scholarship from the club when I was a senior in high school to support my college tuition. I have kept in touch with him and gave him updates on my educational adventures. I am very honored that the club has offered me an additional scholarship to help with my tuition and study abroad in the spring. It is great that the program is evolving to be able to do this! I am very grateful and I am excited they have been so supportive of my journey.

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Moving Forward

My next adventure is the beginning of my junior year at Juniata College! I have been looking forward to this semester since I was in high school. I am going to be living and taking all my classes at the Raystown Field Station. This semesters theme is Aquatic Ecology, which will allow me to further study the freshwater ecosystems in Pennsylvania. When I say I am living at the lake, I really mean it. Look how close it is!!

From Juniata.edu RFS

At the field station, classes are divided by days, except Nature Photography, which is an evening course. Here’s my course list and descriptions from the schedule.

  • Limnology: “An ecology/environmental science course covering inland aquatic environments (lakes and streams).”
  • Aquatic Ecology and Lab: “They will focus one or more special environmental skills, methods, approaches or technologies. In the lecture component of this course, we will focus on concepts and vocabulary central to understanding the science of Ecology as applied to freshwater systems. We will investigate the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of wetlands, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes.”
  • Geographical Information System: “An introduction to a Geographical Information System (GIS), and the course objective is that students gain a basic, partial understanding of GIS concepts, technical issues, and applications using Arc View GIS. It encourages thinking in spatial context. A diverse array of hands-on computer applications and projects are used to understand how geographical data can be analyzed spatially. Students explore analysis techniques in a problem basis learning approach using small team projects.”
  • Sense of Place Seminar: “This is the “cornerstone” of the Sense of Place semester, managed by one faculty, but comprised of a series of modules taught by various faculty and guest speakers. Module topics cover a range of environmental, ecological, and societal issues connecting to the region. Students will be expected to journal their experiences at RFS as well as complete other writing assignments.”
  • Nature Photography: not much of a description exists but you can imagine what this is. Expect many cool photos this fall!
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See You Soon!

I am traveling to Juniata August 17th to begin preseason for cheerleading, moving into the field station on the 22nd, then starting courses on the 23rd. I will be driving back to campus for cheerleading practice and games while I am studying and living at the lake. I am very fortunate to be able to enjoy both of these opportunities this fall.

Life of an Intern: Networking & Nature

Stephanie Letourneau1 Comment

*Sometimes I use affiliate links in my content. This won’t cost you anything and will not harm our mother earth. I just might get some funding to go toward filling my logbook and sharing more with you.

Long time no see!!! As I expected, life began to take over and I have not had a lot of time to write an update. However, here I am! I have been very busy at the lab and exploring East Tennessee on my weekends. I hope you enjoy this update.

I have 3 weeks left at the lab and in Oak Ridge. The summer has flown by but I have learned so much in these past few weeks. The amount of experience I am getting and the connections I am making will definitely help me in the future. I also have been taking advantage of the researchers I am surrounded with by learning about their career and asking for advice. It is so valuable to hear about another’s journey because you might learn about something that you never knew existed or you might find yourself in their shoes down the road.

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Professional Development

I have various required activities during my appointment. There are seminars on Wednesdays and then ‘Lunch & Learn’ events on Thursdays.  The events have been about safety at the lab, the deliverables that are due at the end of the summer, and research being conducted at the lab. By the end of the summer, I will have completed a paper and a poster presentation.

To provide more resources and information on our future careers, ORNL hosted a Career Connections Day. This all day event began with remarks from Dr. Moody Altamimi, Director of the ORNL Office of Research Excellence.  She was followed by Dr. Lee L. Riedinger Director of the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. He was a great speaker and gave the advice to “pursue leadership” if your personality works in that role. The following speaker before lunch was Eric Benson, an Organizational Development and Training Consultant in Human Resources. His presentation outlined the power of managing your connections early on and the steps one must take to actually do that.  His best advice was, “Life’s too short [what ever you do], have a passion for it”.

After lunch, we were honored to have the opportunity to listen to Dr. Michelle Buchanan, the Deputy for Science and Technology at ORNL. She shared details about career path and discussed her own family values. This has become one of my favorite things that researchers talk about. I believe family and having a life outside of it is important, especially for myself. I am sure some people do not need that, but I am at the age where I realize I need that kind of support in my life. She shared that having a family balance was important for her and that it is possible to have both research and a family. Dr. Buchanan did it and now look at the position she holds.  She did add that it was necessary to have a supportive spouse. She married a chemist and her daughter is now a chemist. I can imagine that having someone in a similar field as you is easier because they understand your work struggles more. She also noted you will need to compromise over the years and have patience.

