Internships

PROJECT

Million Tree Project

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Shanghai Roots & Shoots

MENTOR(S)

Xian Liu, Million Tree Project Director, Shanghai Roots & Shoots; Hanlong Chen, Million Tree Project Coordinator, Shanghai Roots & Shoots; Kai Wang, Million Tree Project Regional Manager, Shanghai Roots & Shoots

I had the great opportunity to work on the Million Tree Project (MTP) with Shanghai Roots & Shoots, a nongovernmental organization whose work centers around large-scale tree planting projects to combat climate change and desertification. Their newest MTP effort focuses on planting trees in the Bangliang Gibbon National Nature Reserve to connect and restore the existing fragmented habitats of the critically endangered cao vit gibbon (CVG). I contributed to the MTP by taking on a number of my own small projects, from redesigning the outdated learning guide, to creating introductory materials for the newest CVG program. I exercised my design skills in particular, working on the online design platform Canva to put together promotional and educational materials ranging from “Save the Gibbon” stickers to “Desertification 101” infographics. Perhaps the most interesting part of my work was being able to witness firsthand how to build the foundations for a program in active restoration. This internship reignited my passion for conservation, and I would like to learn more about restoring and strengthening ecosystem health as I continue in my academic career.

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Chang, Darcy ’23

PROJECT

Climate Change, Plant-Pollinator Interactions and Hummingbird Color Vision in the Rocky Mountains

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Stoddard Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Colorado

MENTOR(S)

Mary Caswell Stoddard, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

I studied hummingbird foraging behavior at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. I worked placing time-lapse cameras near flowers pollinated by broad-tailed hummingbirds so the research team could quantify visitation rates for different flower species. This long-term project in the Stoddard Lab will elucidate the foraging decisions of broad-tailed hummingbirds, which could be useful in predicting how these key pollinators will respond as climate change initiates misalignments in phenology, or the seasonal timing of biological events. I also helped use a spectrophotometer to measure the reflectance spectra of flower species in the study site, both those visited by hummingbirds and those pollinated by other mechanisms. Similarly, we used an ultraviolet-sensitive camera to photograph these flowers in visible and ultraviolet light. Both projects add to our understanding of how hummingbirds perceive potential food sources and how they choose flowers to visit. Overall, my experience taught me a lot about hummingbird behavior and visual systems, and it invigorated my interest in ecology. I also refined my observational and problem-solving skills, gained experience in working with field equipment, and improved my ability to design methodologies.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Climate and Energy Challenge project, “Investigating the Effects of Climate Change on Hummingbird Sensory Landscapes.”

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Chantler Edmond, Luisa ’22

Anthropology

PROJECT

Northern Kenya Conservation Clubs

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University; Mpala Research Centre

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies

The goal of my internship was to assist the Northern Kenya Conservation Clubs in creating active-learning lesson plans that will teach children in Laikipia County, Kenya, about the value of their local environment and its conservation. The biggest project that my fellow intern, Yun Hallowell, and I undertook was designing lesson plans for World Elephant Day. These lesson plans aimed to teach students not only about the animals and the ecological processes they are focused on, but also about elephants’ inherent value and positive effect on the students’ lives. By needing to work across multiple time zones, I learned how to best communicate with my project leaders and fellow intern about the challenges I was facing. I also relied on and challenged my creativity in writing the lesson plans as we had to think about how best to translate the work from paper to a physical activity the students would enjoy. I found listening to the Mpala researchers talk about their work to be one of the most interesting parts of the internship. Hearing not only about their projects, but their journeys into research was fascinating!

Gottfried, Julian ’24

PROJECT

Climate Change, Plant-Pollinator Interactions, and Hummingbird Color Vision in the Rocky Mountains

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Stoddard Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Colorado

MENTOR(S)

Mary Caswell Stoddard, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

I studied hummingbird-flower interactions and hummingbird color vision to understand how shifting climatic factors are causing a timing mismatch between pollinators and the flowers they visit. I worked setting up field cameras on dozens of flower species so the research team could quantitatively assess how hummingbirds use resources, and how their usage is changing over the years. We introduced techniques to monitor difficult flower species and expanded the scope of the project to more flowers. We also used spectrophotometry and ultraviolet imaging to build a database of color measurements for regional flowers that could help us determine how hummingbirds use color vision in pollination. The range of imaging technologies was fascinating and challenging, each requiring different methodologies. Finally, we created protocols for floral transects to collect data on shifting populations. I learned how to troubleshoot sensitive equipment in the field, gained experience in developing and testing scientific protocols, and honed my skills in natural history. This internship gave me an excellent frame of reference for what fieldwork and ecological research entail, and I look forward to processing and analyzing the summer’s data as I continue to work with the lab.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Climate and Energy Challenge project, “Investigating the Effects of Climate Change on Hummingbird Sensory Landscapes.”

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Gotts, Max ’24

Undeclared

PROJECT

Impact of Grazing Regimes on Rangeland Quality and Wildlife and Livestock Use

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University; Mpala Research Centre

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Certificate(s): Linguistics, Planets and Life

Our research related to the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya sought to integrate wildlife biodiversity and cattle farming. We were particularly interested in finding a way for grazing cattle that is minimally detrimental, or even positively mutualistic. To do so, we used vegetative transect data, herd observations, satellite imagery, machine learning models, the software Wildbook, the geographical software QGIS, programming in R, and a multitude of research figures. Our immediate goal for much of the project was to gain an understanding of the drivers of zebra movement, and to help herders move cattle to where we expected there to be the best terrain with respect to vegetative quality and proximity to zebras.

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Hallowell, Yun ’23

Anthropology

PROJECT

Northern Kenya Conservation Clubs

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University; Mpala Research Center

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Certificate(s): Language and Culture, Creative Writing

I worked with the Northern Kenya Conservation Clubs, an afterschool program that teaches environmental science with a focus on conservation. I worked virtually with my fellow intern to create new, and organize existing, teaching materials. In between Swahili lessons and attending lectures by Mpala scientists, I wrote lesson plans with my fellow intern on a wide variety of topics. Our goals were to include as much experiential learning and active learning as possible, and to choose topics that were relevant to local environmental issues. By far the most challenging — and rewarding — part of the process was incorporating economic, political and sociocultural perspectives into the games and activities we designed. This experience made me think a lot about the intersection between environmental science and history, and the benefit of teaching these subjects as interrelated issues. As someone who is interested in a career in education, the potential of this interdisciplinary approach to bring a different kind of understanding really stood out to me, and it is something I’ll carry with me as I continue to think about methods of teaching and learning.

Heine, Alex ’24

PROJECT

“Go to the Ant Thou Sluggard, Consider Her Ways and Be Wise”: Buffelgrass Seed Preferences, Predation and Dispersal in Kenya Home Range by Messor Harvester Ants

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Mpala Research Centre

MENTOR(S)

Dino Martins, Executive Director, Mpala Research Centre, and Visiting Research Scholar, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

Certificate(s): Archaeology, Environmental Studies

I examined pictures and videos of Messor harvester ants and their preference for buffelgrass seeds in Laikipia County, Kenya. The predation of buffelgrass by harvester ants could provide insights into how to manage the plant’s population in areas where it is invasive, such as the United States. During the study, I observed and documented the ants via video as they selected seeds from a pile collected by researchers in the field. Then, I ran an analysis of variance model to determine if the differences in seed preference were statistically significant. My efforts contributed to the study’s continuing data collection, which will further the understanding of the relationship between these two species. This internship provided me the opportunity to learn basic Swahili, gain practical data processing skills, and gain new perspectives on conservation’s impact on humans. Due to this experience, I further developed my confidence in pursuing research in conservation biology, and I now have new possibilities and ideas for future research.

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Himmelfarb, Joseph ’24

PROJECT

Urban Biodiversity and Conservation at NYC Parks

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Natural Resources Group, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks)- New York City, New York

MENTOR(S)

Georgina Cullman, Ecologist, NYC Parks; Clara Holmes, Plant Ecologist, NYC Parks; Jamie Ong, Environmental Protection Project Manager, NYC Parks; Heather Platt, Ecological Restoration Project Assistant, NYC Parks; Desiree Yanes, Vegetation Monitoring Technic, NYC Parks

Cities are commonly regarded as ecological deserts, but they are often overlooked refuges for biodiversity. For my internship, I worked on conserving native plant species in New York City with the conservation team of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s (NYC Parks) Natural Resources Group. My primary responsibility was to draft conservation action plans (CAPs) for several locally sensitive wildflowers. CAPs provide ecological and biological details on how to protect and conserve specific species. I studied the scientific literature on the target wildflower species and their close relatives to compile information that would be useful for conservation efforts. I also assisted in fieldwork, traveling to a range of parks across the five boroughs to conduct rare-plant surveys and manage existing populations. I experienced the ongoing efforts by NYC Parks to conserve and restore natural areas, from salt marshes to woodlands. My internship provided an opportunity to conduct both the research that enables species management and the fieldwork that pushes that research forward. I learned firsthand the value of urban conservation, and I am eager to continue learning about the ecosystems that persist alongside industrial landscapes.

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Hsi , Annika ’23

PROJECT

Impact of Grazing Regimes on Rangeland Quality and Wildlife and Livestock Use

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University; Mpala Research Centre

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Certificate(s): Applications of Computing

I studied the interaction between zebras and cattle at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. Identifying the effects of cattle on the behavior of plains and Grévy’s zebras during this past summer’s drought can help efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflict within the context of climate change. I created heat maps showing the locations and movements of zebras and cattle using the software QGIS. These maps were then given to herders to guide where they moved their cattle. Additionally, I used Wildbook, a software that recognizes individual zebras by their stripes, to process photos and field data. This allowed me to create home ranges for several Grévy’s zebras, which helped us understand differences in their behavior and reactions to cattle. I gained a deeper understanding of zebra behavior — from mating systems to water dependency — and the importance of sustainable livestock ranching. I also gained skills in processing and analyzing large data sets using R code and computer software. This internship gave me an invaluable skill set that will help me as I continue studying ecology and sustainability.

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Leinenbach, Megan ’23

PROJECT

Plant Ecology and Ecosystem Health

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station

MENTOR(S)

Timothy Bowden, Owner, Bowden Brothers LLC

Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy

I worked through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program to build out the CompassLive website that the Southern Research Station communications team uses to post popular-science articles about the research and accomplishments of Forest Service scientists. My daily activities included reading new scientific publications, interviewing scientists, drafting and editing articles, and composing social media posts about publications. These tasks improved my ability to understand and translate science so that technical concepts and data can be understood by a general reader. This internship built skills that are essential in any communications-driven career beyond science writing, from entrepreneurship to health care. With these skills, I can now freely communicate with scientists and help them understand how their work applies to broader audiences.

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Mejia, Marissa ’23

Psychology

PROJECT

Ka Honua Momona International

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Ka Honua Momona International- Molokai, Hawaii

MENTOR(S)

Tiani Puaa Kawaauhu-Cook, Executive Director, Ka Honua Momona International

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies

I had the incredible opportunity through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program to work with Ka Honua Momona (KHM) International, a Native Hawaiian environmental conservation nonprofit. I contributed to the organization’s mission of being a model for sustainability — “mauka a makai” (“from the mountains to the sea”) — by engaging in hands-on conservation work. I was involved in the preservation of ancient Hawaiian fishponds, monitoring the island’s coral reef and limu (seaweed) populations, planting hundreds of native-plant seedlings, and aiding in the removal of thousands of pounds of invasive species. I also redesigned the organization’s website to improve its aesthetics and make it more user-friendly; spearheaded the creation of the Āhā’ilono (KHM’s monthly newsletter); and directed, filmed and produced “‘Ike Kūhohonu,” a documentary featuring the island’s “kupuna” (elders) and their insight on Hawaiian fishponds. This experience taught me about Native Hawaiian cultures and ecosystems, showed me how empowering it can be to live in a space inhabited by people who look like me, solidified my desire to pursue a career in environmentalism, and shifted my perspective on conservation to incorporate more holistic and sustainable approaches created by Native Hawaiians.

