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Hi.

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I'm Marge Seguin.

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I am a junior environmental
studies and philosophy

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double major, and
this summer I was

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a research assistant for the
Restoration Ecology Program.

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So what is the Restoration
Ecology Program,

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and what is restoration?

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So basically, restoration is
fixing damaged ecosystems.

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The REP aims to address that
through research, practice,

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and outreach.

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Research is informing
the restoration,

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practice is doing
the restoration,

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and outreach is getting
people involved in the work.

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How to apply to this
internship-- two resources

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are the Miller Worley Center
Internship and Fellowship

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website, where you can learn
more about this internship

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as well as others
that are similar;

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and the MHC-REP
website, where you

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can learn about the program
and this internship.

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So then you assemble
the necessary materials,

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prepare for the interview.

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Something that I think helped me
secure this internship was not

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only my interest in research
and environmental science,

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but also I had a farm
internship two summers ago,

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which prepared me for the
physical demands of the job.

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I used LYNK funding to get
paid for this internship,

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and that's $3,000.

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It pays for food,
housing, transport.

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And the application deadline
is around January 20.

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The research overview
for last summer

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was how restoration efforts
impact geochemical processes,

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how restoration efforts
can decrease greenhouse gas

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emissions and affect nutrient
filtration, how biochar

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impacts restoration efforts.

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Biochar is charcoal formed
from organic matter,

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and it keeps carbon
in the soil, so we

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were looking to see
how biochar affects

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the vegetative community
and nutrient cycling.

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And we also looked at
how restoration affects

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microbial communities--
the diversity, function,

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and competition between sites.

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So what I did.

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In the field, we established
experimental plots

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with soil amendments.

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To establish the plots,
we surveyed the area.

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It was pretty flooded
because we were in a wetland.

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We prepared the select supplies.

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We put in stakes.

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We trenched and
pumped water out.

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We then dug holes to make way
for the soil amendments, which

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were BiocharPEAT.

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We added these,
covered the plots,

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and that was basically it.

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In the lab at Mount Holyoke,
we helped with the PCR process,

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which is a method that makes
many copies of small sections

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of DNA, which tells you
what microbial species are

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in the soil.

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And specifically,
we made the plate

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shown in the photo, where
you put small pieces of soil

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into each well.

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At the Cary Institute
for Ecosystem Studies,

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we did DEAs and CFIm.

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DEAs uses the production
of nitrogen gas

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to measure
denitrification rates.

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And for that, we put
soil into beakers,

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we added the DEA media,
we evacuated and flushed

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the beakers with nitrogen
gas, put on a shaker table,

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added another gas, and
then took gas samples.

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For CFIm, this measures
carbon and nitrogen,

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and this was done in two parts.

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We weighed soils, we put
them into cups and beakers.

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In the cups, we added KCl,
put on the shaker table,

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and then did this
drip station thing.

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And for the beakers,
we fumigated

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them to kill the
microbes in the soil.

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We put the dead soil into
mason jars with fresh soil

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for those microbes to feed on.

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And then we took gas
samples after incubation

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because the microbes
were producing gases

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as they were feeding
on their dead siblings.

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[LAUGHTER]

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We also had this
teaching opportunity,

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which was the Restoration
Ecology Summer Scholars

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Program.

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I assisted with the
weekly activities

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like stream assessment,
soil analyses.

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At the end of the week, they
got to do a design [INAUDIBLE],,

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where they created the
next steps for what

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Project Stream would be.

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But the biggest
thing I contributed

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was creating and presenting
lesson in plant identification

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and plant use in restoration.

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And here I'm looking at
a frog and not a plant,

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but still very exciting.

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Some challenges.

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It's important to know that
environmental research entails

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long, labor-intensive days.

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Includes a lot of cleaning
as well, with rehabilitation,

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which wasn't a
problem, but it's just

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something important to know.

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Also, I wasn't as involved
in the entire process

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as I'd like to be in the future.

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What was exciting
about the research

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was knowing the background
science and the reasoning

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behind the experiment,
so in the future,

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I think I'd like to be
more involved in that.

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What I learned.

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This is just an
overview, but broadly,

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more about the
research topics, I

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learned that restoration efforts
can improve nutrient filtration

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and water quality.

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The use of biochar can be
used to increase biodiversity,

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increase nutrient cycling,
and decrease greenhouse gas

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emissions.

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And I learned that not much is
known about microbial community

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composition and function and
how composition and diversity

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influences function.

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Broader takeaways.

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I learned more
about what research

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is like, which is why I
wanted to do the internship.

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And I learned that it can
be physically challenging.

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And also, it's a
long path where you

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have to go to graduate school,
and it's hard to get a job,

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so that was important
to learn about.

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I learned I'm very
passionate about teaching.

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I loved creating and
teaching a lesson.

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I loved working with
students and seeing them

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become engaged in the science.

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And so this gave me direction on
next steps to take in a career.

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So continue to look into
research, but maybe do a thesis

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and become more involved
in the entire process.

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I appreciated how our
research informed practice.

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That's not always
true, so that's

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an important part for me.

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And I learned that I
definitely want to teach.

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Thank you.

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[APPLAUSE]

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