Stroud Scientists at Work The Stroud Summer Internship Program: Grooming Future Scientists Each summer, the Stroud™ Water Research Center welcomes a new group of college interns who are eager to participate in research projects at the Center and to begin what will likely become their life’s work, a career in the sciences.

The program, now in its 36th year, has ushered through more than 260 interns who have come in search of meaningful work and whose passion for science and the environment has prompted them to spend their summers with us. The interns work under the direction of our interdisciplinary team of seasoned scientists — all able mentors — who ensure that their jobs don’t just contribute to the research of the Center but also build human capital. The critical skills and knowledge these interns gain over the course of the summer are essential for the careers they may ultimately pursue full-time.

“The internship program acts as a proving ground of sorts,” says Lou Kaplan, senior research scientist and principal investigator of the Biogeochemistry department. “Experiences like this help to develop the critical thinking and problem solving skills these students will need to go to the next level as independent researchers. It’s invaluable because it also allows them to see for themselves if they have the passion and fortitude to sustain themselves during the challenges inherent in research. By the end of the summer they can evaluate whether they like the lab and field work, as well as the collaborative interactions required to be successful in a career in the environmental sciences.”

Interns hail from colleges in Georgia, Indiana and Ohio, as well as the Universities of Delaware and Pennsylvania. Their courses of study span the sciences from environmental studies to molecular biology. This lucky group of individuals is culled from a much larger group of applicants, each of whom endured a vetting process, complete with resumes and interviews — and the similarity to the work world doesn’t stop there.

As they immerse themselves in their research projects, the interns also benefit from weekly lectures presented by Stroud senior scientists, and they participate in the Center’s journal club, where along with Ph.D. candidates and Stroud scientists, they read and discuss original research articles published in scientific journals. By summer’s end, these interns will have gained enough knowledge and confidence to present their own scientific papers, both to their peers and the general public, about a specific scientific topic or on their own research — an exercise designed to test their understanding of the subject, to educate others, and to give them a taste of what will be expected in their future studies and as independent researchers.

“This program is clearly a win-win for everyone involved. We’re able to expand the depth and breadth of our research programs and cultivate great talent at the same time,” said Bern Sweeney, Director of the Stroud Water Research Center. “Each year several of our interns return again — and we’ve had the good fortune to recruit some of our best employees directly from the internship program.”

AN INTERN TESTS HER OWN HYPOTHESIS

Neva Cockrell, an Oberlin College undergrad, is spending the summer as one of a select group of interns participating in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, funded by the National Science Foundation. REU interns are required to conduct research of their own design — from the proposal stage through execution, analysis, and written and oral presentations of the results — with guidance from a Stroud scientist at each step along the way.

Under the umbrella of the Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) project, a collaborative study that involves multiple departments at the Center, Cockrell designed a research project to answer a fundamental question about how streamside (or riparian) vegetation affects the mixing of ground water and stream water and the biological processes that occur below the streambed surface (or Hyporheic zone.) She will test whether more nitrogen is removed through the Hyporheic zones within the streambeds of forested stream reaches than in reaches adjacent to meadows, where the riparian zone is comprised of grasses alone.

 “A lot of nitrogen, often from agriculture, enters the ground water and ultimately the stream, bypassing the root system of any plants in the riparian buffer — streamside forest or meadow,” said Neva. “It does that when ground water flows up through the streambed. So, measuring the biological processes and the water movement in that streambed tells us how nitrogen is being removed or processed between the land and the stream.

“Because the streams are wider in forested reaches, the streambed is larger,” she added, “and I wanted to know if the biological activities are also magnified as a result of this phenomenon — and, if so, what effect that has on the stream ecosystem.

“If we don’t understand how agricultural chemicals enter the stream, then we can’t implement effective buffer zones to keep the stream healthy.” The data she collected will contribute to a broader understanding of the impacts of different land use practices (forested, meadow, agricultural) on stream health and water quality.

HOW SHE DID IT
Cockrell sampled water from 18 shallow plastic wells inserted into the streambed and distributed equally in forested and meadow reaches of White Clay Creek. She assembled the wells herself and placed them at 3 different depths below the streambed surface. She then collected water samples from three depths and analyzed them for nitrate concentrations.

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