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Connecting at Career Connections Day

Next, we had a panel of ORNL Scientists discussing “Building Your Connections – Creating Your Community”. Each scientist had different backgrounds and career paths. Some of the suggestions I scribbled down in my notes suggested considering attending graduate school abroad, finding a mentor with passion, and considering work before attaining a PhD. The last two presentations were focused on building your brand and how to utilize social media for career connections. We heard from Brian Rose, an ORISE Recruiter and a panel of recruiters. The end of the day was dedicated to various stations. They included professional groups such as the Committee for Women and Women in Physics and various 5-minute critique stations for LinkedIn accounts, resumes, or interviews. To continue encouraging our professional development, the lab hosted a Professional Organization Day to sign up and meet industry professionals.

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Left: My office-mate, Parker.  Right: Manda

Making My Own Connections

Amidst my spree of adding people on LinkedIn after learning how important connections are, I noticed someone in my suggested connections list who was a Juniata College alum and works at NOAA currently. I clicked on her profile and saw she was a previous Hollings Scholar and she did the same study abroad program in the Galapagos that I am doing in the Spring. Using the skills that I have learned in the past few weeks, I sent her a message to reach out and see if we could talk. She agreed and I was very excited!

Fast-forward to the next week and we had a great phone call.  Her name is Katie Shelledy and she graduate from Juniata with a degree in Biology when I was a freshman (2017). She did her Hollings internship in Wood’s Hole, MA studying fish bioacoustics. She is currently working as a Junior acoustician at the James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory with NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. She discussed how her mentor from her internship played a large role in getting her current position. Yet another example of the importance of connections.

We also discussed her experience in the GAIAS program in the Galapagos. She participated in the same module I am interested in, Marine Ecology. The students in that module spent most their time out in the water. She noted that this immersive experience was the best semester because of the amount of field experience she gained and the fact that the world is literally your classroom there. This definitely sounds like the program for me! Katie is currently applying to graduate schools and is interested in an interdisciplinary program.

Her advice to me was to “trust yourself, be patient, take advantage of new connections, have a good network, and have a life as well” and the most important: take things “one day at a time”. Talking to Katie provided me with invaluable insight into what my future could hold. She has had many of the experiences that I will be having and in general, it is nice to talk to someone who also came from a small school, in fact the same small school. I am very excited to have Katie in my network now and talk to her more in the future.

I also recently had lunch with a Post-doctoral Research Associate who is part a collaborative team working to understand coastal wetland carbon sequestration in a warmer climate. She is also from a small school and it was fun to understand how different people in her life affected her path through marine science. Yet another great new connection!

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Weekend Fun

On June 16th, Oak Ridge celebrated its annual Lavender Festival. This all day event included numerous vendors, live music, food, and LOTS of lavender. When I walked towards the event, the aroma of lavender in the hot air swarmed me. I was able to enjoy local food, lavender lemonade, and lavender ice cream. I also bought a few items to enjoy the lavender weeks later.  It was a beautiful day.

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Lavender Lemonade
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Lavender Ice Cream from Razzleberry
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Chicken and Pineapple Sticks

In addition to the festival, the Farmers Market was also bustling with fresh produce, which is a weekly occurrence. I have enjoyed going to the farmers market every Saturday to get vegetables for my meals. Lately, it has meant more to me to support local businesses and to know where my food is coming from. I highly suggest a farmers market to anyone considering attending. The farmers are very knowledgeable about their produce and its a great community. Also, supporting local business is important to keep family businesses alive!

On the weekends, my friends and I have been able to enjoy cooking and eating together. We have had many dinner parties and have experimented with a lot of foods. Good Saturdays with good friends and good food!

In addition to food, I have enjoyed the nature. I walked around the University of Tennessee Arboretum with a friend after work one day.

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Photo Creds: Berat Arik
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Turtle Friend

I have also found that there are many quarries in this area and have explored many of those.