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Mo, Joyce ’24

PROJECT

Ka Honua Momona International

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Ka Honua Momona International- Molokai, Hawaii

MENTOR(S)

Tiani Puaa Kawaauhu-Cook, Executive Director, Ka Honua Momona International

Ka Honua Momona International is a nonprofit based in Molokai, Hawaii, that seeks to be a model of sustainability, or “mauka a makai” (“from the mountains to the sea”). Through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program, I worked in Hawaii with Ka Honua Momona on fishpond restoration, specifically removing invasive mangroves and the seaweed gorilla ogo, and testing water quality for salinity, temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen levels. Ka Honua Momona also seeks to perpetuate traditional Hawaiian knowledge through five core values inspired by our “kupuna,” or wise elder. I created a series of botanical illustrations of native Hawaiian plants with descriptions of the plants’ cultural significance with their Hawaiian, common and scientific names. I also listened to stories from a kupuna, learned ocean and coral reef monitoring skills from a kupuna known for sustainable ocean practices, and planted native plants with a kupuna known for his homestead farmland and environmental stewardship. As a result of my time in Molokai, I am more aware of, and intend to keep a more open mind to, different perspectives and aspects of sustainability.

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Morris, Jahir ’24

PROJECT

Urban Biodiversity and Conservation at NYC Parks

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Natural Resources Group, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks)- New York City, New York

MENTOR(S)

Heather Platt, Ecological Restoration Project Assistant, NYC Parks; Jamie Ong, Environmental Protection Project Manager, NYC Parks

I worked as a member of the wetlands team monitoring populations of diadromous fish — which are species that spend portions of their life cycle both in freshwater and at sea — in the Bronx River. The goal of the Diadromous Fish Restoration Project is to minimize the obstructive effects that dams along the Bronx River have on the upstream migration of river herring and American eels through the use of a fish passage and eel ladder at the 182nd Street Dam. I worked on-site collecting anatomical data on captured American eels, temperature values at several points, and additional notes on the overall functionality of the equipment. Off-site, I reviewed video footage from within the fish passage to help compile a record of the number, species and frequency of fish using the passage to scale the dam. Ideally, these data will be used to provide insight into the effectiveness of mitigation strategies, such as fish passages and eel ladders, in restoring migration activity at dam construction sites.

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Pickering, Matthew ’24

PROJECT

Million Tree Project

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Shanghai Roots & Shoots

MENTOR(S)

Xian Liu, Million Tree Project Director, Shanghai Roots & Shoots

Certificate(s): Humanistic Studies, Environmental Studies, History and the Practice of Diplomacy

The goal of the Million Tree Project (MTP), an initiative of Shanghai Roots & Shoots, is to combat desertification and habitat degradation in China through specialized tree planting. While I worked on a variety of projects, I mainly focused on the marketing side, i.e., appealing to our corporate and school sponsors. For instance, I learned to use the software ArcGIS to plot a visually attractive map of our forest sites. I also helped create posters about MTP’s work for schools and used the application StoryMaps to update our learning guide. In addition, I delved into website development, using SXL.com to overhaul and streamline the MTP website. I found it intriguing how much of the work done by nongovernmental organizations revolves around fundraising so that they’re able to do the actual work — in this case, the planting of millions of trees. I appreciated that this internship combined my two potential career tracks of policy related to China or the environment, and my work solidified my interest in pursuing a degree in one of those policy areas from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

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Richter, Sophia ’23

PROJECT

Estimating the Recovery Potential of Threatened Species

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE), School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

David Wilcove, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Public Affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Rebecca Senior, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and C-PREE

My project focused on identifying the remaining habitat of threatened animal species to gauge the need for conservation action before these animals are extinct. My mentor used fine-resolution satellite mapping to identify the area of habitat (AOH) within a species’ range that matches their required habitat conditions. Using these AOH data, I identified 2,488 species with too little habitat remaining to recover without ecosystem restoration. A small habitat area can increase the risk of extinction. I also conducted a pattern analysis among species with a small AOH to identify the countries and regions in which they occur. We can use this information to identify the species and regions for which habitat restoration and conservation will be the most impactful. After conducting my data analysis, I contributed to a manuscript on these findings that will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. I learned about how species are classified by their risk of extinction and how to help endangered species. I also gained technical skills by working with spatial data and improved my scientific writing skills. I hope to continue with independent research on conservation, and I have also begun to think more seriously about research as a career.

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Sahin, Zachary ’23

English

PROJECT

The Impact of Large Mammalian Herbivores on Small Invertebrates: A Literature Review

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Pringle Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Robert Pringle, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Joel Abraham, Ph.D. candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Finote Gijsman, Ph.D. candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Erin Phillips, Ph.D. candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Certificate(s): American Studies, Near Eastern Studies

High productivity and slow circulation in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) results in one of the world’s largest oxygen deficient zones (ODZ). Organisms there rely on nitrate for respiration via water column denitrification (WCD). Reconstructing how rates of WCD in ODZs have changed since the last glacial maximum has important implications for understanding past changes in ocean circulation and abyssal carbon storage. During WCD, the expression of a large isotope effect elevates the 15N nitrogen to 14N nitrogen ratio of nitrate supplied for primary productivity above ODZs. This allows the Sigman Lab to make inferences about the extent of WCD based on the 15N/14N of fossil-bound organic matter deposited on the ocean floor. I prepared fossil foraminifera samples from a ETNP core site to be analyzed for a new nitrogen-isotope record covering the last glacial-interglacial transition. The hands-on work strengthened my skills in microscopy. In our weekly meetings, my mentor improved my understanding of the fields of paleoclimatology and oceanography through paper readings and discussions, and of the research process in general. I look forward to exploring these fields further and drawing on this experience for my own studies and independent research.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Water and the Environment Challenge project, “Causes and Consequences of Water-Mediated Pattern Formation in Arid African Rangelands.”

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Vasen, Sam ’23

PROJECT

Reserve and Forest Stewardship Internship

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

The Watershed Institute- Pennington, New Jersey

MENTOR(S)

Steve Tuorto, Director of Science and Stewardship, The Watershed Institute; Erin Stretz, Assistant Director of Science and Stewardship, The Watershed Institute; Allison Jackson, Stewardship Coordinator, The Watershed Institute

My internship focused on the stewardship and management of the 950-acre property that constitutes The Watershed Institute, a land and water conservation organization in New Jersey. Guided by Stewardship Coordinator Allison Jackson, I worked to foster and promote healthy native ecosystems across the property. We met this goal in many different ways: tree planting, invasive-species removal, building a habitat for native birds, protecting vegetation from excess herbivory, promoting stewardship to the public, and monitoring plant growth across different ecosystem types. The vast majority of the work was done in the field, but we also spent time doing research on plant species and compiling literature to educate the public about stewardship practices during The Watershed Institute’s annual Butterfly Festival. I gained valuable skills in plant identification and ecosystem management, as well as important fieldwork experience. This organization and internship opened my eyes to many different aspects of important environmental work that I will continue to pursue.

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Zhang, Kevin ’24

Undeclared

PROJECT

Reserve and Forest Stewardship Internship

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

The Watershed Institute- Pennington, New Jersey

MENTOR(S)

Steve Tuorto, Director of Science and Stewardship, The Watershed Institute; Erin Stretz, Assistant Director of Science and Stewardship, The Watershed Institute; Allison Jackson, Stewardship Coordinator, The Watershed Institute

The main goal of my internship was to assist with property maintenance at The Watershed Institute. I gained significant experience identifying and clearing invasive plants along the main trail on the property, along with planting trees and maintaining tree tubes. I also assisted with collecting data and monitoring the impact of deer on native plants, including monitoring young saplings as a measure of forest health, both in the forest and within deer exclosures. Additionally, I helped run the stewardship stand at The Watershed Institute’s annual Butterfly Festival. We provided information to the public on the impact of deer and invasive species in the region, and shared informational documents we created on invasive plant identification and local native-plant nurseries. Overall, this internship was a very rewarding opportunity for me to gain hands-on experience in, and knowledge about, environmental work, and it greatly raised my interest in a career in conservation.

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Climate and Environmental Science

Agarwal, Anubhav ’23

PROJECT

Application of New Machine Learning Tools for the Study of Ooids and Their Ancient Tropical Marine Environments

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Maloof Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Adam Maloof, Professor of Geosciences; Bolton Howes, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

Certificate(s): Statistics and Machine Learning, Applied and Computational Mathematics

I worked with ooids, which are small sedimentary grains that form in shallow bodies of water. Ooids go through several size changes due to many factors such as currents or ocean chemical composition. My work focused on automating the analysis of 2D images of ancient giant ooids captured from the rock record. I worked on using a fully convolutional neural network to separate each individual ooid from the background in the image. Most of my summer was spent working to optimize the region proposal network and the inside/outside classifiers aspects of this network for the ooid problem. Throughout this process, I learned the advancements that have been made from the most basic convolutional networks, to the cutting-edge work that’s done in computer vision today. I also realized the increased difficulty in optimizing networks of this complexity. Overall, this internship was an amazing opportunity that cemented my desire to work with complex machine networks as I pursue independent research in the future.

Areda, Kaleb ’24

PROJECT

Can Soil Nutrient Availability Limit Future Food Production?

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Molecular Environmental Geochemistry Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Satish Myneni, Professor of Geosciences

Certificate(s): Applications of Computing, Materials Science and Engineering

Common agricultural methods deploy immense amounts of fertilizers that saturate soils with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Other important nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and silicon are often neglected and not replenished by farmers. I studied some of the main processes associated with plant nutrient absorption, such as mineral dissolution and the cation-exchange capacity (CEC) of different soils. I calculated the quantities of 10 key nutrients present in a certain yield of the three major crops — corn, wheat and rice — using their dry weight. I then drew from a research review I wrote to calculate CEC and determine how much of the nutrients in the different nutrient pools are bioavailable. This allowed me to determine the critical nutrient-sufficiency levels of these crops, as well as how long they can be grown in a particular area with a relatively common soil type before extreme nutrient deficiency results. I learned significant data organization skills from this internship, and its focus on sustainability particularly inspired me to consider a certificate in sustainable energy.

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Avila, Darin ’23

PROJECT

Air Quality Modeling and Environmental Justice

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Marshall Research Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington

MENTOR(S)

Julian Marshall, John R. Kiely Endowed Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington

Certificate(s): Applied and Computational Mathematics

The Marshall Research Group fights for environmental justice using both mechanistic models and empirical data to model the effects of air pollution across the country. This internship through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program allowed me to improve my skills working with geographical data, outlining functions for complex tasks, and optimizing algorithms that work with millions of data points. I helped create a suite of functions that could quickly communicate with the group’s air-pollution model to perform certain tasks, then I applied these functions to a project that would shed light on an issue in environmental justice. We decided to look at a sample of facilities defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as power plants and assigned each an environmental justice score based on how its emissions affect minority communities’ exposure to pollutants relative to the general population. After reworking our code for further efficiency, we were left with a body of data that allowed us to glean important environmental justice insights about the power plants in question.

