GRO

Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Student Fellowships Newsletter 

TheForum

Issue 1, 2005

The Office of Science and Technology

(OST) is responsible for developing sound,

scientifically defensible standards, criteria,

advisories, guidelines, limitations, and standards under the Clean Water Act and the Safe

Drinking Water Act. OST also is responsible

for developing risk assessment methodologies and providing risk assessment support

for the Office of Water in the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency. These

products articulate the goals and provide the

regulatory framework for restoring and

maintaining the biological, chemical, and

physical integrity of the nation’s water

resources, for protecting the nation’s public

water supplies, and for achieving technology-based, pollution-control requirements.

The three Divisions that make up OST—

Engineering and Analysis Division, Health

and Ecological Criteria Division, and

Standards and Health Protection Division—

are committed to protecting human health

and the environment by carrying out

research on the effects of pollutants that are

discharged into our nation’s surface waters.

They focus on such diverse programs as

technology-based controls and pollutionprevention techniques for industrial dischargers, human health and environmental

risks, risk assessments, and state water quality standards.

In this issue

1 Porche Spence:

An Alumni Profile

1 A Fellow’s Summer Project: EPA’s

Office of Science and Technology

2 A Fellow’s Summer Project: EPA’s

Office of Water, Region 9 Water

Division

2 It’s a Whole New World Out There.

Are You Ready?

3 2004-2005 GRO—Summer Placement

4 Contrarian Advice for Career Fair

Attendees

4 “Cyah Says”

A Fellow’s Summer

Project: EPA’s Office of

Science and Technology 

OST—continued on page 3

Porche—continued on page 3

Porche Spence: An Alumni Profile

Porche Spence a 2000-2001 Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) fellow was encouraged to apply to the EPA Greater

Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Student Fellowship Program by 

a professor at North Carolina Central

University. As this fellowship would be an

opportunity to receive money for school

and work for an agency such as the EPA,

Porche knew that this was an opportunity

that she could not pass up.

In the summer of 2000, Porche interned

with the EPA in Atlanta, GA, in the Waste

Management Division. Porche’s summer

project was investigating the effects of

chemicals in groundwater on health. On

this project she was exposed to site assessments that looked at groundwater and soil

exposure and the efforts toward cleanup,

wrote articles on a variety of environmental

justice issues, developed a database of environmental justice issues, developed a database of environmental justice media contacts, and was able to participate in a regional enforcement strategy meeting, where

the focus was on “Wetlands Violations of the

Clean Water Act.”

As part of her internship experience, Porche

was given the opportunity to travel to

Anniston, AL. Anniston, AL, grew to fame in

2000, when more than 3,000 citizens of

Anniston filed a class action suit against

Monsanto for damages allegedly caused by

releases of PCBs into the area’s air, lakes,

rivers, and soil. These citizens allege that the

company knew it was releasing PCBs into the

atmosphere, knew the hazards that accompanied exposure to PCBs and, consequently, did

nothing to stop the discharges and did not

take the appropriate measures to protect

those living in Anniston. While in Anniston,

Porche (who has asthma) experienced a small

part of what the residents in Anniston contended with. While in Anniston, Porche’s

asthma was exacerbated, and she found it very

hard to breathe. There was a horrible stench
2 The Forum

Do your future plans include a steady job, a clear

career path, regular pay raises, good benefits, and

some sense of job security? If employers take

Bruce Tulgan’s advice, a lot of these things will be

designed out of the workplace. It might be time to

think about “Plan B.”

Tulgan is the President of Rainmaker Thinking,

Inc., and the author of Winning the Talent Wars

(WW Norton, 2001). He advises employers on

how to build a workforce for the 21st Century.

The essence of his message is that companies,

agencies, and organizations need to create an

entirely new relationship with workers—one that

will involve only a small core group of permanent

employees.

Here’s what he’s saying to employers:

1. Talent is the show. One great person is

worth a whole bunch of mediocre people.

2. Staff the work, not the jobs. Create a giant,

fluid talent pool, and you can let your core

group of traditional employees shrink to a

small fraction of its current size.

3. Pay for performance, nothing else. Stop

paying long-term salaries and start negotiating

with employees the way purchasing agents do

business with outside vendors.

4. Train for the mission, not for the long haul.

Get people up to speed, boot camp style, and fill

skill and knowledge gaps as they occur.

Are you ready for a free agent nation? Are you the

“one great person” employers are looking for? Do

you think you would prosper financially at a place

that “pays for performance—nothing else?” Can

you imagine a world in which most people have

lots of work to do, but don’t hold a traditional job? 

Whether or not most employers actually follow Tulgan’s advice, it would be wise to plan for the possibility. Consider using internships, part-time jobs, volunteer experiences, even class projects as “practice

fields” for your involvement in the new economy.