First, I went to Fort Dickerson quarry right outside downtown Knoxville.  There was a lot of people along the trail’s edge enjoying the weather, lots of dogs, and every float you can imagine in the water.  There was a large rock wall that was perfect for climbing!

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The second quarry is in West Oak Ridge. There was a path to walk down to get there, which was about a mile. Therefore, there was no one there until around the time we left.

I adventured to the third quarry in early July. I spent the day hiking at Ijams Nature Center and then went down to Mead’s Quarry. It was beautiful but we did not go out on the water. However, when my mom visited, we rented paddle boards and enjoyed the quarry for a sunset paddle.

My mom visited for a short weekend, but we did a lot. On Saturday, we went to the farmers market and then headed to downtown Knoxville for brunch. We at on Market Square at Tupuelo Honey. It was delicious.

We went to Ijams Nature Center for hiking that afternoon and paddle boarding at Mead’s Quarry. Our evening ended with a showing of Ocean’s 8.

The next day we headed to Melton Lake for more paddle boarding and then visited with family before taking her to the airport.

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Back To Business

You are probably wondering how my research project is going. It has been a long process but we have finalized my poster on Friday and have completed the first draft of my abstract. Next Monday, my paper is due so that will be a lot of what I am working on this week. It has been an interesting journey but I have learned a lot about research in the ecology field. One of the best skills I have learned is being able to read scientific papers. I cannot wait to share my results with you all but I am going to wait until everything is completed. As a refresher, I am studying fine-root branching responses to environmental change. A lot of my work has been working with images of previously processed and scanned roots to determine branching in the past two years. My mentor has given me a lot of the responsibility throughout this process and let me be fairly independent. I have enjoyed experiencing the challenges and the troubleshooting. We are hoping for me to get more root picking experience in my last few weeks at the lab.

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Roots!!!

Thanks for all your support and for reading my updates! Feel free to contact me if you have any comments or questions. I end my internship August 10th and I am going back to Juniata for preseason on August 17th.

Until next time!!!

Toto, I’ve got a feeling we aren’t in Maryland anymore

Stephanie Letourneau3 Comments

*Sometimes I use affiliate links in my content. This won’t cost you anything and will not harm our mother earth. I just might get some funding to go toward filling my logbook and sharing more with you.

Greetings from Tennessee!!

So yes, I have started my internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory already and I am very behind on updates. However, this should be exciting because that means I am having a lot of fun, so I will have cool things to write about.

We began our journey on June 1st. My brother and my mom drove down to Oak Ridge with me. It was certainly a challenge to get everything stuffed into the car. When we were halfway there, I decided I had enough energy to keep driving so we ended up in Oak Ridge that night. The next day was spent moving my stuff and visiting with my aunt, my cousins, and her lovely children.

On Sunday, I attended a pre-orientation picnic at Clark Center Park for all the interns at the lab. It was a chance to meet people, ask questions, and sign up for activity groups. There was also free food (this is a continuation of my food tour from my last post). I had a pulled pork sandwich. After all, barbecue is a Tennessee specialty. I met some cool people I still talk to, but I realized quickly that we will not be seeing each other much due to being in different divisions and on completely different sides of the campus.

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Photo booth at the picnic…PC: Manda Boisvert

Monday, June 4th was my first day! I got to the lab early to avoid having to wait in a long line during the badging process. Each intern had to get processed through the visitor center to get a badge and an email log in. It did not take me long so I had some down time to mingle and eat lunch.  Orientation programming did not begin until 12pm so we actually waited for awhile. The program was very short compared to my NOAA orientation. We heard from some officials at the lab and from the representatives at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education about the lab in general and about our specific appointment details.

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Representing Juniata College
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Friends at orientation
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After the presentations were over, we got to meet our mentors, finally.  They lined up to use the microphone to call out our names. It felt like we were getting picked for the Hunger Games except you want your name to be called. My name was called and my journey really began.

The first few days were full of training and reading about the project I was going to be working within. There was online training, reading, and then in lab training to learn about specific lab hazards. There are many interns in my division this summer and everyone is very cool. I share my office with another intern and we have become great friends! It is a lot of fun meeting new people from all over the place.

My mentor is Avni Malhotra, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Environmental Sciences Division. For her doctoral research, she studied the ecosystem structure-function links in peatlands. She currently is studying fine root dynamics at ORNL. Although we have only been working with each other for a few weeks now, I feel very lucky to have her as my mentor. She brings advice from her personal life and from her many facets of educational experiences. I also have been enjoying getting to know the other researchers in our division and hearing about their careers. They might not realize it, but every story they tell helps guide my future.