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Badwe, Manali ’24

PROJECT

Oil Spill Remediation by Enhanced Turbulence

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Smits Fluid Mechanics Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Alexander Smits, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus; Liuyang Ding, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Certificate(s): Robotics and Intelligent Systems

Every year, millions of gallons of waste oil enter the ocean, wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems and organisms. Cleaning up these oil spills is a costly and time-consuming process. I researched how oil spills could be remediated by using enhanced turbulence to break up the oil slick into tiny droplets. Breakage of the oil slick occurs naturally due to the turbulence produced by waves, but the process can be sped up by adding more turbulence to the system with synthetic jets. My group designed our own at-home experiments to observe this process. In addition, we used MATLAB software to analyze images of oil droplets so we could study the size distributions of the droplets to quantify our results. I gained valuable experience in the research and design process through this internship. I also learned how mechanical engineering can have many different applications in environmental studies.

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Banerjee, Manyu ’23

PROJECT

Anomalous Weather and Business Activity

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE), School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Elmira Kalhor, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Certificate(s): Finance, Statistics and Machine Learning

I worked on a project to determine the economic effects of hurricanes using measures of business activity around the time of Hurricane Harvey. My mentor Elmira Kalhor intends to analyze these data using a difference in differences (DiD) regression with a synthetic control (i.e., comparing economic trends in Harvey-affected regions against a control group of regions not affected). I assisted her by formulating a regression model that found the effect of anomalous weather on different types of businesses, which is necessary to justify assumptions for the DiD model. I used a fixed effects regression model that took advantage of the data set’s multiple observations across time to produce an unbiased estimate of the effect of anomalous weather on different business types. This internship showed me how economic concepts and tools could be applied creatively to other fields such as the study of climate change. It also provided me with an invaluable opportunity to formulate a model while considering potential sources of bias and acknowledging practical limitations. This project inspired me to continue research that helps inform public policy without limiting myself to traditionally economic spheres.

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Basu, Sreeta ’24

Mathematics

PROJECT

Spray Generation by Bubbles Bursting

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Deike Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Luc Deike, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Daniel Shaw, Ph.D. candidate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

I studied the formation of film drops on the ocean surface that are created by bursting sea-spray bubbles. Studying this process may help us understand how compounds and contaminants from the ocean are released into the atmosphere. My internship focused on studying how different ocean conditions affect the formation and physiochemical properties of film drops over a large range of bubble sizes. I used the programming language Python to extract data from high-speed videos of a single bubble bursting under lab-controlled conditions. During this process, I learned image processing techniques and how to plot data in Python. This experience was very rewarding and allowed me to apply my knowledge of computer science to research.

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Borstlap, Hanne ’22

PROJECT

Characterizing the Diurnal Pattern of Gross Photosynthesis in Coral and Algae Species

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS)

MENTOR(S)

Yvonne Sawall, Assistant Scientist (BIOS)

During my 12-week remote internship with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), I studied the diurnal (daytime) photosynthesis and respiration patterns of certain algae and coral species. Daytime respiration has not been well described due to the difficulty of measuring respiration under natural light conditions, and instead has just been assumed to be similar to nighttime respiration. However, we hypothesized that this could be a gross underestimation of daytime respiration. A large experiment was conducted at BIOS from which data were collected for daytime respiration and photosynthesis. I analyzed these data using Python and R software, and we concluded that there is indeed a difference between daytime and nighttime respiration. This difference is important to correctly characterize gross photosynthesis, which is the sum of respiration and photosynthesis. Throughout this internship, I learned a lot about marine biology. Due to this internship being virtual, my work mainly consisted of data analysis, which significantly improved my coding skills. I look forward to using the skills and knowledge I gained in my senior thesis, as well as my future graduate research.

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Buchovecky, Ben ’23

PROJECT

Potential Predictability of the Spring Bloom in the Southern Ocean Sea-Ice Zone

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sarmiento Group, Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Jorge Sarmiento, George J. Magee Professor of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Emeritus, Professor of Geosciences, Emeritus; Alex Haumann, Associate Research Scholar, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Graeme MacGilchrist, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Mitchell Bushuk, Visiting Research Collaborator, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

I studied the predictability of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the Southern Ocean. Each spring, phytoplankton grow rapidly along the edge of retreating sea ice and provide a crucial food source for marine organisms that helps sustain the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Our goal was to determine if these blooms could be predicted using an Earth system model. Using data from model simulations, I analyzed 12 key variables across six regions, with net primary production (NPP) as the main indicator for phytoplankton blooms. To quantify each variable’s predictability, I computed a unique metric using many slightly different model simulations to provide insight into the variable’s maximum possible predictability. I found that it is possible to make a skillful prediction of NPP approximately one year in advance for all Southern Ocean regions except the Ross Sea. Moreover, I proposed a mechanism for describing how sea-ice predictability propagates into biogeochemical predictability with a time lag. Through this internship, I gained valuable experience using the software Python for data analysis and I deepened my understanding of Earth system modeling and oceanography. This amazing opportunity reinforced my desire to pursue independent research in oceanography.

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Burt, Hayden ’22

PROJECT

Interactions Between Soil Formation, Landscape Evolution and Hydrologic Cycle

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Porporato Research Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University- The Watershed Institute, Pennington, New Jersey

MENTOR(S)

Amilcare Porporato, Thomas J. Wu ’94 Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute

My research was motivated by the questions surrounding how soil formation over geological timescales is based on environmental forcing. I worked at The Watershed Institute exploring the interactions between hydrology, topography and soil properties. My project consisted of analyzing hydrologic data for the Stony Brook-Millstone watershed; soil samples collected at The Watershed Institute; and 3D digital reconstructions of a field experiment conducted on-site. I continued the work of 2020 HMEI intern Maria Fleury by updating her characterization of local ecohydrology with data from the past year, and I expanded on the correlation between streamflow discharge and groundwater levels. I also assisted in implementing the field experiment, for which we collected soil samples from three locations — a topographic ridge, a valley and an intermediate location — to map the distribution of clay and other soil properties. At the ridge and valley, we constructed a cubic hole and mound and monitored them by taking photographs to create 3D reconstructions using the structure from motion (SfM) technique. I learned about hydrology, soil chemistry and clay formation, and landscape evolution. I am excited to continue working with the Porporato Research Group during the 2021-22 academic year.

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Chen, Kevin ’24

PROJECT

Real-time Forecasting System for Hurricane Hazards and Risk

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Hurricane Hazards and Risk Analysis Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ning Lin, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Avantika Gori, Ph.D. candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

I used synthetic storm data, published weather data, and rainfall values for hurricanes to help determine how dangerous future storms could be to any given area. I collected and found ways to specifically calculate the year-on-year surge values for the severity of a storm. This will be used for a real-time hurricane analysis chart in the future so that people in coastal zip codes can see how storms will affect them. I also investigated ways to help the research group by creating statistical and web-scraping tools for their project. During my research, I learned to code with statistical libraries in the programming language Python and worked with the software MATLAB. These are all skills that will help me in the future. This internship increased my interest in seeing how I can use programming in environmental studies and data analysis. I am excited to continue learning more about these topics and seeing what I can accomplish.

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Chen, Alina ’24

PROJECT

Drivers of Opposing Seasonal Cycles of Mixed Layer Oxygen in the Southern Ocean Sea-Ice Zone

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sarmiento Group, Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Jorge Sarmiento, George J. Magee Professor of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Emeritus, Professor of Geosciences, Emeritus; Alexander Haumann, Associate Research Scholar, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Graeme MacGilchrist, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Certificate(s): Neuroscience

I studied the factors driving spatial and temporal variations in primary production and ocean biogeochemistry in the high-latitude Southern Ocean. Phytoplankton growth supports vast marine ecosystems and plays a critical role in regulating the global ocean carbon cycle. Due to the harsh conditions around Antarctica, there have been sparse historical observations of the Southern Ocean and little is known about the processes that drive primary production. I analyzed data from cutting-edge robotic floats deployed in the past five to 10 years in the Ross Sea to understand regional biogeochemistry and its evolution as global warming progresses. Using the programming language Python to perform my analyses, I identified opposing oxygen seasonal cycles in the ocean’s mixed layer that vary spatially across the Ross Sea. I then created plots to dissect the drivers of this variability. I learned through this internship how to analyze and visualize data using computational software, and I became familiar with the literature on Southern Ocean water masses, circulation and biogeochemistry. I also was encouraged to explore more environmental research opportunities and take additional classes in data analysis/visualization and geosciences.

Cryan, Samuel ’22

PROJECT

Coastal Zone Management and National Estuarine Research Reserve System

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

MENTOR(S)

Erica Seiden, Program Manager, NOAA

I worked with the National Estuarine Research Reserve System through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program to analyze the different estuarine (areas where rivers meet the sea) nature reserves and determine how resilient the reserves will be in the face of climate change and rising sea levels. I looked at specific features of each reserve such as erodibility and the percentage of area below higher high water (the highest high tide) to determine risk and identify ways to reduce it. I also conducted greenhouse gas audits and worked on getting some of the sites designated as internationally important by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands treaty. I learned a lot about coastal management practices to better protect estuaries, as well as how to work with geographic information system (GIS) mapping. I also gained a lot of insight into the structure of NOAA and the many important projects they work on. I loved the experience and hope to continue studying coastal management.

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Esposito, Maddie ’23

PROJECT

Investigation of Nitrogen Sources Contributing to Sapropel Formation in the Eastern Mediterranean

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sigman Research Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Sigman, Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Professor of Geosciences; Ellen Ai, Ph.D candidate, Geosciences

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies

I studied sapropel events in the Eastern Mediterranean by analyzing the nitrogen isotopic composition of organic matter preserved in foraminifera fossils. Sapropel events are periods of intense biological activity in the Mediterranean basin. Intensified summer monsoons are hypothesized to trigger sapropels by discharging excess freshwater into the Mediterranean and disrupting nutrient conditions, which results in oxygen-poor deep water and the deposition of organic matter (sapropels). Analyzing the nitrogen isotopic composition of foraminifera shells may provide insight into the nitrogen sources that fuel sapropel events. My role was to pick forams for future isotopic analysis, which involved using a basic microscope and specialized picking equipment to select individual fossils from a larger pool of sediment and isolate them according to species. I visually identified five different species of forams, picking two species per sample from 35 different samples. I refined and expanded my laboratory and sample-preparation skills through this experience. Additionally, I was introduced to the field of biogeochemistry, which is one avenue I can consider pursuing in my future independent work to bridge the gap between my interests in chemistry and geosciences.

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Eusebi, Ryan ’22

PROJECT

Submesoscale Variability in the Eastern Pacific from Underway Observations

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California–San Diego- San Diego, California

MENTOR(S)

Sarah Gille, Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Teresa Chereskin, Research Oceanographer, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Saulo Soares, Postdoctoral Researcher, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Certificate(s): Applied and Computational Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Statistics and Machine Learning

For this internship, I cleaned, reconstructed and analyzed near-surface ocean temperature and salinity data collected off the coast of Los Angeles in August 2020. The major goals were to examine the structure, variability, and nature and extent of density stratification in the two-dimensional profiles that were sampled. Turner angles were calculated to ascertain that temperature variations contributed more to density variations than salinity, and that the upper ocean’s density in this region was in fact compensated. Using spectral analysis via the discrete Fourier transform, we found significant submesoscale (lengths of one to tens of kilometers) variability showing signatures of internal waves. This variability was isotropic (independent of direction) and scale features in the profiles seemed to persist for time periods greater than six to nine days. This internship afforded me valuable experience in the field of oceanography and taught me various dynamic fluid analysis techniques that can be applied to numerous situations. The experience definitely helped me confirm that I want to pursue a career involving research related to geosciences and climate science.

