“To date, the program has supported over 80 students reflecting a wide variety of backgrounds and research interests,” said Tom Sims, associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and DWRC director. “More than 40 faculty from UD and Delaware State University have served as advisers to the students. During their internships, students conduct independent research projects and learn about graduate education opportunities and careers in water science, policy and management.”
Program participants come from a variety of undergraduate majors at UD, as well as other institutions of higher learning in Delaware. DWRC interns, in cooperation with faculty advisers, identify a topic of interest consistent with the DWRC's overall research and educational interests, develop the approach to accomplish their objectives, conduct the project, analyze the results and share their findings and accomplishments with the academic and water resource communities.
Financial support--$3500 per undergraduate intern provided by university and government partners--helps students to apply classroom education in “hands on” projects addressing contemporary regional water quality concerns.
For the spring 2008 application period, all undergraduate students enrolled at any institution of higher learning in Delaware may apply, except for those graduating at the end of the spring 2008 semester. All students must have the active support of a faculty adviser and a minimum GPA of 3.0. The application form and additional information can be found online at [http://ag.udel.edu/dwrc/job.html]. Applications must be received on or before March 28.
“As a natural resources management undergraduate, I was looking for hands-on experience to boost my success in finding a job after college,” said Jennifer Campagnini, a past DWRC intern and 2001 UD alum. “I saw an ad for the DWRC grant and worked with my adviser to find the right fit.”
Campagnini's internship research, “University of Delaware's Experimental Watershed Project” under the advisement of Gerald Kauffman, delineated small watersheds on campus and provided recommendations for environmental improvements for water quality impact.
Kristin Sentoff DeWire, a 2004 UD graduate who now resides in Virginia, participated in two DWRC internships. During the summer after her sophomore year, she worked under the advisement of Joshua Duke, associate professor of food and resource economics and legal studies, looking at a Supreme Court case that changed the federal jurisdiction over wetlands and implications for wetland regulations in Delaware. Duke and DeWire wrote a law review article about the project that was published in the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law.
The following summer, DeWire worked with several other interns in the Delaware Water Resources Agency on a study of on campus streams at the edge of White Clay Creek State Park. Water quality sampling and geologic surveys were used to propose techniques for stream restoration on campus.
“Immediately after graduation I went to law school at Pace University in New York,” DeWire said. “Having worked on the legal review article was a huge help in getting in to law school. I felt like I was a step ahead of my peers because I had already done legal research and was familiar with the writing technique.”
DeWire received her law degree in 2007 with a certificate in environmental law. She is admitted to the Maryland State Bar Association and is currently in a one-year clerkship in the Washington, D.C., court of appeals.
Michael League, who graduated from UD with an honors bachelor's degree in biological sciences education in 2003, participated in the internship program during the summer of 2002. League's project was focused on the invasive wetlands plant Phragmites australis, involving field research, laboratory analysis and plant tissue culture.
“My undergraduate advisor, Dr. John Gallagher, a graduate of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, made the connection between research I started the summer before as part of an NSF research experience for undergraduates and the DWRC internship program,” said League.
Currently, League is teaching middle school science and working on his master's of science degree in marine biosciences.
“The DWRC internship provided an essential stepping stone between my earlier internship experience and the beginning of my master's degree," League said. "The DWRC position allowed me to continue research that made me a suitable candidate for graduate school. It allowed me to continue the relationship I began with my adviser and that grew into the beginning of the master's degree. Research performed during my DWRC internship will appear in my master's thesis.”
Graham's internship project focused on the predators of a beetle, Galerucella calmariensis, which act as a biological control agent of the invasive wetland plant, purple loosestrife.
“Simply by eating, these beetles control purple loosestrife more effectively than we can through physical, mechanical or chemical means," Graham said. "My thesis looked specifically at predators of the Galerucella beetle within two wetland habitats that may have affected the success of our biocontrol program.”
“As part of my internship, I was required to complete a literature review; this gave me the advantage of seeing how research is reported in academic journals preparing me to report my results in my thesis. My field experience helped me to budget my time wisely, while lab experience introduced me to valuable research tools,” Graham said. “When I met with my current adviser, he asked why he should accept me into his graduate program. He was impressed with the research experience I had completed, and I felt confident discussing with him future possibilities for research in his lab.”
Article by Katy O'Connell
