As part of the Environment Management division, the Laboratory Technician is responsible for the collection and testing of drinking water and wastewater samples. The Lab Technician obtains samples of drinking water and wastewater from treatment plants and the distribution/collection systems for testing for State/Federal compliance and for special projects; responds to drinking water and wastewater emergency events; investigates drinking water customer complaints by collecting samples and prepares reports and maintains records of investigation. The Lab Technician will calibrate and maintain laboratory and field equipment; maintain and perform QA/QC procedures to comply with State and Federal guidelines; prepare chemical solutions and reagent; conduct procedural training for laboratory staff; conduct drinking water and waste water microbiological analysis; maintain laboratory supplies and chemical inventory and ensure proper storage of all supplies and equipment. Additionally, the Lab Technician will conduct drinking water and waste water laboratory chemical and physical analysis; perform routine laboratory analysis of drinking water and waste water using approved methodology and State required control procedures; deliver water/wastewater samples to local commercial labs for contracted testing purposes and complete legal chain of custody procedures. The Lab Technician performs special operational monitoring events as identified; performs special compliance sampling events of drinking water and wastewater; prepares and participates in safety training sessions; performs inventory/property management; makes recommendations that impact the budget; and performs other related job duties as assigned.

Technician in the nutrient lab at SERC. I collect stream water samples each week and analysis them for inorganic and organic nutrients, such at nitrate, ammonium and orthophosphate.

Upgraded Duke University football stadium with new fiber optic broadcast cables

My primary duty in the lab was the digestion of female blue crab carapaces’ for trace metal analysis. The digested shells were analyzed for specific trace metals on an ICP-MS and ICP-OES. I did not run the ICP-MS and ICP-OES but was shown how the process was done and how the results were analyzed. This research was in conjunction with a crab tagging experiment. I was also taught how to use the ion chromatograph and carbon analyzer for running stream samples. I also worked on various other long-term projects going on in the lab. We otter trawled the Rhode River three times a month for a long-term benthic survey. Every week we also set a weir net to survey the upstream and downstream migration in the Rhode River. We conducted a river herring habitat survey in VA, MD and DE during spawning season. This involved collected stream samples to evaluate the presence of blueback and alewife river herring at each site. Prior to working in the crab lab, I worked in the marine ecology lab at SERC. Here I helped maintain growth experiment tanks using oyster spat and Atlantic silversides. We looked at the diel cycles of oxygen and pH that these species would encounter in the environment, as well as a projection of the future. This research included the analysis of seawater from the Rhode River that included fluorescence, alkalinity and carbon analysis.