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Grover, Ananya ’24

PROJECT

Real-time Forecasting System for Hurricane Hazards and Risk

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Hurricane Hazards and Risk Analysis Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ning Lin, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Avantika Gori, Ph.D. candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Cognitive Science

There are two main aspects to hurricane surge modeling — real-time forecasting and long-term risk analysis. I worked on real-time forecasting, which is important for evacuation planning and recovery. I was tasked with visualizing hazard risks for online interactive maps the research uses to model wind, rainfall, storm surges and waves associated with hurricanes. I worked on developing a way to enable updates to map visualizations in real time as new predictions are generated based on the latest data. Through my internship, I learned about hurricane hazards and how to model them. I contributed to the automatic forecasting system by building a web app with Python Flask, and I learned to create web-based visualizations and geospatial-data presentations using services such as Mapbox, ArcGIS and Datawrapper. My internship helped me gain valuable technical abilities, problem-solving skills, and knowledge of natural calamities such as hurricanes. I am inspired to continue exploring the use of modeling, computational analysis and web-based presentation in environmental research applications that can have a tremendous real-world impact.

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Huebner, Sloan ’23

Sociology

PROJECT

Trade-offs in Individual/Collective Behavior in Response to COVID-19 and in Anticipation of Climate Change

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Levin Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Simon Levin, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Sara Constantino, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, and Lecturer in the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Elisabeth Krueger, Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer, High Meadows Environmental Institute

Certificate(s): American Studies

I examined how residents of New York City perceive short-, medium- and long-term risks, and how those perceptions align with the priorities of the city’s governance structure. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a particularly apt context in which to study the effect of a crisis in an urban environment on people’s perceptions of climate change, which may seem like a long-term issue despite the reality. I coded a survey using the software Qualtrics for distribution to selected populations via flyer distribution and Facebook recruitment. I compiled a catalog of pertinent local and regional governance actors, including municipal government officials, academics, nonprofit organizers, corporate actors, and state government officials. I also pulled relevant academic literature for a review on social-norm formation, mediating governance institutions and social change, and governance and power embeddedness. I enjoyed getting my first work experience in a research lab setting, and I acquired skills for creating surveys and conducting literature reviews that have prepared me for my independent work and graduate research. I hope to continue the research I conducted on social-norm and belief formation in my future research.

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Jolly, Tanéyah ’24

Sociology

PROJECT

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI)

MENTOR(S)

Hayley Gorenberg, Legal Director, NYLPI

Certificate(s): African American Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Theater

I worked through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program on an environmental justice campaign in response to NRG Energy’s proposal to build a new fossil fuel plant in Queens, New York. The campaign was initiated by the PEAK Coalition, which consists of environmental justice organizations in New York that focused on people of color. I attended weekly PEAK meetings, researched information about investing practices, and created a social media campaign for people to write letters to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. I developed skills in coalition work and community outreach, and I learned the ways in which community organizations can support each other to better serve their communities. In a more academic tone, I learned about organizing practices called the Jemez Principles, which I will carry into many other aspects of my life. This was a great opportunity for me to learn more about myself and develop skills in community organizing and coalition building. I now have more clarity on how I want to include environmental justice in my studies and analyses of social systems and inequities.

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Kim, Michael ’23

PROJECT

North Atlantic Ocean Nutrient-Consumption Changes During Climate Events of the Last Glacial Period

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sigman Research Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Sigman, Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Professor of Geosciences; Jesse Farmer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Geosciences

I participated in a team whose main focus is to correlate oceanic nutrient levels in the fossil record with climate patterns, specifically in the North Atlantic Ocean since the last ice age. Studying this correlation is useful both for creating models of regional climate from this time period, as well as extrapolating future changes in oceanic nutrient density as our planet experiences unprecedented climate change due to human activity. My summer work consisted of identifying and picking out fossil shells of foraminifera (forams) in sediment samples taken from the North Atlantic Ocean. These shells could then be processed by my mentor, who dissolved the shells and isolated their isotopic nitrogen; due to COVID-19 restrictions, I was unable to participate in this portion of the internship work. I developed skills in scientific research through my experience, and I am more confident than before that I will want to pursue research as a career. I have been invited to stay with the research team, and I plan to continue this work through the 2021-22 academic year.

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Kolodner, Katie ’24

PROJECT

Local Damages From Hurricanes: Application of Machine Learning With Satellite Data

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE), School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Rachel Young, Ph.D. candidate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Certificate(s): Applications of Computing, Statistics and Machine Learning

Estimates of the damages caused by natural disasters are a source of growing debate and uncertainty as the frequency and intensity of disasters increase due to climate change. Local economic and political conditions can influence the quality of self-reported damage estimates and skew estimates of a disaster’s impact. To help correct for this data limitation, I constructed a novel data set of building-level damages using satellite images of communities impacted by hurricanes, and I developed supervised machine learning methods. This new source of damage data will allow researchers and policymakers to better identify impacted households in order to evaluate the effectiveness of disaster relief and determine how disasters impact local economic conditions. I gained a broader understanding of the importance of computer science and economics in understanding the urban impacts of climate change through my research, and I hope to continue utilizing machine learning and data analysis for beneficial global change.

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Krokhine, Anna ’24

Mathematics

PROJECT

Application of New Machine Learning Tools for the Study of Ooids and Their Ancient Tropical Marine Environments

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Maloof Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Adam Maloof, Professor of Geosciences; Bolton Howes, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

My objective was to use applied mathematics and machine learning to analyze growth rings on ooids, a type of sedimentary grain. Ooids form their size and shape over time in response to various environmental factors such as ocean chemistry and current velocity. Observing their growth rings can provide key evidence toward understanding ancient ocean climate. I manually traced rings to create training data and built various programs to process and model these data. The most important tool we looked at were physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), which are neural networks enriched by partial differential geometry equations in our case. The idea was to use PINNs to write an algorithm that would parameterize ooid rings and indicate the factors behind their growth history. Throughout this process, I strengthened my image processing skills, got my first experience with machine learning, and learned how to incorporate work from the larger research community. I saw a fascinating application of mathematics (my concentration) to uncovering the Earth’s past climate, and I am looking forward to working more with machine learning.

Kumar, Chirag ’23

PROJECT

Mitigating Neonatal Mortality: Estimates of Vaccine-Avertable Neonatal Sepsis and Antimicrobial Resistance

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy

MENTOR(S)

Ramanan Laxminarayan, Senior Research Scholar, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University

Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy, Applied and Computational Mathematics

Bacterial sepsis is a leading cause of neonatal mortality. Sepsis is caused by a dysregulated host response to a bacterial infection and is commonly associated with pathogens that exhibit high degrees of antibiotic resistance. There is a critical need to introduce measures that can mitigate sepsis and, therefore, reduce neonatal mortality, which is useful toward reaching various U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Cohort studies have been done in various low- and middle-income countries where the burden of neonatal sepsis is often worst to characterize neonatal sepsis. Nevertheless, there remain critical questions in identifying and estimating the actual burden of neonatal sepsis by pathogen and antimicrobial resistance, and in determining the impact a potential vaccine may have in mitigating neonatal sepsis. I developed a Monte Carlo-inspired model to combine data from various cohort studies in order to estimate the incidence of neonatal sepsis by pathogen across countries and World Health Organization (WHO) regions. I then used WHO data of neonatal mortality and drew inspiration from the maternal tetanus-vaccination campaign to evaluate the number of neonatal sepsis deaths that could be prevented should a vaccine for various pathogens be developed and distributed with propagated uncertainty.

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Lacuarta, Kenzo ’22

PROJECT

Trade-offs in Individual/Collective Behavior in Response to COVID-19 and in Anticipation of Climate Change

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Levin Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Simon Levin, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Sara Constantino, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, and Lecturer in the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Elisabeth Krueger, Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer, High Meadows Environmental Institute

Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy

I studied multilevel governance within New York City and looked at existing models of governance that could inform policymaking. More specifically, my goal was to understand how access to health care could be increased by modeling the dynamic relationship between public and private health insurers and uninsured individuals. This was done using the software Python to simulate a three-player game that incorporated evolutionary game theory and a payoff matrix. I later conducted a literature review of other studies and their impacts on policy decision-making. I improved my coding skills, but also learned how ecological models could be used for a wide range of interactions between individuals and groups. With the help of my mentors and adviser, I hope to use my preliminary model as a foundation for my senior thesis.

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Lausted, Madeleine ’24

PROJECT

The History of Eastern Tropical North Pacific Oxygen Since the Last Ice Age

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sigman Research Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Sigman, Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Professor of Geosciences; Matthew Lacerra, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy, French Language and Culture

High productivity and slow circulation in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) results in one of the world’s largest oxygen deficient zones (ODZ). Organisms there rely on nitrate for respiration via water column denitrification (WCD). Reconstructing how rates of WCD in ODZs have changed since the last glacial maximum has important implications for understanding past changes in ocean circulation and abyssal carbon storage. During WCD, the expression of a large isotope effect elevates the 15N nitrogen to 14N nitrogen ratio of nitrate supplied for primary productivity above ODZs. This allows the Sigman Lab to make inferences about the extent of WCD based on the 15N/14N of fossil-bound organic matter deposited on the ocean floor. I prepared fossil foraminifera samples from a ETNP core site to be analyzed for a new nitrogen-isotope record covering the last glacial-interglacial transition. The hands-on work strengthened my skills in microscopy. In our weekly meetings, my mentor improved my understanding of the fields of paleoclimatology and oceanography through paper readings and discussions, and of the research process in general. I look forward to exploring these fields further and drawing on this experience for my own studies and independent research.

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Lemay, Amélie ’24

PROJECT

Simulating Organic Contaminants at the Water-Air Interface

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Interfacial Water Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ian Bourg, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jennifer Willemsen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Statistics and Machine Learning, Sustainable Energy

I worked to model organic contaminants at the water-air interface. I began by creating input files to model contaminants of different origin, size and complexity, including permethrin (an insecticide), decabromodiphenyl ethane (a flame retardant), and formaldehyde (a preservative). I worked with the other interns on the project to create a library of around 80 compounds. We then placed these contaminants in simulations of a water-air system and used the umbrella sampling technique to determine each compound’s free energy profile, which indicates how strongly attracted the compound is to the different phases of the system. This knowledge will lead to the development of better methods for removing these contaminants from the environment. Additionally, simulating each compound in the library will reveal trends in how properties such as size and charge affect a compound’s affinity for the interface, potentially allowing us to predict the behavior of compounds not yet modeled. Our library of contaminants could potentially be used in other simulations as well, such as lipid membranes or air-clay systems. I’m fascinated by the possibilities and promise of this research and I plan to continue the project as part of my independent research with Professor Bourg.

