A Research Splash
Ohio Wesleyan Senior Studies Untreated Wastewater During NSF-Supported Experience
Name: Savannah Domenech '25
Hometown: Webster, New York
High School: Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women
Majors: Environmental Studies and Geography
OWU Connection Experience: 10 weeks of science research in Maryland through the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program
Domenech studied the presence of detergent in untreated wastewater in urban streams while working at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Why This Experience?
"I knew I wanted to spend my summer doing research as I wanted to figure out how interested I was in doing research, so I applied to a bunch of NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates. I was offered three different research experiences … but I chose this research experience because it had a community engagement/community science aspect and involved monitoring water quality, something I want to do in the future.
"My research continues as I am currently drafting a manuscript, which I hope will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. In addition, my colleagues are continuing to do experiments based on questions we had at the end of my 10-week research experience."
It is experiences like these that I can apply what I learned in class as well as transferable skills that I have gained.
The Value of Community
"I really enjoyed the community engagement aspect of my research experience, such as testing methods for community science projects and talking with community members at Anne Arundel County's River Day event about my research and how they could participate in it. I desire for my career to have a community engagement and/or impact focus, so being able to do this was important for me.
"In addition, this experience was very important to me because at the time of my research, there was no one in my department who had a specialty in water. … It was actually my internship last summer with the National Park Service that confirmed my interest in water resources as I conducted a bathymetric survey for park lakes and made a map of them. It is experiences like these that I can apply what I learned in class as well as transferable skills that I have gained."
My Favorite Moments
"My favorite day was collecting GPS-monitored water bottles from Bladensburg Waterfront Park. The bottles were part of an Ocean Conservancy project to track how plastic pollution moves in urban streams, and some of the bottles went too far downstream so I helped to retrieve them.
"Essentially, it was playing 'find the needle in the haystack' (or in this case 'find the bottle in the stream or on the bank') with some direction. During our search for a handful of bottles (some of which were found, others which were not), we got stuck in mud, found a stubborn sun-bathing snake, and trampled through a bunch of at least 10-foot tall Phragmites [reed grasses]."
Expanding Focus
"As with any lab work, precision is super important, especially when diluting extremely small amounts of laundry detergents. Furthermore, I learned that research is lots of doing the same thing over and over again. In my case, I prepped literally hundreds of cuvettes for a fluorescence spectroscopy machine. …
"I also learned not to be so singularly focused. In my research, I was trying to discern a certain chemical signature (optical brighteners) from background dissolved organic matter which would indicate the presence of laundry detergent, hence untreated wastewater being present in urban streams.
"I was so focused on this one signature that I missed that there was another signature of laundry detergent that can be detected using fluorescence spectroscopy for which there is no natural background noise for."
My OWU Mentor
"My OWU faculty mentor is John Krygier, Ph.D., professor and department chair for Environment & Sustainability. He is my academic advisor and also my advisor for my Honors Program thesis: 'Predicting Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Del-Co Water's Watershed.' ... He has also written me several letters of recommendation and been a sounding board for what summer experience I should pick."
Outside The Classroom
"I am a tour guide student supervisor in the Office of Admission and a co-department student manager in the Department of Environment & Sustainability. In addition, I help to lead the Food Recovery Network, Citizens' Climate Lobby, and Cru student organizations on campus."
My Plans After Graduation
"After graduation, I plan on attending graduate school to get my master's in either water resources management or environmental management with a water focus. OWU has given me a well-rounded education, funding for my Adopt-a-Drain Delaware, Ohio, program and for my honors thesis (both of which relate to water), and fantastic career support through the Career Connection office."
Why I Chose OWU?
"I already knew I wanted to be an Environmental Studies major when choosing OWU. In fact, my college search revolved around schools with a good Environmental Studies program. …
"Out of the nine schools I was accepted to, I was only able to visit two due to COVID-19 restrictions; some schools were not allowing any visitors and others would only allow visitors to stay outside (and I was not traveling 5+ hours to not be able to see the insides of buildings).
"OWU was one of the two schools I visited. My campus visit really solidified my interest in going here as before my visit I was indifferent. My campus tour and conversation with Dr. Nathan Rowley showed me that this was a place I could see myself going. Finally, the financial aid for this school was the best." (Rowley, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Environment & Sustainability.)