Graduate students connect with industry through use-inspired research

With NSF support, 3 ASU doctoral students conducted research as interns in private-sector laboratories


December 28, 2022

Presented with the opportunity to gain industry experience before graduation, engineering doctoral students Justin Skinner, Evelyn Miranda and Aide Robles jumped at the chance.

These three students — who are pursuing doctoral degrees in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University — were selected as participants in the National Science Foundation, or NSF, Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students program. Skinner and Robles are in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment while Miranda is in the  School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy. These are two of the seven schools in the Fulton Schools. Justin Skinner, Aide Robles and Evelyn Miranda working in a lab In addition to completing internships during the fall 2022 semester, Justin Skinner, Aide Robles and Evelyn Miranda (pictured left to right) hold research positions in the lab of Anca Delgado, an assistant professor of environmental engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Photo by Monica Williams/ASU Download Full Image

Under the program, NSF provides financial support of up to $55,000 for each graduate student to work at a sponsoring firm for up to six months to augment their research endeavors with nonacademic internships and training opportunities.

“This is a great opportunity for ASU's partner firms to get six months of engineering support from a highly trained graduate student in an area related to their research interests,” says Anca Delgado, an assistant professor of environmental engineering.

The students work in Delgado's lab in the ASU Biodesign Institute's Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology on research projects that are part of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Bio-mediated & Bio-inspired Geotechnics.

Below, Skinner, Miranda and Robles share how the internship experience helped shape their learning and career goals.

Justin Skinner

Justin Skinner

Degree: PhD in civil, environmental and sustainable engineering
Anticipated graduation: December 2023
Internship: Haley & Aldrich

Dissertation focus:
Skinner has two main focuses: the microbial defluorination of groundwater contaminants (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS) and experiments to enhance control of aerobic cometabolism-based groundwater remediation schemes. First, he aims to identify PFAS' effects on microbial communities and enrich a bacterial culture capable of PFAS biodegradation. Second, his research seeks to understand conditions under which aerobic cometabolism-based groundwater treatment regimes function or falter in order to make alterations that enhance treatment outcomes. He performs experiments that aim to enhance growth rate control of trichloroethylene cometabolizing bacterial communities.

Question: What work are you completing during your internship?

Answer: I am writing a guidance document for the implementation of in situ aerobic cometabolism of regulated groundwater contaminants. This involves the injection of bacteria into the subsurface to degrade pollution harmful to the environment and human health. I am also involved in remediation of sites where aerobic cometabolism may be deployed for pollutant remediation.

Q: How does this internship connect to your future career goals?

A: I would like to work in industry as a practitioner of bioremediation, cleaning up contaminated land.

Q: What skills did you learn in the classroom that you are now applying in your internship?

A: I am utilizing data synthesis skills, which bring together knowledge from previous publications to create a cohesive view of the current state of the science being used for bioremediation and industry practices. These previous discoveries are key to understanding how environmental processes are measured and modeled.

Q: How does receiving NSF funding contribute to your ability to complete such an internship?

A: This funding allows me to learn aspects of this profession that can only be learned in the field or a corporate setting, not in a lab or reading scientific publications.

Q: What is your motivation for studying the topics you have chosen to focus on?

A: I am studying the bioremediation of groundwater contaminants such as trichloroethylene, or TCE, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS.

I am excited about bioremediation because it allows us to destroy pollution with natural bacteria, which is more sustainable and cost-effective than other treatment processes.

I have chosen specifically to focus on TCE and PFAS biodegradation because these are two common contaminants that cause environmental disturbances and human health problems. TCE is present in more than 80% of Superfund sites. PFAS is a relatively new focus, but recent federal laws have been enacted to reduce their usage.

Q: What influenced you to study at ASU?

A: I was inspired by ASU's focus on sustainability and the quality of the faculty and research.