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Lin, Jonathan ’24

PROJECT

Trade-offs in Individual/Collective Behavior in Response to COVID-19 and in Anticipation of Climate Change

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Levin Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Simon Levin, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Sara Constantino, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, and Lecturer in the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Elisabeth Krueger, Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer, High Meadows Environmental Institute

My project explored how physical location and socioeconomic factors affect risk perceptions and attitudes related to climate change impacts and policy. This project involved distributing a household survey on climate change attitudes to key neighborhoods in New York City. I worked with geographic information systems (GIS) to identify target neighborhoods, then used a software called QGIS to map data from a previous study that quantified climate risk across the city. That survey measured different areas’ physical risk from climate change, as well as their level of susceptibility based on how difficult it would be to endure and recover from harmful climate impacts. I was able to determine specific Neighborhood Tabulation Areas (NTAs) that fit into four different key categories: high hazard-high susceptibility; high hazard-low susceptibility; low hazard-high susceptibility; and low hazard-low susceptibility. I helped sample the identified neighborhoods by traveling to New York to distribute flyers for our survey, as well as engaging residents through social media advertising. In addition to gaining a better understanding and appreciation of the processes involved in academic research, I enjoyed learning GIS and creating useful visual representations of complicated data. My experience heightened my interest in conducting research related to social sciences and policy.

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McLaughlin, Katie ’23

PROJECT

Air Quality Modeling and Environmental Justice

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Marshall Research Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington

MENTOR(S)

Julian Marshall, John R. Kiely Endowed Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington

Certificate(s): Statistics and Machine Learning

I had the opportunity through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program to study air pollution in the United States and how exposure correlates with demographics. I collaborated with two other Princeton students to answer environmental justice (EJ) questions using data from an InMap Source-Receptor Matrix (ISRM), a tool that can predict a change in PM2.5 pollution at a receptor location due to a change in source emissions. Our goals were to make the ISRM calculations accessible and understandable, and to assign an EJ score to power plants across the United States. We first thoroughly documented a local setup and functions guide that future researchers can use to gain an understanding of the ISRM and its potential. After completing the basic groundwork, we used the ISRM to evaluate the emissions each power plant produces and analyzed the effects on different ethnic groups, exposing a need for policy and action. Through this work, I learned a lot about our country’s history of environmental and racial injustice. I gained great insight into the process of engineering research, and I am inspired to use my technical background to address similar social and environmental issues.

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Monaghan, Rosy ’24

PROJECT

Oil Spill Remediation by Enhanced Turbulence

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Smits Fluid Mechanics Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Alexander Smits, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus; Liuyang Ding, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Oil spills cause severe environmental damage to aquatic ecosystems and cleanup is often difficult and expensive. This project investigated a new and more efficient cleanup method for oil spills that uses enhanced turbulence to increase the breakup of oil slicks into smaller droplets that are then dispersed into ocean water columns. Our group conducted experiments in which we increased turbulence added to the system using a remote-controlled boat and a water pump. We then used image processing techniques in the software MATLAB to analyze oil droplet breakup and determine the effectiveness of this cleanup method. I gained experience in academic research, which helped to improve my scientific writing skills, image processing skills and experimental skills. This project also gave me insight into how engineering can be applied to finding solutions to environmental problems and, as a result, encouraged me to pursue further research opportunities related to environmental issues.

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Moorehead, Bradley ’23

PROJECT

Data Mining Methods and Research on Environmental Literature

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Princeton WET (Water and Energy Technologies) Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Z. Jason Ren, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Junjie Zhu, Associate Research Scholar, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Statistics and Machine Learning

I applied text mining methods to analyze more than 15,000 academic publications related to resource recovery from wastewater treatment processes. Text mining involves structuring, preprocessing and analyzing a set of textual information to identify patterns in data. My team focused on using article keywords and titles to: find research trends for wastewater resource recovery; determine how research topics have evolved over time; and identify underlying research topics, including water, energy, nutrients, heat, metals and biosolids recovery. I helped preprocess the information, which involved editing the raw text to combine similar terms, acronyms, chemical symbols, and other types of keywords to decrease noise and provide more meaningful results. I also developed a prototype of an online literature-information collection tool that can collect data from newly published environmental publications in order to build a database for in-time text mining analysis. In addition to learning about wastewater treatment and resource recovery, I learned about natural language processing techniques, data visualization, and application programming interface usages. This internship inspired me to continue learning about natural language processing and text mining, and to pursue similar research in the future.

Moosbrugger, Alex ’24

PROJECT

Nutrient Consumption in the Southern Ocean During the Last 1 Million Years

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sigman Research Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Sigman, Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Professor of Geosciences; Jesse Farmer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Geosciences

The aim of my project was to analyze nitrogen isotopes in fossilized single-celled organisms called foraminifera from the Southern Ocean in order to gain an understanding of the region’s nutrient makeup. The samples I analyzed ranged from 325,000-493,000 years old. Specifically, my job was to identify and collect/sort two species of foraminifera found in core samples drilled from the Southern Ocean seafloor in 2019. After sorting these foraminifera, I sent them to my mentor, who processed them using methods created by the Sigman Lab to determine the ratios of nitrogen isotopes present. We compared these data to similar data from other time periods to contextualize our findings. I found this work to be intellectually interesting and a fun introduction to laboratory science and research. I learned how to work in a lab, how to analyze historical geoscience data, and about the possible role of nutrients in influencing climatic shifts over the past 500,000 years. This experience motivated me to incorporate more geosciences background into my study of environmental engineering, look for more opportunities to do field research, and possibly even pursue a geological engineering certificate.

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Pang, Rachel ’23

PROJECT

Remote Sources of Oceanic Heat Delivery to the Ross Sea Continental Shelf

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California–San Diego/ San Diego, California

MENTOR(S)

Sarah Gille, Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Lynne Talley, Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Channing Prend, Ph.D. candidate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Visual Arts

I worked on the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) project investigating the pathways that bring warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) to the Antarctic ice sheet where it is a primary cause of melting. Numerous studies have examined the mechanisms that transport CDW onto the continental shelf. However, less attention has been paid to the processes farther offshore that bring CDW from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the shelf-break region in the first place, which is a necessary precursor to the cross-shelf heat exchange that has been studied in more depth. For our analysis, we complemented data from autonomous Biogeochemical-Argo floats deployed in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica with the Biogeochemical Southern Ocean State Estimate produced through SOCCOM. We found southeastward flowing CDW bifurcating around the Marie Byrd Seamounts toward the Ross and Amundsen continental shelves in narrow streams steered by topography. I developed a strong knowledge of computational programming as applied to ocean dynamics and physics. I became even more fascinated by oceanography and the complexity of the Southern Ocean, and I am excited to continue this work for my junior project.

Pomerantz, Elijah ’22

PROJECT

Ice Hardness Inversion in 1D With Physics-Informed Neural Networks

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Lai Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ching-Yao Lai, Assistant Professor of Geosciences

I worked with a physics-informed neural network (PINN) to develop an inversion model for determining a temperature-dependent parameter that characterizes the hardness of an ice shelf. PINNs can embed the knowledge of any physical laws that govern a given data set in the learning process. We worked on developing the tools to solve idealized problems as we move toward applying the PINN to real-world data for ice in Antarctica. The goal of this work was to identify places in ice shelves where we expect ice to be softer, which will help determine where ice shelves may be susceptible to breaking. I found that our PINN model can make good predictions about the ice-hardness parameter for our idealized problems, even when subject to noisy, sparse or oscillatory data. I learned how to apply novel machine learning techniques to solve challenging physics problems. It was fascinating to see the ways that computer science, physics and climate science can intersect to help us better understand how our polar regions will react to a warming climate.

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Rodrigues, Isabel ’23

PROJECT

Genomic Variations in Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus Genomes Across a Small-scale Hot Spring Soil Gradient and Global Geothermal Environments

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Geomicrobiology Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Tullis Onstott, Professor of Geosciences; Zachary Garvin, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Finance

Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus is an understudied microorganism found globally in hot spring environments. It was identified in a series of four soil samples collected around the Polloquere Hot Springs in Lauca National Park, Chile. The soil surrounding Polloquere is characterized by stark differences in temperature, biology and chemistry. Yet, previous investigations of this soil found that H. thermoluteolus was somehow present in about the same amount across the studied area. I compared four genomes reconstructed from Polloquere soil samples to each other and to publicly available H. thermoluteolus genomes. I was able to identify several differences between soil samples taken closest to and farthest from the hot spring, as well as between the soil samples and the externally gathered genomes. The most intriguing discovery was an increased capability of all soil genomes to process nitrogen. Pangenomics was an integral part of this project, as was command-line programming and use of the open-source genomics application Anvi’o. This project directly influenced the topics I plan to study for my independent work and beyond, and vastly improved my confidence in analyzing biological data. I hope to continue this research in some form in the coming year.

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Shields, Hugh ’24

PROJECT

Extinction of the Dinosaurs Recorded in an Andean Paleolake

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Maloof Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Adam Maloof, Professor of Geosciences; Bolton Howes, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

I primarily focused on ooids, grains of calcium carbonate that form in shallow waters. Ooids grow by precipitation and shrink by abrasion. For this reason, their shape can reveal data about ancient ocean chemistry, currents and depth. I analyzed cross sections of rock samples containing ooids, specifically trying to develop a machine vision program that would outline ooid cross sections within the images. Individual cross sections could then be stacked to produce a 3D model of the entire ooid, allowing for the measurement of sphericity and ellipticity. To complete the segmentation task, I used the software TensorFlow to implement Mask Region Based Convolutional Neural Networks (Mask R-CNN), a machine learning model for object detection. After tuning the network, I finally reached the point where the model was obtaining relatively high accuracy scores, and I began to transition toward applying the network to a wider variety of samples. The model I trained revealed that segmentation could be done successfully using Mask R-CNN without hours of laborious manual tracing. Ultimately, the project gave me the theoretical and practical experience needed to implement a cutting-edge machine vision model and revealed the wide applicability of machine vision.

Sima, Nathan ’23

PROJECT

Data Mining Methods and Research on Environmental Literature

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Princeton WET (Water and Energy Technologies) Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Z. Jason Ren, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Junjie Zhu, Associate Research Scholar, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Applications of Computing, Finance, Statistics and Machine Learning

I studied text mining to create an analysis of wastewater textual data and the use of soft sensors to predict monthly average river flow. My role in the first project consisted of preprocessing data and primary data analysis. I implemented a rigorous six-step process of keyword preprocessing to address various challenges in deep text processing, such as stemming, acronyms and chemical expressions. While researching each keyword, I learned about many environmental engineering and wastewater research topics. After running our preprocessing code, I derived preliminary information from the results using data visualization and graphs developed in the programming language Python. This provided an eye-opening exploration into intercategory relationships and trend identification. For the second project, I conducted extensive data development and ran the enhanced, iterated stepwise multiple linear regression package on them. I learned about numerous statistical methods from this and their respective benefits and drawbacks. Overall, I gained a broad view of the processes involved in innovative scientific research. I hope to incorporate similar techniques into my work at Princeton and beyond.

Smirnov, Adira ’23

PROJECT

The Role of Parasites in Controlling Phytoplankton Community Composition and Ocean Productivity

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Ward Lab, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Bess Ward, William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jenna Lee, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

I studied the community composition in samples of seawater from six stations sampled by the Tara Oceans Project. Three were in high-productivity regions off coastlines, and three were in gyres and oligotrophic (lower productivity) regions. I used the QIIME bioinformatics platform to classify over 100 million sequences of DNA. I used these data to create stacked bar charts showing the community composition of each species at the supergroup level, and I compared the differences in relative abundance between high-productivity and oligotrophic stations. As expected, I found a higher relative abundance of diatoms in high-productivity stations. I also looked at the relative abundance of Syndiniales, an order of parasitic species, and measured how it varied in relation to the relative abundance of diatoms. I gained experience in using QIIME to analyze FASTQ files, and I learned how to assign genetic samples to taxonomic groups. I was fascinated to learn about the importance of parasites in community composition, and I hope to further study how species interactions can be as important in determining community composition as environmental factors.