The project I am working on is called “Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE)”. I encourage you to read more about it from the official website. The project is simulating climatic changes to determine the effects of increased temperature and carbon dioxide at varying increments in peatlands. These ecosystems are large carbon sinks. With increased atmospheric temperatures and carbon dioxide levels, there is a threat of positive feedback onto the atmosphere and climate. As you can imagine, there is quite a variety of researchers working on this project. These are the beginning years of this long term project and it is very exciting to be part of this full ecosystem analysis.

What is my role in this project? My mentor is focused on fine root dynamics in the ecosystems. Specifically, she is interested in the branching intensity of these roots. So that is what I will be working on this summer.  I am looking for differences between the different treatment plots and determining if branching correlates with any of the treatments. My first week has been spent reading a lot of literature that relates to this, because fine roots and branching is an area of science I have not spent a lot of time in. It has been engaging to learn something completely new and be able to have the curiosity and the resources to further the studies.

How am I going to do this? The lab has ingrowth soil core samples from each plot at the site which look like this (except a longer tube because they get cut):

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They fill these with peat and place them in the ground to collect the fine roots growing at a certain time period. They get cut to account for the depth in the ground. In the lab, we search through these soil samples for roots using forceps, jewelers glasses, and lamps. After you pick through the soil, the roots are then classified and ordered. The root samples then get scanned to become an image for analysis of length, diameter, tips, etc. The roots are later dried, ground, and sent off for nutrient testing to determine the amount of carbon in them.

At the end of the first week, I was able to spend a lot of time working with these cores. We call the process “root picking”.  It is tedious but the data is important for future studies. I will have updates about my progress but overall I will most likely wait until the end of my project when I have a poster and a paper to share for my final results. I am excited to see where this project takes me!

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Root Picking Views
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Jewelers glasses

As part of my internship appointment, there are required seminars and events to attend. During the first week, I learned about the publication database, Web of Science, and it has become my best friend. It was neat to see all of its different features, and I have definitely found it to be very useful.

I also had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call among researchers in SPRUCE. I loved being able to hear about all the different studies going on just on this one project. Since it is a whole ecosystem study, everything is pretty much covered!

Bring Your Child to Work Day was the first Friday of my internship so it was nice to see all the little kids running around.  Also, they had a fundraiser on campus for United Way and were selling ice cream sundaes!!  What a great end of the week.

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Rewind to the beginning of the week….

On Tuesday, it was time to say goodbye to my mom and my brother. My aunt and I sent them off at the Knoxville airport and tearfully watched them fly off. No worries, your favorite mother-daughter duo will be back together for a weekend in July.

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Posing in the airport
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See you later!

Weekend Fun

On Friday, I experienced Knoxville for the first time with a friend and he showed me around. We had yummy greek food at Yassin’s Falafel House and walked around Market Square. I was surprised how small the social area was but it was certainly cute and a nice area. I also saw the Sunsphere at World’s Fair Park.

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Tennessee Theater in Knoxville

On Saturday, I slept in. It was great and much needed. I then went with some friends to the Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge! The festival celebrates Oak Ridge’s rich history with music, vendors, and food. We met up with some other interns and now I have a much larger friend group than before.  For lunch, I had another barbecue sandwich. Then, some of us went to dinner afterward at a pizza parlor called The Tomato Head in Knoxville.

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Secret City Festival
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Sunday was spent getting ready for the week ahead. I visited with my aunt and my baby cousin. I wish I could remember more but honestly these days fly by. I spend a majority of my time during the week at the gym and/or the lake. Running at the lake is quite beautiful, and it’s nice to get moving after sitting all day in the lab or my office. I also have discovered the local farmers market and it’s really nice to get fresh produce.

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Melton Hill Lake

I am going to work on writing Week 2 updates ASAP!

I look forward to sharing more of my adventures with you.  It has been a lot of fun so far. I love what I am studying and I have really learned a lot about what I want to do with my future. I just have to find the time to relax and reflect on this journey. I am appreciative of everyone who has been so supportive so far.

See you next week!

P.S.  Here’s my cute little bio posted in the break room for the Climate Change Institute and surrounding offices.

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