Ariel Santero

Goals this summer

My goals this summer are to learn how mercury travels in the environment, sources, health hazards, and how it is measured. Since this will be my first time working in a lab outside of coursework, I aim to learn about how to work safely in a research lab and with a lab group. I’ll also finish my Laboratory Safety Fundamentals certification before the internship begins later this summer.

What have you learned in your internship so far? (week 3 update)

In my internship with Peter Weiss, I learn to use mercury analyzing machines in a lab and read academic papers about the relations between mercury and wildfires. The academic papers highlight mercury methods of transport, species, behavior, and dangers in relation to forest fires. Forests act as sinks for mercury, typically in its mercuric Hg2+ form, keeping mercury in an immobile state with the highest concentrations in the soil organic matter. Elemental Hg0 mercury is commonly released into the atmosphere because of fire and is found in polluted water samples. Both wildfires and controlled fires remobilize mercury and lead to increased mercury concentrations in stream water and post-fire soils. In waters with low pH and low oxygen levels, mobilized mercury can create MeHg, or methylmercury, a neurotoxin and immunotoxin harmful to marine life.

In preparation for working with lab machines, I’ve learned research lab protocols around safely handling chemicals under the fume hood and general hazards in the lab. I’ve used the Tekran 2600 to analyze mercury concentrations in fire affected stream water, and normal throughfall and precipitation samples. The stream water samples were taken from creeks across Santa Cruz County. So far, the stream water has higher concentrations of mercury than the precipitation and throughfall with the highest recorded sample coming from Majors Creek. I’m currently learning how to use the Milestone DMA 80 to analyze the concentration of mercury in solids. Samples are dried and placed into plastic containers in the machine where they are heated to volatilize the mercury for computer analysis. In the future, I’ll use this machine on lichen and other solid samples.

How will attending AGU advance your academic and career goals?

Attending AGU will advance my academic and career goals by introducing me to the current state of Earth Science research, a professional and academic environment, and researchers in various fields. One of my main career goals is to help understand and mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change and other detrimental consequences to the environment. In my last two internships, I’ve stepped into this world by studying the differences in the microbiomes of diseased and healthy corals and the associated causes of coral decay, and currently through studying mercury concentrations in relation to wildfires in a research lab. Since I’m still finding a specific topic to focus on for graduate school or a future career, attending the conference will expose me to a variety of research topics and ways in which people are finding solutions to climate change and similar issues. AGU will also be my first conference relating to my academic and career interests, allowing me to practice presenting myself in a professional environment. Lastly, I’m most looking forward to meeting passionate researchers and networking with people studying topics of my interest. Networking at AGU will be the most beneficial aspect of this meeting as it will show me current research in a variety of topics and allow me to practice being in a professional environment.