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Sontarp, Ethan ’24

PROJECT

Simulating Organic Contaminants at the Water-Air Interface

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Interfacial Water Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ian Bourg, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jennifer Willemsen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Planets and Life

Organic contaminants are persistent carbon-containing molecules used for industrial purposes that can cause widespread environmental damage and health problems. I created simulation input files for several contaminants that have been present in recent news, or contained within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of legacy pollutants, to understand their behavior on the molecular level at the boundary between air and water. Focusing on a subgroup of contaminants named per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), I contributed to the research group’s library of over 80 molecular simulation input files. These contaminants were then placed into a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to visualize and quantify their interactions using millions of computations based on their physical properties of charge, attraction and vibration. I positioned the molecules between blocks of air and water to determine their affinity for each substance and the interface between the two, ultimately opening up the potential to identify environmental remediation goals. The project required me to become familiar with MD simulations and acquainted me with the physical and chemical properties of pollutants on a small scale. I really enjoyed the trial-and-error process we used to assess our results, and I am excited to continue this project through an independent study course in fall 2021!

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Stikons, Jessica ’23

PROJECT

Responses of ENSO to Volcanic Eruptions in High-Resolution Climate Model Simulations

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Vecchi Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Gabriel Vecchi, Professor of Geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Wenchang Yang, Associate Research Scholar, Geosciences

Certificate(s): Statistics and Machine Learning, Language and Culture

I studied how the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) — an interannual, acyclic fluctuation in tropical Pacific sea-surface temperatures and winds over multiple years — responds to volcanic eruptions. ENSO is a major driver of natural climate variations in many parts of the world, making it an important factor in understanding the global climate. My role in this internship was to extract and visualize data obtained from climate model simulations to uncover patterns that could yield insight into the impact of volcanic eruptions on ENSO. I learned how to conduct data analysis and visualization using the programming language Python. I am particularly grateful that I had the opportunity to become familiar with working with large data sets, a task that seemed daunting before. What I found most interesting was that I could take massive, opaque data sets and transform them into compact, interpretable figures that provided insights into the mechanisms by which our world operates. Overall, I gained a deeper appreciation for the value of data visualization and I hope to incorporate similar methods into my work at Princeton and beyond.

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Svensson, Nicole ’24

PROJECT

Inequality, Economic Precarity, and Disruptive Events

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Sara Constantino, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, and Lecturer in the High Meadows Environmental Institute

I studied how the onset of COVID-19 shaped peoples’ preferences for a universal basic income (UBI). I analyzed a survey conducted by the Behavioral Science for Policy Lab (BSPL) across China, Italy and the United States. A portion of the survey requested that respondents numerically rate their support for a UBI. My analysis determined that COVID-19 increased support for a UBI in Italy and the United States, but decreased support for a UBI in China. I also studied the factors that may have affected this, such as race, income, education, gender and political affiliation. I thoroughly researched each of the respective countries’ social safety nets as context for possible explanations for the change in support. I was able to build upon my data analysis skills by learning the programming language R. I had not used R much before, but I became much more comfortable with it as a result of my project. Additionally, I learned how to thoughtfully write research papers and enumerate my findings in a concise manner. I enjoyed my time working in the laboratory and I thank BSPL for this opportunity.

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Takeuchi, Mayu ’23

PROJECT

Climate Policy Advocacy: With Equity in Research, Policy and Practice

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

MENTOR(S)

Katelyn Roedner Sutter, Senior Manager, U.S. Climate, Environmental Defense Fund; Katie Schneer, High Meadows Fellow, EDF

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Values and Public Life, Statistics and Machine Learning

I worked with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on climate policy research and advocacy in California and Washington. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is currently developing the 2022 Scoping Plan, California’s roadmap for achieving its climate goals. As part of this process, I advocated for EDF’s priorities of: raising climate ambition, including through tighter emissions caps in the cap-and-trade program; maximizing near-term emissions reductions; and ensuring equitable processes and outcomes for communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. I coordinated public comments submitted to CARB, co-authored an EDF blog post, and developed memos on climate investments in communities. For Washington, I contributed to advocacy surrounding the new Climate Commitment Act, delving into policy and political differences between the states. Additionally, I led the development of a literature review of the effects of emissions trading systems (ETSs) on local air pollution, and I identified key benefits, harms and risks of ETSs, as well as ideas for policies to mitigate those risks and harms. Overall, I realized the importance of relationships — and who is at the table — in determining what policies get made and put into action. I am eager to continue working in the climate policy space, especially with the communities most impacted.

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Wang, Evan ’24

PROJECT

Using Machine Learning to Analyze Earth’s First Reefs

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Maloof Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Adam Maloof, Professor of Geosciences; Ryan Manzuk, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

I studied archaeocyathids, which were ancient reef-building organisms. The motivation for studying these organisms is twofold. First, since reefs provide an abundance of habitats and nutrients, there may be a significant link between archaeocyathids and the Cambrian explosion of 500 million years ago during which biodiversity skyrocketed. Second, in the face of climate change, predicting reef behavior is crucial and obtaining empirical data from Earth’s history can bolster our modern models. I analyzed a data set of fossil images taken from the Yukon territory in Canada with the goal of understanding how archaeocyathids and other sediments moved and progressed through time. I worked on automating a process for identifying and classifying sediments in image data that involved using a convolutional neural network — a type of machine learning model — to segment parts of images. This process included converting old training data to a more useful format, creating my own training data, and improving the neural network. I gained experience working with the programming languages MATLAB and Python, and I loved being able to apply coding to novel research. My internship reaffirmed my interest in the intersection of computer science and the environment.

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Yan, Karena ’23

PROJECT

Modeling Farmer Decision-making Frameworks: Impacts on Adaptation and Policy Outcomes in Nepal

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE), School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Nicolas Choquette-Levy, Ph.D. candidate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies

Climate change is expected to significantly threaten the crop yields of small-holder farmers. Adaptation may require changes in livelihood strategy, such as migrating or investing in cash crops. I applied an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate a South Asian agricultural community’s adaptation to climate change under different decision-making frameworks. I built three alternate frameworks into the ABM that drew from theories in decision-making psychology — imitation, satisficing and habitual learning — and tested them under differing degrees of climate change. My results showed that livelihood choices and community outcomes differed substantially depending on how the farmer decision-making process was modeled. Furthermore, I found that policy recommendations that were effective in increasing average community income and reducing inequality in the original version of the ABM were not robust under all decision-making frameworks. Practically, this suggests that developing effective policies requires an understanding of how target populations generally make decisions. I learned a great deal about the challenges and opportunities of ABM, and I explored new fields in psychology and sociology. My work piqued my interest in socio-environmental systems modeling and the various intersections of social sciences and environmental issues.

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Yancopoulos, Demetra ’22

PROJECT

Zinc Chemistry in Oceans

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Molecular Environmental Geochemistry Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Satish Myneni, Professor of Geosciences; Jianshu Duan, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences; Kewei Zhao, Ph.D. candidate, Chemistry

Certificate(s): Sustainable Energy

Biological activity in the Southern Ocean directly impacts the global ocean and atmosphere. In nutrient-rich waters, marine biota are typically able to grow at high rates and, in the process, fix loads of atmospheric carbon. In the Southern Ocean, however, biological productivity is relatively low despite high concentrations of major nutrients. This has previously been explained by exceedingly low concentrations of bioavailable iron, an essential trace nutrient. My research focused on zinc, a less explored trace metal in the Southern Ocean. Like iron, zinc is an essential trace nutrient for marine biota. We inquired whether there is enough zinc — and enough bioavailable zinc — to meet the nutrient requirements of marine biota. To answer these questions, I investigated the distribution and speciation of zinc in seawater. I conducted thermodynamic modeling of zinc speciation using realistic estimates of seawater parameters to determine which zinc minerals have the potential to precipitate in different marine conditions. This information can help us refine a schematic for the biogeochemical cycling of zinc in the Southern Ocean, which directly influences large-scale ocean and atmosphere dynamics.

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Zhang, Jasmine ’24

PROJECT

Using Machine Learning to Analyze Earth’s First Reefs

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Maloof Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Adam Maloof, Professor of Geosciences; Ryan Manzuk, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

I investigated the fossils of 500 million-year-old reef-building organisms called archaeocyathids. To better understand the role that modern coral reefs play in mitigating climate change, we need to examine their prehistoric counterparts to determine the structure of these organisms and their interactions with their environment. My goal was to create an automated machine learning system known as a convolutional neural network to identify pixels of archaeocyathids from images of fossil samples. Before training the neural network, I created training data by segmenting and labeling archaeocyathid cross-section images. After training the network, I adjusted different parameters to improve its predictions with the goal of creating a 3D model of the archaeocyathids. As a result of this internship, my knowledge of computer vision and machine learning greatly increased, and I now have significant experience using MATLAB and Python software. I’m incredibly grateful to this internship for providing me with an informative and thought-provoking introduction to both geoscience and research, two areas I am excited to continue exploring.

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Zinberg, Yaakov ’23

Molecular Biology

PROJECT

Designing Probes for a nosZ Microarray

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Designing Probes for a nosZ Microarray

MENTOR(S)

Bess Ward, William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Naomi Intrator, Ph.D. candidate, Geosciences

I designed the probes for a microarray for nosZ, the gene responsible for the conversion of nitrous oxide — a potent greenhouse gas — into elemental nitrogen as part of the denitrification pathway. The Ward Lab will use the microarray to determine the organisms that are present in their samples and the versions of nosZ these organisms use. I began by consolidating all nosZ sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database with the Ward Lab’s own sequences, then used programs such as CD-HIT, MAFFT and EMBOSS to cluster sequences based on similarity. I then generated alignments and consensus sequences that allowed me to ultimately choose the 70 base pair regions from each cluster to use as individual probes on the microarray. I improved upon my programming skills during this internship by writing programs in R, shell script, and Slurm Workload Manager. Additionally, I gained exposure to marine biology research and the world of academic research more broadly, which will help inform my studies in molecular biology.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Water and the Environment Challenge project, “Fate of Nitrite Determines Nitrogen Removal in Coastal Waters.”

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Food Systems, Water And Human Health

Agyarko, Tiffany ’24

PROJECT

Architectural, Structural and Urban Strategies for Urban Farming

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Form Finding Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Sigrid Adriaenssens, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Urban Studies

I worked with the organization Neighborhood Growers in Baltimore to determine the structural and economic feasibility of operating commercial- and community-scale hydroponic rooftop greenhouses in city neighborhoods. I was responsible for identifying the city policies and building regulations that affect urban farming and rooftop greenhouse construction and operations. I interviewed a variety of professionals, including representatives from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development. I also researched the varieties and vendors of controlled-environment agricultural systems and greenhouse technologies that are best suited for the produce that will be grown in the greenhouses. I also helped develop a methodology for analyzing the structural feasibility of placing a hydroponic greenhouse on an apartment rooftop and on a typical U.S. industrial warehouse rooftop. I am very interested in projects that allow me to explore how the built environment shapes life within cities, and this internship allowed me to explore this within the context of urban farming. This research also gave me insight into key techniques for analyzing concrete slabs.