Evelyn Miranda

Evelyn Miranda

Degree: PhD in biological design
Anticipated graduation: May 2023
Internship: Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

Dissertation focus:
Miranda's dissertation addresses the type of bioreactor operational designs, lignocellulosic materials and microbial communities that can be used for treating mining-influenced water. The goal is to understand the parameters that enable treatment for extended periods of time — an essential factor for abandoned mining sites.

Q: What work are you completing during your internship?

A: As an intern in the applied research and development sector of Freeport-McMoRan Inc., I am working on the optimization of bioreactors used to remediate mining-influenced water.

Mining-influenced water can be acidic, with high concentrations of heavy metals and sulfate. My work uses bioreactors to remove the heavy metals and sulfate as well as increase pH.

Q: How does this internship connect to your future career goals?

A: I plan to continue working in private-sector research. This internship gives me the opportunity to experience what research is like at the industry level, specifically research to reduce environmental impact.

Q: What skills did you learn in the classroom that you are now applying in your internship?

A: In the classroom, I learned about the application of microbial metabolisms and how they can be used to remove, transform or absorb contaminants in water and soil.

My current project focuses on using sulfate-reducing bacteria to produce sulfide. This sulfide precipitates or immobilizes the metals found in mining-influenced water, making it possible to capture those solid byproducts within the bioreactors.

Q: How does receiving NSF funding contribute to your ability to complete such an internship?

A: I am traveling part of the time to Tucson for my internship. I will also have opportunities to visit full-scale bioremediation systems treating water emerging from historical mines. Travel funds are included in the NSF funding, which helps offset the cost.

Q: What is your motivation for studying the topics you have chosen to focus on?

A: I am passionate about access to clean water, as I believe it is a basic human right. I like to believe I am contributing to the effort to make clean water universally available by focusing on sustainable, biologically based strategies.

Q: What influenced you to study at ASU?

A: I am a Phoenix native and a first-generation Mexican American college student. During my undergraduate studies, I received grants and scholarships, but ultimately it was not enough to live on my own. It helped that I was able to live with my family nearby and commute to school during my studies. I began my doctoral degree at ASU because I was awarded a two-year fellowship and had a network of people who supported and encouraged me to pursue it.

Aide Robles

Aide Robles

Degree: PhD in civil, environmental and sustainable engineering
Anticipated graduation: May 2023
Internship: Haley & Aldrich 

Dissertation focus:
Robles' research is focused on use-inspired technology for bioremediation of chlorinated contaminants in the subsurface. Specifically, her work involves promoting anaerobic reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes, the most commonly found legacy contaminants at Superfund sites.

Q: What work are you completing during your internship?

A: I am working on implementing my bioremediation approach at a Superfund site. This involves helping with the preparation of quarterly site reports, going on field visits and drafting a work plan for Environmental Protection Agency approval.

Q: How does this internship connect to your future career goals?

A: After graduation, I intend to join the industry sector. My top two choices are consulting and research and development. I believe this internship will make me a more competitive applicant. As a doctoral student, I've learned how to do great research, but I haven't had experience working with clients and applying my work in the field.

Q: What skills did you learn in the classroom that you are now applying in your internship?

A: Communication is the biggest skill that I am now applying. I am also using my knowledge in contaminant fate and transport, microbiology and bioremediation. 

Q: How does receiving NSF funding contribute to your ability to complete such an internship?

A: The program has given me more flexibility than a traditional internship. I am able to gain consulting experience while completing portions of my doctoral dissertation.

Q: What is your motivation for studying the topics you have chosen to focus on?

A: My community and my love of science are my motivation. I am a second-generation Mexican American, and despite my parents’ hard work and efforts to provide a fulfilling childhood for me and my siblings, I had a difficult upbringing. My parents each have a sixth-grade education, and they wanted their children to have better access to schooling. School was an escape for me. It gave me a sense of purpose. I quickly learned that math came easily to me, so I pursued that avenue, which brought me to civil and environmental engineering. My experiences have fueled my passion to help solve our generation’s environmental issues.

Q: What influenced you to study at ASU?