How might that work? 

First, try to forget about hourly wages. Pretend

that you will only get paid when you complete a

“deliverable” (e.g., a document, an event, a map, a

recommendation, an agreement, whatever).

Second, get clear about what your deliverables are,

how they will be measured, and when they are

due.

Third, deliver the goods in high-quality fashion,

on time and under “budget.” Make sure that 

the final product is even better than what was

expected.

Fourth, get the training you need as you go along.

When possible, train yourself.

Fifth, keep a careful record of your deliverables,

and build a portfolio of your successes. As the number of jobs decline, professional portfolios (examples of actual work) are likely to replace resumes

(lists of past jobs) for many professionals.

It’s a Whole New World Out There. Are You Ready? 

A Fellow’s Summer Project: EPA’s Office of Water, Region 9 Water Division

The Office of Water (OW) is responsible for

implementing the Clean Water Act and Safe

Drinking Water Act, and portions of the:

Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization

Amendments of 1990,

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act,

Ocean Dumping Ban Act,

Marine Protection,

Research and Sanctuaries Act,

Shore Protection Act,

Marine Plastics Pollution Research and

Control Act,

London Dumping Convention, and

the International Convention for the

Prevention of Pollution from Ships and

several other statutes.

Our activities are targeted to prevent pollution wherever possible and to reduce risk for

people and ecosystems in the most costeffective ways possible.

The job is much too big to accomplish

alone. OW staff depend on many others,

including the 10 EPA Regions, other federal

agencies, state and local governments,

Indian tribes, the regulated community,

organized professional and interest groups,

land owners and managers, and the publicat-large. OW often provides guidance, specifies scientific methods and data collection

requirements, performs oversight, and facilitates communication among those involved.

As soon as OW and regional staff have

helped the states and Indian tribes to build

the capacity, many water programs are delegated to them for implementation.

Since EPA was established in 1970, the

Agency and country have made great

progress in improving surface water quality

and ensuring safe drinking water. Under the

provisions of the Clean Water Act, the

nation invested over $75 billion to construct municipal sewage treatment facilities,

nearly doubling the number of people

served with secondary treatment to almost

150 million.

The Water Division at EPA Region 9, San

Francisco, implements the Clean Water 

Act and Safe Drinking Water Act for

Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, several

Pacific Island nations, and more than 145

Tribal Nations in the desert Southwest.

Being a large, densely populated but arid

region puts added stress on our limited

water resources.

This summer, Amy Miller of EPA’s Region 9

Water Division will be mentoring Joseph

OW—continued on page 3
Guido (2004-2005 GRO Fellowship

Recipient) from the University of North

Dakota. Joseph’s summer project will allow

him to gain knowledge in public policy and

regulatory implementation. Through information review and case development,

Joseph will gain an understanding of the

data needed to make a defensible case and

the legal process the Agency must use to

take enforcement actions. Joseph will travel

with an inspector to regulated sites and

experience first-hand the environmental

issues facing the Region 9 area.

Joseph will be moving to the San Francisco

area with fellow University of North

Dakota 2004-2005 fellowship recipient

Clancy Kadrmas. Clancy will be working

with Michael Gill and Michael Montgomery

of EPA’s Region 9 Superfund Division.

Clancy’s summer project will be working to

encourage renewable energy at Waste Cleanup sites.

Issue 1, 2005 3

Erin Englert 

Louisiana State University

Major: Environmental Engineering

This summer, Erin with be working with Louisiana

State University’s Hazardous Substance Research

Center, a center funded by EPA.

Joseph Guido

University of North Dakota

Major: Chemical Engineering

This summer, Joseph will be working with EPA’s

Region 9 Water Division.

Krystal Hamlett

Lincoln University

Major: Cell and Molecular Biology

This summer, Krystal will be working with EPA’s

Region 3 Office of Watersheds.

Clancy Kadrmas

University of North Dakota

Major: Chemical Engineering 

This summer, Clancy will be working with EPA’s

Region 9 Superfund Division.

Megan Killian

Towson University

Major: Environmental Science

This summer, Megan will be working in EPA’s

Region 1 Atlantic Ecology Division.

Wendy Lucero

University of California, Santa Cruz

Major: Environmental Chemistry

This summer, Wendy will be working in EPA’s

Region 2 Microbiology Lab.

Megan Mauter 

Rice University

Major: Civil and Environmental Engineering

This summer, Megan will be working at EPA Headquarters Office of Policy Economics and Innovation.

Mia Robbins

Xavier University

Major: Biology

This summer, Mia will be working in EPA’s Region

4 Air Pesticides and Toxics Management Division.

Shaka Rucker

Phoenix College

Major: Economics

This summer, Shaka will be working at EPA

Headquarters Office of Science and Technology.