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Duggal, Keenan ’23

Molecular Biology

PROJECT

Effects of Climate Change on Plant-Pathogen Evolution and Epidemiology

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

The Metcalf Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Colorado

MENTOR(S)

C. Jessica E. Metcalf, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Public Affairs; Ian Miller, Ph.D. candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies

My project focused on the epidemiological dynamics of the flowering plant Lewis flax (Linum lewisii) and its fungal pathogen flax rust (Melampsora lini). I worked to extrapolate how climate change is going to broadly change the transmission dynamics and evolutionary strategies of infectious diseases in plants, which has significant implications for agricultural production and global food security. My responsibilities were to: contribute to long-term epidemiological data sets through fieldwork and data collection; design and execute inoculation experiments to help elucidate flax resistance dynamics; and carry out elevation transect surveys and statistical analyses on the resulting data to determine the correlation between flax-rust infection and spatial data information, such as topography, landcover and radiation levels. During this internship, I experienced what field research entails, and I learned many field-specific research techniques in addition to data analysis skills. Moreover, I gained valuable experience in designing my own experiments and leading my own project. I am interested in further exploring the intersections between the environment and human health.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Water and the Environment Challenge project, “Beyond the Drought Paradigm: Does Hydrology Drive Pathogen Impact on Plant Health?”

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Gittoes, Lilianna ’24

PROJECT

Growing in the Garden State: Understanding Factors That Impact Food Production

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University- Princeton, New Jersey

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Gina Talt, Sustainability Project Assistant, Office of Sustainability

I studied the performance of five farms in the Princeton, New Jersey, area, visiting and collecting data from each along with other interns working on this project. At each farm, we set up Arable sensors to monitor environmental and plant-health indicators such as the normalized difference vegetation index, which is a key indicator of plant health, sunlight radiation, evapotranspiration and more. We also set insect traps, placed resins in the ground to measure soil health, and took crop measurements. The farmers also filled out weekly questionnaires so we could track weeding, irrigation and input usage. My other responsibilities included preparing spreadsheets from the data we collected, so I got to practice data preparation and cleaning skills. I also performed data analysis using a software called JMP, with which I compared farming techniques and analyzed the factors that influence crop performance. This internship opened my eyes to a variety of pressing issues that organic growers face today and to the benefits of regenerative agriculture. I really enjoyed the work I did, and I hope to continue developing my data analysis skills and learning more about sustainable agriculture.

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Greenspan, Noa ’23

English

PROJECT

Writing With the National Center for Frontier Communities

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

National Center for Frontier Communities (NCFC)- Silver City, New Mexico

MENTOR(S)

Benjamin Rasmussen, Program Manager, NCFC

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies

I spent the summer in New Mexico writing about frontier issues for the National Center for Frontier Communities (NCFC), which advocates for areas of the country that are rural, sparsely populated, and far from urban centers. Although the frontier is incredibly diverse, communities face several common challenges, including long distances from health care services, precarious broadband infrastructure, and sometimes a lack of access to fresh, healthy foods. The NCFC advocates for frontier-related policies, provides educational materials about frontier communities, and works to strengthen the regional food system through its Food Hub program. This internship was an exciting challenge for me — I’ve been hooked on environmental journalism since my freshman spring at Princeton, and I felt eager to learn directly from community members. A highlight was when I spoke with legislators who recently created an official position in the state government to advocate for rural equity. Another memorable moment involved meeting with young and beginning farmers around New Mexico to hear their perspectives on the risks of a career in agriculture. I’m grateful to have met so many local leaders who are working to make New Mexico’s rural and frontier communities resilient.

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Ku, Joshua ’22

PROJECT

Mucormycosis Burden Survey

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP)

MENTOR(S)

Ramanan Laxminarayan, Senior Research Scholar, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University; Ruchita Balasubramanian ’19, CDDEP

Mucormycosis is an opportunistic fungal infection with a high mortality rate. My project focused on creating a map of the mucormycosis burden (infections) on a global scale using existing literature as data. I performed a literature review on the search engines PubMed and Google Scholar, then mapped mucormycosis burden using the software QGIS. Throughout my internship, the most interesting thing to me was reading through the case reports. Each one painted a distinct picture of a different patient with mucormycosis. There were stories of mucormycosis being discovered and addressed in time, and of when it failed to be addressed. Other cases were hospital-acquired infections where quick identifications were important. Reading through these personal stories helped strengthen my resolve to pursue a career based in health care.

Kulchar, Rachel ’23

PROJECT

Predicting Exposure of Children to Environmental Pollutants Using Their Deciduous Teeth

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Molecular Environmental Geochemistry Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Satish Myneni, Professor of Geosciences

Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy, Materials Science and Engineering

The premise of this internship is that human exposure to the environmental milieu is a key factor in brain development. Because human brain development is more than 80% complete by the age of 3, assessing children’s exposure to environmental toxins in their early years is central to understanding the neurological development of children living in regions where water is highly polluted. While blood analysis has been used to assess a child’s recent exposure to toxins, deciduous teeth (baby teeth) can indicate long-term exposure levels. Organic contaminants such as insecticides and antibiotics can become part of the tooth’s dentin and remain in the intergranular spaces of apatite, which is the primary component of tooth enamel and bone mineral. Slow and long-term exposure to low levels of water contamination is more common in the world, and this study can provide valuable clues where commonly used blood analysis fails.

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Loftus, Colton ’23

PROJECT

Growing in the Garden State: Understanding Factors That Impact Food Production

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University- Princeton, New Jersey

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Gina Talt, Food Systems Project Specialist, Office of Sustainability

I worked on analyzing different methods of agriculture across New Jersey and how they affect crop productivity. I worked with the other interns on this project to collect and analyze data such as insect quantities, plant disease, plant size, and environmental factors at five different organic farms in the area around Princeton, New Jersey. We also collected soil samples to provide the farmers with more insight into their land, as well as a better understanding of the impact of decisions regarding tillage, pesticides, pruning and weed control. We also used internet-connected agricultural sensors to monitor crops remotely. As a computer science major, I used my software development skills to write a program for efficient data extraction. This program allowed the internship team to automatically collect data from the sensors in the field and prepare it for analysis. I am grateful for the hands-on opportunity and to the farmers who let us conduct our studies.

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Marsh, Laura A. ’23

PROJECT

Growing in the Garden State: Understanding Factors That Impact Food Production

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University- Princeton, New Jersey

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Gina Talt, Food Systems Project Specialist, Office of Sustainability

Certificate(s): Visual Arts, Environmental Studies

I collected data across six different farms in the Princeton, New Jersey, area, working alongside three fellow HMEI interns and my mentor Gina Talt. We were tasked with using the data we collected to answer real questions affecting farmers today in the face of climate change, expanding populations and a struggling economy. I specifically designed a method of categorizing tomato plants according to their visual signifiers of disease in order to track their health over time. I looked into the field of light spectroscopy in which the specific wavelength of light perceived is used to infer real-time plant data, such as the normalized difference vegetation index, or the overall “greenness” of a plant. I also learned the basics of soil sampling, and insect identification, as well as how to manage real-world data. The data I collected will be further analyzed by students in spring 2022. I can’t wait to see what else can be discovered!

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Rangel-Pacheco, Carmina ’23

Sociology

PROJECT

Growing in the Garden State: Understanding Factors That Impact Food Production

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Rubenstein Research Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University- Princeton, New Jersey

MENTOR(S)

Daniel Rubenstein, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Gina Talt, Food Systems Project Specialist, Office of Sustainability

I studied the effects of transitioning agricultural lands owned by Princeton University from conventional to sustainable farming practices, with a focus on soil fertility. During the study, Princeton grew a rotation of corn and soybeans using conventional or sustainable agricultural plans. Conventional plots received a combination of synthetic fertilizer, no soil amendment, and chemical herbicide, while the more sustainable plots received a combination of compost, cover crop and weed removal via manual cultivation. Deer fencing was incorporated in both. My primary task was to investigate which of these treatments had a greater effect on soil metrics such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content using simple and multivariate regression models. By the end of my internship, I was able to identify promising patterns that pointed toward a significant effect of compost application on nitrogen and potassium presence, along with an unforeseen positive percent change in calcium, potassium and magnesium in plots with deer fencing. Ultimately, while a longer study duration might have provided more robust results, this experience taught me incredible quantitative skills and inspired me to continue learning how to sustainably improve our food-production systems.

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Remez, Elena ’23

PROJECT

Aquaculture and Marine Food Systems

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

MENTOR(S)

Rod Fujita, Lead Senior Scientist, Oceans Emerging Issues, EDF

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Dance

I worked on addressing knowledge gaps in the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)’s U.S. aquaculture strategy. Aquacultural issues are intersectional because they impact humans and ecosystems, and require a lot of background information to create clear goals. The questions I examined ranged from who the dominant players in the aquaculture industry are, to accessing seaweed production methods, carbon sink potential and finding the barriers to entry into aquaculture for women and people of color. My research culminated in an extensive write-up of all my findings, which EDF is now using to advance their work. I also assisted EDF in smaller research projects, writing memos and literature reviews, and summarizing research. I found my work incredibly intriguing and helpful in developing clear academic and career pathways. It emphasized for me that formulating nature-based solutions to environmental policy challenges is where I see myself working in the future! The intersection of policy, equity and the environment is a great junction for my interests.

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Teng, Ashley ’23

PROJECT

Business Development and Marketing for the SSF Hub

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

MENTOR(S)

Pamela Ruiter, Senior Manager, SSF Initiatives, EDF

I helped the small-scale fisheries (SSF) team build an online community for the Small-Scale Fisheries Resource and Collaboration Hub (SSF Hub), a space where fishers, fish workers and others involved in fishing communities can exchange ideas. I focused on enhancing the SSF team’s business development and marketing strategies to expand our impact and strengthen our online presence. My projects included conducting key messaging research on potential partners, developing all team communications packets, and leading more than four outreach campaigns with SSF team partners to drive user engagement with the Hub. I also led the outreach and training project for which I designed a visual guide to train people in using the site’s features to help them structure conversations when introducing the Hub. Furthermore, I kept in mind the prevalent device choice of mobile phones in fishing communities and improved the Hub by designing new pages, giving feedback on the mobile view of the site, and researching data analytics best practices. My rewarding experience widened my vision and gave me skills to better assess the community impact of my future work.

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Zhang, Zoey ’24

PROJECT

Architectural, Structural and Urban Strategies for Urban Farming

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Form Finding Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Sigrid Adriaenssens, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The goals of my internship were to help achieve greater sustainability and food access in Baltimore by addressing the structural challenges of hydroponic rooftop greenhouses and develop produce distribution strategies for urban farms in the city. With the team, I helped perform structural analysis of the beams, columns, girders and foundations of potential rooftop sites to evaluate their capability to carry the required loads. I also performed online research to understand urban agriculture, as well as the current food systems and policies in Baltimore. A key component of our research was conducting interviews with leading hydroponic farmers, commercial distribution managers, and urban food and agriculture researchers and entrepreneurs. This helped us better understand the benefits and challenges of building rooftop hydroponic greenhouses in the city, the related policy restrictions, and the food-access issues within Baltimore. I discovered that agriculture and food play a significant role in creating a more sustainable future, which really opened my eyes to my commitment to sustainability. In my future studies, I want to learn more about sustainable agriculture for cleaner and healthier foods.

