Quarterdeck Volume 4, Number
2, Summer 1996
REU student from Galveston
heads north
Rahilla C.A. Shatto
Field Trip!
Schoolchildren visit the oceanography department
Brady Mears
REU student from Galveston
heads north
Rahilla C.A. Shatto
You are the mayor of Baytown, Texas and you just discovered that for the last five years a local chemical plant has been leaking hazardous material into Galveston Bay. Who are you going to call? Leah Sauveur, a recent graduate of the Marine Science Program in Galveston and participant in the 1995 Research Experience for Undergrad-uates (REU), wants to be the person at the other end of that phone line-someone who knows the peculiarities of estuaries and can design cleanup strategies when pollution occurs. She is well on her way to success.
Sauveur first became interested in remediation during her first year at Texas A&M, when she took an environmental geology course with oceano-graphy Professor Peter Santschi. She noticed that few cleanup firms specialize in coastal zones, even though the coasts harbor so many pollution sources. With this realization Sauveur identified her niche and set about filling it, first by working as a laboratory assistant for Dr. Santschi. Last year she was accepted to the REU program, an oceanography summer course funded by the National Science Foundation which pairs students with faculty for semester-long research projects. As an REU student Sauveur studied dissolved carbon in riverine, estuarine, and gulf waters.
Her hard work paid off this spring when the University of Notre Dame practically invited Sauveur to pursue a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, offering her a prestigious Luce Fellowship which covers tuition and living expenses for four years, as well as a second fellowship to cover her research expenses. By April 1996, she had also been accepted to Stanford and Texas A&M.
Throughout college Sauveur actively prepared for graduate study, but she credits the REU program as the key to her success with Notre Dame. She says her experience planning, proposing, conducting, and reporting real oceanographic research clearly impressed her new department.
Sauveur is moving to Indiana this summer with her eight-year-old son, whom she describes as cautiously optimistic about the change. He is excited about going to a new place, but as a Galveston native he is understandably wary of people who do not celebrate Mardi Gras! Sauveur expects to return to the gulf coast with a Ph.D. and start a pollution remediation firm of her own that specializes in coastal zones. The next time chemical waste disrupts your coastal environment-and there will be a next time-you can call Leah Sauveur. |
Throughout college Sauveur actively prepared for graduate study, but the credits the REU program as the key to her success... |
Field Trip!
Brady Mears
This spring, the oceanography department welcomed two groups of local schoolchildren for fun and educational visits. With questioning voices and eyes full of wonder, they participated in a hands-on experience learning all about ocean science.The children spent time in oceanography laboratories where they peered at specimens under microscopes, illustrated sea creatures preserved in jars, and listened to graduate students and staff members describe many kinds of marine organisms and their watery habitats.
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The group of kindergarteners also visited the meteorology department where Dr. Ken Bowman answered their questions about weather and the atmosphere and demonstrated an anemometer, a weather balloon, and the nationwide, computerized lightning-tracker.
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Inspiring the future scientists, Dr. Jim Ammerman and his students, Leigh Ellen Alford, Darin Case, Jin-Seok Kim, and Darryl Martino, hosted a class of second graders from Milam Elementary in Bryan.
Dr. Rick Greene coordinated the field trip for kindergarteners from St. Thomas Early Learning Center in College Station, with help from Marcia Arnold, Beom Seog Han, Dr. Hak Young Lee, Joel Seymour, and Wei Wang.
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Designed specifically for easy navigation, the new site offers information about: · The latest oceanographic research at Texas A&M · Our educational programs and opportunities · R/V Gyre and current cruise schedules · Our partnerships with government and industry · And more! Plus, the unique Gulf Links page is your gateway to online resources about the Gulf of Mexico. Come visit! http://oceanography.tamu.edu/ |
Comments to: web@ocean.tamu.edu
Last updated February 5, 1997