Kathryn Semmens

Ursinus College

Major: Environmental Studies

This summer, Kathryn will be working in EPA’s

Region 3 Environmental Assessment and

Innovation Division.

2004-2005 GRO Fellowship Class

Summer Placement

Ten undergraduate students make up the 2004-2005 GRO Fellowship Class. ECO and the EPA are happy

to welcome these talented students for the 2005 summer program.

Porche—continued from page 1

This summer, Treda Smith and William

Swietlik of the Health and Ecological Criteria

Division will be working with Shaka Rucker,

one of our 2004-2005 GRO recipients from

Phoenix College. Shaka will be working with

the Chemical Criteria program and will be

given several specific opportunities to participate in EPA activities related to the development, derivation, and implementation of

chemical criteria to protect aquatic life.

William Swietlik and

the Health and Ecological Criteria Division are no strangers

to the EPA Fellows

summer program. In

the summer of 2002,

EPA Fellow Brandon

Peebles, a Marine and

Environmental Science major from Hampton University, spent his summer internship

with Bill in the Health and Ecological

Criteria Division.

OST—continued from page 1

Brandon Peebles

in the air, and during her time in Anniston

she did not see any animals; not even a bird.

During her internship, Porche was working on

her Bachelors of Science in Environmental

Science, with a concentration in Biology.

Her undergraduate work had prepared her

for the research side of environmental policy,

but doing this internship for the summer

enabled her to see how research is turned

into policy. She was able to see first-hand

how policy is applied in the form of industry regulations and then enforced by the EPA.

Going into the internship, Porche had no

expectations, but she was aware that you get

out of the experience what you put into it.

Porche had a great experience working for

the EPA that summer. It helped her gain a

better sense of what she wanted to do and

the role she wanted to play in working with

the environment.

Porche attained her BS in Environmental

Science from North Carolina Central University in May of 2001, and in the fall of

2001 she returned to work on her Master of

Science degree in Earth Science, which she

completed in May of 2003. Porche also had

2 to 3 other internships with the EPA

before being hired as an EPA contractor in

2003.

OW—continued from page 2
4 The Forum

Career fairs are the perfect place to distribute

your resume, right? Not necessarily. Try this

strategy and see if you don’t have better results.

First, make a circuit of the career fair and gather

written information from employers that interest

you. Find a quiet place to read this material

quickly, identifying projects and programs that

sound intriguing, and write down questions.

Second, go back to the booths that interest you

and ask questions that reference the materials

you just read. You’ll be demonstrating that you’re

the type of person who does their homework

and is seriously interested in the employer. Also,

ask about key future challenges facing the employer. Where do their problems and opportunities lie? Finally, ask if there is a “type” of person

who tends to succeed best at this firm or agency.

What kind of person are they looking for? 

Third, ask the recruiter about his or her personal experience with the employer. Why does she

work there? What does she like? How did she get

her job? 

Fourth, be sure to get a business card! 

Fifth, go home and think about all you’ve learned.

Sixth, adjust your resume to fit the needs and

interests of the employers that most interested

you.

Seventh, send your adjusted resumes to the recruiters you met. In your own cover letter, mention the conversation you had and say something

about the interaction that stuck with you. Be personal. Point out that you’ve written a resume that

relates directly to that employer and enclosed it.

Eighth, follow up within a few days to talk about

opportunities.

Career fairs are about meeting people—not

dropping off pieces of paper. Good luck!

Contrarian Advice for Career Fair Attendees 

FIRST CLASS

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

RANDOLPH, MA

PERMIT NO. 35

Recycled/Recyclable

Printed with vegetable based ink on paper that contains a minimum of 50% post-consumer fiber content processed chlorine free.

Porche Spence realized early in her internship

that the experience was going to be what she

made of it. Your internship Project Advisor

and/or Mentor, aside from having you complete your assigned project, wants you to enjoy

your internship experience. Often, there are

downtimes in an internship. It is your responsibility to take the initiative in these downtimes to fill your time in useful ways. My suggestion is that you take time to research your

agency and find out what other kinds of projects are being worked on. Most of the time,

this information can be found on the agency’s

Web site. When you find a project you are

interested in, take the time to talk to your

mentor/advisor about the possibility of using

your downtime to volunteer your services to

that project. By taking this kind of initiative,

you are declaring to your agency that you are

a creative problem solver; and, by working on

several projects, you will learn new skill sets

that may help you gain your next internship or

entrance into graduate school.

“Cyah Says”

Office of Research 

and Development (8723F)

Washington, DC 20460

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use

$300

EPA/600/N-04/198

May 2005

www.epa.gov/ord