Goals for Summer 2020

I have three goals for the summer.

1. Learn lab and field skills. (Particle size analyzer, soil columns, field equipment)

2. Create a scientific report and make it into a possible thesis.

3. Learn about more about graduate programs and careers in water resources.

To me the internship is job interview. I plan to show up every day and try my best to learn, and improve. I want to develop my time management skills to be more productive in both my academic and professional life.

My career goals is to be involved in the field of water resource management and sustainability. This internship will help me further my goals by providing me a very unique learning opportunity. I’ll be working with a worlds class scientists in projects that focus on both water management and policy making. That type of exposure will be tremendous as I move towards graduate studies.

How covid-19 changed my summer plans

"Stand Still Summer"

Every situation comes with positive and negatives. Summer 2020 was supposed to be an adventure for me. After taking 5 classes last summer and working countless summers before, this was summer was to be my well-deserved BREAK. I had successfully finished my most difficult quarter at UCSC and my plan was to go on massive road trip to visit as many national parks, states, and people as possible. I just wanted to get in my truck and jump on the road to see all these places that I’ve learned so much about as a geoscience major. I wanted to see the glacial valleys in Sequoia, look across the Grand Canyon and take a quick “selfie” at Horse Shoe Bend.

Unfortunately with global pandemic the breaks were put on the trip. The parks that I wanted to visit had been shut down completely or only partially open due to the virus. All the cities that I had planned to stop in were suffering from increasing cases and mandatory lock downs. I decided that it was better to postpone the trip a year and wait till the world returned to some level of normality. Waiting means a safer trip for me and ensures that the trip will be the best it can be when it finally happens.

On the bright side I was able to land this GEOPATHS internship and that changed my summer even more so. After the decision was made that I would be working with the UCSC hydrogeology group I found myself planning yet another move from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz (the third in two years). I originally thought that I would be home in quarantine for the next few months trying to study for the GRE or taking online classes in ArcGIS. But it was important for me to have a hands on experience because the lab and field skills you develop are invaluable.

GeoScience Career Panel Reflection

Entering the internship I knew that I wanted a career related to water and conservation but I didn’t know exactly what that would look like it. The conversation with the panelists showed me there is a wide range of jobs that are available in the geosciences. Working with water and conservation can mean being involved in groundwater remediation programs at an environmental consulting firm such as Weber Hayes & Associates but it can also mean being an environmental steward such as Scott Hardage. Speaking to working professionals made me aware of many possibilities that I previously had not considered.

It was great to hear how each panelist described their path to where they are now. As a soon-to-be graduate I often stress about life post-graduation, whether that be finding that ideal job after graduation, pursuing a graduate degree or taking a gap year. It was reassuring to hear that there isn’t single path for success, rather everyone creates their own unique experience, and all paths are valid. Adina Paytan’s story of taking a few years off to hike to the Himalayas really resonated with me because I see myself doing a similar trek soon. The reassurance from the panel that taking time off is OKAY and actually very beneficial for recent graduates brought a lot of things into perspective and I’m excited to see what’s in store next.

A big THANK YOU to all the panelists that took time off from their busy schedules during a hectic time to share their stories and answer our questions.

Final Reflection

The good the bad and the memorable. Summer 2020 has been unlike any past summers. A worldwide pandemic, a social movement addressing the injustices of police brutality on our black communities and statewide fires provide the backdrop to what has been an unexpected year. The GEOPATHS internship provided an amazing learning opportunity and just as important it provided sanity. My goals for this summer were to:

• Develop technical skills pertaining to hydrology for lab and field settings

• Create a scientific report that examines and interprets field measurements

• Learn about more about graduate programs and careers in water resources

Thanks to my internship with UCSC Hydrogeology group headed by Andy Fisher, I was able to achieve and go beyond my goals. Our group is involved in a range of research areas that include hydrochemistry and geothermal modeling. My focus was with the Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) projects. MAR is technology that uses excess surface water to replenish groundwater aquifers by creating artificial recharge. During fields days we would visit our infiltration basin near the Watsonville area to take notes of field conditions and to recover instrumentation that was deployed the year prior. I’ve always picture myself working outside so field days quickly became my favorite. My lab work was based on the processing of soil samples for the removal of organics and the grain size analysis that followed. A special thanks to Victor Bautista. His guidance and patience with teaching me lab procedures and how to operate the lab equipment was essential. He also provided a course outline that I used to learn ArcGIS.

The results from the grain size analysis was the bases of my scientific report. The report analyzed three soil cores collected to a depth of 10 meters from a proposed Flood-MAR site near the Consumnes River. The site is an active vineyard and when operational the vineyard would be flooded during storm events with excess water from the river to promote recharge. The grain size analysis served to show the composition of the soil with depth and to compare results with previously mapped conditions. The report also examined the effect of removing organics from a soil has on grain size distribution. My approach was to run ten samples twice: once with no processing and again fully processed. The experience of planning and executing a project from beginning will be invaluable as I proceed toward graduate studies.

The people I collaborated during my internship were amazing resources for information regarding graduate school opportunities. The graduate students in the group were always available to answer questions about the application process and provide guidance. Araceli Serrano, a graduate student in the group, recently started a program that matches undergraduates with mentors across the nation. I was able to sign up and through it I met Emilio Garcia, a PhD student of Dr.Zimmer who studies hydrology with a focus on geochemistry. Emilio has also been a great resource for learning more about potential careers in water related fields and graduate studies. Dr. Fisher also went above and beyond, he provide a list of the top hydrology programs and potential advisors that I should consider. In our weekly meetings, we would discuss everything from how graduate studies can be funded to how to best reach out to advisors and various other topics. Andy even offered to be a letter writer for the application process. As of now I have all three letters of recommendation secured, I have identified 5 schools that I will be applying to come December and initial contact has been made with potential advisors. I am extremely excited and thankful to see where my graduate studies will take me in the fall of 2021.

What a great experience, the learning, the science and the people that have made the GEOPATHS Internship the highlight of 2020!

AGU Abstract