I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to advance
knowledge in environmental infrastructure. I am currently finishing my B.S. in
Civil Engineering and will continue with graduate work in Environmental Health
Engineering. I hope to work on sustainable infrastructure related projects and
conduct research on ways to reduce negative environmental health impacts of
infrastructure and civilization.
My current work is on streambed microbial responses to
produced water from hydraulic fracturing operations. Large volumes of water are
mixed with sand and chemicals before they are injected underground to extract
natural gas during the hydraulic fracturing process. The mixture then returns
to the surface as produced water that must be treated, managed, and disposed
of. In the event of a produced water spill, understanding microbial
responses is important to further explore the potential for bioremediation of
this contaminant.
I am fortunate to conduct my study with the Reston
Microbiology Lab at U.S. Geological Survey to understand these impacts.
We set up microcosms containing sediments, microbes, stream water, and
hydraulic fracturing fluid additives and have been monitoring the microbial
responses over time. On a weekly basis I measure the headspace gas on the
microcosms to understand if the microbes are operating under oxic or anoxic
conditions, as seen in my photo. I also read articles on hydraulic fracturing
and produced water to guide my research. We will continue to analyze the data
we are collecting on various other biological parameters to understand how
these chemicals could affect the crucial microbial communities in
sediments.
I learn something new every day with this project. This week I
discovered better ways to use the headspace gas analysis software so that the
data is more accurate.
