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Bottom line, geosciences are important because we were given one planet to live on.
We haven't figured out how to live on any other one.
We need to understand what we're living on and how we affect it.
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In this experiment, we are growing cilantro plants.
We are applying silica nanoparticles directly onto the leaves of the plants,
in order to see if the silica boosts the cilantro's defense mechanisms
and enhances nutrient uptake and plant growth.
Under the scanning electron microscope, you can zoom in and actually see if there are any
silica particles that are adhering onto the surface of the plant.
Being able to conduct research as an undergrad is supremely helpful when actually
looking for jobs or internships.
We made a map of Temple University and we mapped out the locations of the blue emergency phones.
And then, created a radius around them to see if there were any gaps.
Just seeing everything through the GIS side of it, well it's a lot more applicable
to the average person who isn't a geologist.
This data can be uploaded online or it can be shared within different companies.
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This is a hydrogeology lab. Dr. Toran primarily works with urban watershed areas.
I got brought in to initially help with one of her graduate students.
We went out and collected samples over the summer, and since then I've been helping her
do the analysis and filtering the samples and assisting her to get her paper together,
which turned into my own research project.
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I am a geologist at an environmental consulting company called Arcadis.
I am a hydrologic technician, for the United States Geological Survey.
I work at Duffield Associates. It is a smaller engineering and environmental consulting company.
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I do so much stuff that I never thought I'd do as a scientist.
I have to use chainsaws, I cut up trees that are interfering with our equipment.
I climb trees to put a solar panel fifty feet up in the air.
Sometimes I do some fieldwork in more urban areas, sometimes I am in the middle of
brush and trees trying to find where I'm supposed to be taking my samples.
Not just "rocks are cool", I mean I like chemistry. I like physics. I use all of those in my job.
Here I am four years later and every day I learn something new.
If there's an opportunity, say yes. Every project that comes down the tube that someone offers me, I say yes.
You never know which of those things is gonna become your job.
The latest climate report tells us that we have about twelve years to get it together
and fight climate change if we want to survive basically.
The urban setting makes you expect the unexpected.
The environment is very natural so it's just how it works, but then as soon as you
introduce the human component, you don't really know what's gonna happen sometimes.
Environmental science is a really important major.
We have a lot of important takeaways that you can apply to the real world.
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