A: Anca Delgado, my former master’s degree advisor who now serves as my doctoral advisor, was actually the one who convinced me to come to ASU. I was ready to start an accelerated program in hydrology on the East Coast when she reached out to me. I was fascinated by her work on chain elongation and bioremediation. Her work fascinated me so much that our meeting went over the time we had planned. I knew then that ASU was the right place for me.

Monica Williams

Communications Specialist, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

602-543-5075

 
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How the 'Ministry of Silly Walks' can be part of your New Year's resolutions

December 28, 2022

ASU-led study shows how mimicking Monty Python sketch can provide cardiovascular boost

This is silly.

Or is it?

(Cue deep commercial voice.)

Looking to lose some weight? Improve your fitness? What if I told you a 1970 Monty Python skit featuring John Cleese and Michael Palin can help you fulfill that New Year’s resolution — and you can have fun while doing it! The best part? It’s free!

Portrait of Professor Glen Gaesser

Glenn Gaesser

As crazy as it sounds, it’s true. A recently published study led by Glenn Gaesser, a professor of exercise physiology in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, determined that the Mr. Teabag walk done by Cleese in the comedy troupe’s "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch resulted in a greater energy expenditure — about 2.5 times that of a typical walking pace. And silly walking less than 15 minutes day would meet guidelines for weekly vigorous activity.

If this all sounds a bit, well, silly, the results were published in the December edition of the British Medical Journal and written about in the Washington Post.

All of which raises two questions:

Why is the esteemed British Medical Journal publishing a paper based on a Monty Python skit? And what in the world made Gaesser think of the Ministry of Silly Walks?

Well, to answer the first question, the British Medical Journal each year publishes what Gaesser called a “quirky” Christmas edition.

“They run humorous types of articles, but they have to be science-based,” Gaesser said. “You can’t make them up. So, it’s not phony data fabricated in any way. But it’s a very popular issue because it contains some of these quirky kinds of stories.”

As for why Gaesser decided to do a study of silly walking, well, he’s been a Monty Python fan ever since he went to college at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1970s.

“We (his fellow students) watched their moves, we saw their skits and 'Silly Walks' was one of them,” Gaesser said. “At the time, we didn’t think much of it other than the fact that it was just outrageously and insanely funny.”

Fast-forward to 2021. After a pause because of the pandemic — and with the British Medical Journal Christmas edition in mind — Gaesser had 13 healthy adults, ages 22 to 71, watch the walks of Mr. Teabag and Mr. Putey (Palin) two times and then try to re-create the walks for five minutes around a 30-meter track.

(There’s no way to accurately describe the walks of Mr. Teabag and Mr. Putey. So, check out the video, which places their characters side-by-side with the adults in Gaesser’s study.)

What they found: Exchanging just one minute of usual walking pace with one minute of Mr. Teabag's walk resulted in an increase of energy expenditure of 8 calories per minute for men and 5 calories per minute for women.

(The Putey walk did not result in a significantly greater energy expenditure).

“We calculated that just 11 minutes a day, spread throughout the day — you could do a couple minutes here, a couple minutes there – if you could build up to 11 minutes a day you would meet the current public health guidelines of at least 75 minutes a week of vigorous intensity activity, which virtually no one does,” Gaesser said.

Not that Gaesser expects the benefits of silly walking to outweigh the embarrassment factor.

“I mean, we’re not really serious about this in the sense that I have no reason to suspect anyone would really try this,” Gaesser said. “But this had to go to external review, and it went to four different people. And when we read the reviews, it looked like some of them actually thought we were serious.”

Gaesser did note that much of the walking Cleese’s character did in the skit was indoors.

“So, someone could conceivably say, ‘Well, I can do this without being seen,’ ” Gaesser said with a chuckle. They could do the Teabag style in their office. Or it could be just something you make up on your own that basically expends calories.”

Silly?

Hey, if it works …

Top photo: John Cleese in the hallways of the Ministry of Silly Walks from the second season of "Monty Python's Flying Circus." The episode aired Sept. 15, 1970. Video still courtesy of BBC.

Scott Bordow

Reporter , ASU News