Available CONSERVE Internships

University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
Project Focus: Drinking Water quality

University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
Project Focus: Consumer perception of the use of reclaimed water

Position Description (In-person prefered): The Maryland Safe Drinking WATER (Water Analysis and Testing for Education and Research) Study is an initiative to protect drinking water in underserved communities by characterizing the drinking water quality of both public drinking water systems and private wells using a combination of citizen science, field-based research, and laboratory analyses. The three main objectives of the study are: 1) preliminary screening of water from public and private sources; 2) chemical testing (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), antimicrobials, metals, and inorganic pollutants) of Maryland’s drinking water from public and private sources; and 3) evaluating the occurrence and concentration of viable and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Maryland’s drinking water from public and private sources utilizing standard culture-based methods, DNA labeling, and metagenomics.

The duties of the student intern include conducting a preliminary survey to recruit participants; collecting water samples, processing water samples for chemical testing, filtering water samples, and extracting DNA (which will be used to profile the microbial communities present in the different water sources over time using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics); entering data (water parameters, DNA concentrations, etc.), and completing preliminary data analysis.

About the Lab: The project is housed within the CONSERVE Center of Excellence at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Specifically, the intern will be working in CONSERVE’s applied environmental microbiology lab, comprised of biosafety level II laboratories. The lab team includes undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and faculty.

Position Description (Virtual/In-person): Public perception and acceptability toward reclaimed water in the US: Efficient use of limited water resources is critical to almost every facet of society. While the development of new water sources is ongoing, the reclamation of existing wastewater can provide a substantial contribution to meeting global water needs. A positive attitude by the public toward the use of reclaimed water is critical to the full development and utilization of this resource. While much research has gone into water reuse technology, little attention has been given to understanding public attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge on the use of reclaimed water. To fill this knowledge gap, we completed a 3-year online survey to examine public knowledge, perceptions and attitudes toward water resources, with a focus on the use of reclaimed water.

The summer intern will be assisting Dr. Rianna Murray in the analysis and visualization of this survey dataset. Interns with prior knowledge of R, SAS or STATA are highly encouraged to apply. Interns will also have the opportunity to develop manuscripts that will report these data. There are also other datasets which the intern will analyze from the Lower Shore Safe Well Water Initiative (https://www.lowershoresafewells.com/) and the Maryland Safe Drinking WATER study (https://sph.umd.edu/marylandsafedrinkingwater).

About the Lab: This position will be hosted across two projects, the first being Dr. Amy Sapkota's lab within CONSERVE: A Center of Excellence at the Nexus of Sustainable Water Reuse, Food and Health. The second project is the Maryland Safe Drinking WATER study, a project funded by the University of Maryland Grand Challenges grant program. Team members on both projects include undergraduates, graduate students, and Assistant Research Professors. Both projects are passionate about advancing the representation of traditionally underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and women in science. This summer internship will mainly focus on data analysis and will not directly require any laboratory work. However, the intern is welcome to participate in some laboratory activities to gain those skills if they desire.