Maura Melear is a biology major and lab technician intern at the Environmental Quality Institute. When EQI receives water samples from local streams, Melear helps run tests that measure water quality. The data is then shared with non-profits and government organizations to help pave the way for positive environmental impact.
The UNC Asheville Career Center Internship Program helped match Melear with this paid internship that aligns with her career interests. She is discovering new ways to use her chemistry minor and gaining experience with lab equipment.
She said she chose this internship path because she wanted to develop some of the skills she had learned for her chemistry minor. While her future will likely be in a lab centered around biology research, the experience she gains at EQI will still be applicable.
"I do plan to continue working in a lab, a biology lab to go with my major, but lab work is transferrable," Melear said. "So all techniques can be transferred to my future career."
Melear said her favorite part has been getting to experience a real-world research lab environment.
"Some new skills I've learned are how to use a pH probe and various other lab equipment so that I can monitor turbidity and conductivity," Melear said. "Those are machines I've never been able to use before."
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