# Presentation: 251757

## Scientific Summary Student Poster Presentation

- And saluting each mentor and student who gave so much to make this summer’s program shine

**Scientific Summary Student Poster Presentation**

**An INL premier event brought to you by Educational Programs **

## A summer of study at INL peaked with this powerful event. 

- Many of the 200-plus students at INL this summer gathered in EROB 159 to hear Leonard Bond, director of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, praise their performance and encourage them to reach for the stars.

## The intelligence of the students and the guidance of their mentors combined to create a winning science experience. 

- Chuck Pepe-Ranney studied methane-loving bacteria with INL researchers Deborah Newby and Joni Barnes.
- “Joni is a really fantastic teacher and very patient,” Pepe-Ranney said.
- “There is lot of overlap between biology and environmental engineering –  I hope to focus my graduate work there.”

## This year, students were involved in practical research across a variety of scientific and business disciplines. 

- Christie Larsen, BYU-Idaho student, studied coal gasification and the role that coal-rich Wyoming might play. Mentor Richard Boardman was focused and challenged her to thoroughly investigate her subject, she said. A one-word summation of her summer? “Extraordinary!” she said.

## Some, like Montana Technical University student Robbie Seifert, have been here before. They offer a deeper perspective.

- Seifert was pleased to return to INL this summer for his third summer internship. He has studied under R&D 100 Award-winner Kevin L. Young three years in a row.
- “It felt like what I would do when I graduate as an electrical or mechanical engineer,” he said. “Every day was different. It was great.”

## INL’s Educational Programs have a long reach – and their ‘INL Summer’ will stay with these students for years. 

- Mentored by INL researchers Mitch Plummer and Earl Mattson, Jena Davis created a lesson plan for the classroom – using research on glaciers now being done at INL. “I not only learned science, but also learned about communicating with others – and met people from all over the world. It was a great experience,” she said.

## Matthew Horkley got a close look at leading-edge science performed by the INL.  It gave him ideas. 

- INL mentors Troy Tranter and Nick Mann “were willing to stop and take the time to teach me,” said student Matthew Horkley. Working on an improved process to remove arsenic from water – a nationwide challenge – Horkley found new motivation for studying chemistry. “Just meeting someone who develops technology was important,” he said. “It gives me a really good idea of career opportunities.”

## With the World Nuclear University, the world came to INL. Utah State student intern Kellie Webber was here to meet it. 

- Kellie Webber, student from Utah State University, had an unusual internship helping the World Nuclear University hold its historic Summer Institute at INL.
- “It was a lesson in communications and public affairs,” she said. “It was different than I expected, but it has been eye-opening to talk to people from different cultures and countries. I have learned so much. I hope I can do this again.”

## They learned by doing,  at the leading edge of science – at the INL.

- Students Ryan Norman and Craig Bidstrup (not shown) interned with Dr. Charles “Chip” Tolle, focusing their efforts on tests of a data acquisition unit (DAQ) against itself. “He said he wanted the driver done, and we needed to learn how to do it,” Norman recalled. “It was very challenging, but he provided guidance and reference books all along the way.” Part of the learning experience? Building a complicated circuit board (inset photo) to accomplish the test.

## We can all be proud of INL’s role in mentoring the next generation of scientists – who will themselves mentor others. 

- While we could not show every student and every poster in this presentation, this and following slides show more of their accomplishments. At right is a spreadsheet tool for implementing an EPA protocol for hazardous waste combustion.
**Students:** Holly Stewart, John Elias, Sarah Gutterud.
**Mentor:** Dr. Michael Abbot

## While here, they contributed to the advancement of nuclear science and engineering – and to the future of the INL.

- Andrew Hubbell, from Montana State University, participated in a safety analysis of a space nuclear power system – a direction closely aligned with some of  INL’s most important present and future missions.

## Some of them focused on tough nuclear topics. 

- Shelly Lucas, BYU-Idaho student, was engaged in developing a quality assurance model of the ATR core and experiments, using computer-assisted design.
**Mentors: **
- Dr. Hans Gougar and Dr. D.S. Lucas

## Others performed equally difficult ecological studies - of growing importance in a time of climate change.

- Birds, reptiles, small mammals – all are important resident groups of animals at the INL. Student teams and individual interns helped us learn more about them – knowledge that will enable us to continue to protect the sagebrush ecosystem on which they depend.

- Front row, from left are Tracy Sierra (Idaho State University), Camie Frandsen (BYU), Monica Rodriguez (Utah State), Danielle Smith (University of Idaho), Thomas Ulrich (Washington State University), and Robin Van Horn (tech lead and mentor from INL side). Back row, from left are Matt Blandford (Purdue Veterinary School), Mackenzie Knight (Idaho Falls High), and mentor Thomas Haney (ICP mentor).

## Their work added to our knowledge and ultimately will increase our ability to succeed.

- These posters summarize the findings of the ecological research in which the students shown on the previous slide participated. The complex ecology of the high desert steppe remains an object of INL study and concern.

## Most importantly, as we interacted with these guests who represent the future of science – we learned from them, too. 

- Mike Sandvig takes a thoughtful look at a student poster on using INL’s world-renowned RELAP5 modeling code as an analysis and design tool for the Generation IV Helium Gas-cooled Fast Reactor. “These students’ output is amazing,” Sandvig said. “We learn as much from them as they do from us.”

## Thanks, students, for being a part of our lives this summer, for what you taught us and for what you gave. Seeing your enthusiasm and excellence, we know our future is in good hands.