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Innovation and a New Energy Future

Alfaro, Bryan ’24

PROJECT

SuperPipe Particle Image Velocimetry Calibration

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Smits Fluid Mechanics Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Alexander Smits, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus; Liuyang Ding, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

My goal was to determine a noninvasive way of calibrating a camera used in a particle image velocimetry (PIV) system, which is used to obtain instantaneous measurements of velocity and related properties in fluids. I tested a method that used the waist of a focused laser beam to create a calibration grid in the image plane. I used stepper motors to move a laser and converging-lens system around a grid, then at each position I took a long-exposure picture of the beam waist as the laser shone through the lens. Using a computer program, I found the waist’s location in each picture and mapped the set of waist points. The results showed a somewhat regular grid with occasional clusters of points that could be eliminated by averaging multiple pictures per location. This provided a proof of concept for my idea and highlighted improvements for future experiments. I learned how PIV systems are used to determine local velocities in turbulent flows, and how to write computer programs that process images and perform a camera-calibration procedure. This experience motivated me to further refine this method and determine its feasibility.

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Anderson, Jack ’23

PROJECT

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of Energy Market Regulation

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Office of Electric Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

MENTOR(S)

David Ortiz, Deputy Director, Office of Electric Reliability, FERC; Nicole Businelli ’13, Energy Industry Analyst, FERC

I was an intern in the East Division of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)’s Office of Energy Market Regulation (OEMR) through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program. FERC is an independent federal agency tasked with regulating the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas and oil. The East Division of OEMR advises FERC on economic regulation of the electric utility industry in the eastern United States. My work included evaluating requests for electric rate and tariff changes from stakeholders in eastern energy markets — such as generators, distribution utilities, and regional transmission organizations/independent system operators (RTOs/ISOs) — and drafted response orders to be issued by FERC. I also worked alongside FERC’s compliance team for Order No. 2222, a landmark order issued in September 2020 that required RTOs/ISOs to establish market rules allowing distributed energy resources to participate in wholesale electricity markets. My work over the summer was a great learning experience, allowing me to experience firsthand the complexities of energy markets and work within a federal agency.

Bagchi, Sonika ’23

PROJECT

The Oceanic Wakes of Offshore Wind Turbines

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Deike Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Luc Deike, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jiarong Wu, Ph.D. candidate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Certificate(s): Applied and Computational Mathematics, Finance

The research agenda for this project was to study wind waves and turbulence related to offshore wind-turbine farms. The presence of offshore wind farms can result in sediment displacement and modified water turbulence that can negatively impact marine life. In order to study and mitigate this, I first analyzed wind-generated water waves produced in the lab by conducting various analyses to study the development of turbulence. I then created simple visualizations of waves and studied their wavenumber-frequency spectra. This project was extremely exciting for me because it was my first opportunity to learn about fluid dynamics and turbulence. Additionally, in terms of technical skills, I got to really strengthen my abilities in the programming language Python. Finally, I think this project will affect my choice of projects in the future, such as my junior independent research. I would like to continue working with sustainability research or, at the very least, working with computer simulation.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Climate and Energy Challenge project, “The Atmospheric and Oceanic Wakes of Offshore Wind Turbines and Their Effects on Local Marine Environments.”

Burns, Madeleine ’24

PROJECT

Applications of the Net-Zero America Project

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Climate Central

MENTOR(S)

Eric Larson, Senior Research Engineer, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University; Shari Bell, Regional Director, Climate Central; Jennifer Brady, Manager, Analysis and Production, Climate Central

I worked with Climate Central to research and analyze data on the shifts in employment that would result from a national transition to net-zero carbon emissions. Starting with Princeton’s Net-Zero America (NZA) project, I conducted outside research and synthesized information from a wide range of sources, from projects similar to NZA in scale and granularity, to specific regional case studies. Taken together, the data provide a holistic overview of the impact of the net-zero transition on the labor market. While there will be significant job turnover, the transition would result in more high-quality jobs across the United States. Throughout this internship, I developed data analysis and visualization skills for programming in R software, and I improved my research and analysis skills. My experience with Climate Central gave me insight into how nonprofit groups can use relatable local issues such as employment to approach the public about global issues such as climate change. I found this intersection of data and public interaction to be fascinating, and it’s something I certainly hope to pursue further in my academic career, perhaps by taking classes in data application or public policy.

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Cano Renteria, Emilio ’23

PROJECT

Wind and Solar Technology for the WeatherPower Tool

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Climate Central

MENTOR(S)

Eric Larson, Senior Research Engineer, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University; Jennifer Brady, Manager, Analysis and Production, Climate Central

Certificate(s): Sustainable Energy, Applications of Computing, Statistics and Machine Learning

Climate Central’s online WeatherPower tool forecasts daily renewable-energy production in different counties, districts and states across the United States. It is useful for demonstrating the potential for sustainable electricity generation to interested or curious consumers. My focus was on, first, improving WeatherPower’s accuracy by updating its solar- and wind-energy capacity estimates for the whole country. With a better idea of how many solar panels and wind turbines exist, the tool is able to better forecast production on any given day. I then analyzed the forecasts that WeatherPower made in the past and identified trends in regional sustainable-energy generation. With nearly one year of stored daily generation estimates, I was able to see how electricity production behaves throughout the year and propose articles or reports that could be produced from these observations. To conduct this analysis, I learned how to use the programming language SQL and how to work with large relational databases. I also learned about the intricacies of the sustainable-energy industry, a field which I hope to enter after graduation.

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Casido, Nicabec ’23

Neuroscience

PROJECT

Contextualizing Social Norms

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Johanna Matt-Navarro, Research Lab Manager, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Gregg Sparkman, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

Certificate(s): Linguistics

I contributed to several focused meta-analysis projects during my internship. Two of these meta-analyses focused on the applicability of in-lab research to the real world by looking at the relationship between environmental behaviors, risky behavior, and how a person plays economic games in laboratory experiments. The meta-analysis I primarily focused on examined when people are most influenced by social norms — our understanding of what others most commonly do or believe. Our analysis of studies on this topic consisted of defining the context, norm messages and who delivered the messages, as well as creating a digital library of the many studies found. Once our papers were analyzed, we created data visualizations of the variety of study content (including the types of social-norm manipulations used and the populations studied) using PowerPoint and the statistical software R. The diversity of projects I collaborated on was a wonderful experience that helped influence my perspective on social psychology and my career interests moving forward.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Urban Challenge project, “Norm Dynamics as Agents of Urban Social Change and Environmental Sustainability: Investigating Cross-Cultural Differences and Longevity of Intervention.”

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Chen, Calif ’23

PROJECT

Corporate Climates Project

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Jordana Composto, Ph.D. candidate, Psychology; Pooja Vijay Ramamurthi, Ph.D. candidate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies

My internship involved working on two projects: India’s Coal Transitions and Corporate Climates. The goal of the India’s Coal Transitions project is to identify and examine India’s policy network. I conducted data cleaning for stakeholder interviews, coded a node list and edge list of actor interactions for social network analysis, and assisted in developing research methods to identify consistent themes within the stakeholder interviews. The second project I worked on is Corporate Climates. The goal of my work within the project was to study the effects of company sustainability commitments and statements of varying narratives. Specifically, we wanted to examine how effective specific versus vague statements are in galvanizing stakeholders. I conducted a broad literature review of research on framing narratives and corporate statements. At the end of my internship, I compiled an overview of the literature, a list of dimensions commonly studied for messaging, and a list of commonly studied outcome variables. Overall, I gained a deeper understanding of the process behind developing research methods and the skills to conduct a literature review.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Urban Challenge project, “Norm Dynamics as Agents of Urban Social Change and Environmental Sustainability: Investigating Cross-Cultural Differences and Longevity of Intervention.”

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Cotter, Gavin ’23

PROJECT

Efficient Propulsion of Tunabot

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Smits Fluid Mechanics Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Alexander Smits, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus; Liuyang Ding, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Certificate(s): Finance, Robotics and Intelligent Systems

My internship focused on improving a robotic tuna (Tunabot) to develop a more efficient underwater propulsion system. Most systems use a propeller design that, while functional, is generally slow moving, has restricted maneuverability, and creates significant noise. To overcome these limitations, research is being done to incorporate elements from aquatic species such as tuna, which have evolved highly efficient underwater locomotion with high maneuverability and low noise. Previous research conducted in the lab had found the most efficient combination of tail and caudal (tail) fin motion. I used the computer-aided design software Creo to design a new tail for Tunabot that incorporated the more efficient tail motion. The final design will be built and tested during the fall 2021 semester. I was able to learn more about the fluid dynamics of swimming animals and the usefulness of biomimetic robots. I also spent a lot of time working with and learning more about Creo. All of my experiences during this internship utilized and helped expand the skills I have been learning in my studies and further supported my interest in fluid dynamics.

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Denzer, Bridget ’23

PROJECT

An Investigation of Alkali-activated Cement

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sustainable Cements Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Claire White, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Christine Pu, Ph.D. candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Materials Science and Engineering, Sustainable Energy

I studied alkali-activated cement, which is an alternative to traditional portland cement that produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions. Because the construction industry is highly regulated, more research is needed on the material properties of alkali-activated cement for it to be used in industry. I analyzed alkali-activated cement through two different methods, the first being a life-cycle analysis. I studied the carbon footprint and total cost of producing alkali-activated cement — from raw materials to the finished product — for three different project sites in the United States. I then worked in the programming language Python to create graphs and analyze data from sulfuric acid-corroded cement. Sulfuric acid resistance is an important property for determining the suitability of cement for sewer-related uses and, thus, this research was significant for deploying alkali-activated cement in real-world industrial applications. I learned a lot through this internship about material characterization methods and gained technical coding skills, which will help me in my pursuit of a graduate degree in materials science.

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Duan, Yaxin ’23

PROJECT

The Impact of Contaminant Spatial Configuration on Bacterial Chemotaxis

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Datta Lab, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Sujit Datta, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Jenna Ott, Ph.D. candidate, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Certificate(s): Sustainable Energy, Environmental Studies

I studied chemotaxis, a phenomenon in which bacteria can sense the concentration gradient of a chemical and move toward where the gradient is steepest. Chemotaxis can improve the efficiency of bioremediation strategies that deploy microorganisms to remove pollutants from the environment by driving the mass migration of chemotactic bacteria toward sources of contamination. I investigated how the spatial configuration of contaminants impacts the ability of bacteria to perform chemotaxis. I used the programming language MATLAB to build a one-dimensional model that simulated how different concentrations of bacteria respond to varying distances between two drops of contaminants. Through my simulations, I found that if two drops of contaminants are too close together, the concentration gradient may not be steep enough to produce a chemotactic response. The process of building and debugging my model helped me gain experience with MATLAB and taught me the importance of documenting my work. I am excited to continue working on this project for my junior independent work, and I look forward to growing my relationships with the amazing mentors and scientists I worked with as I join them in the lab in Fall 2021.

Feng, Joseph ’22

PROJECT

A Structured Risk Assessment of Net-zero Emissions Pathways

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Energy Systems Analysis Group, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University; Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Chris Greig, Theodora D. ’78 & William H. Walton III ’74 Senior Research Scientist, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Richard Moss, Visiting Research Collaborator, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

Certificate(s): Robotics and Intelligent Systems, Engineering Physics

Our research studied risks associated with American energy-transition programs intended to mitigate climate change. We applied a structured risk assessment framework to risks associated with different pathways to net-zero emissions that were laid out in the recently published Princeton Net-Zero America study. This framework enabled us to: identify, analyze and evaluate the execution, climate impact and complex risks of net-zero pathways; develop risk-reduction strategies in response; and draw parallels and distinctions between these pathways’ risk exposure and risk vulnerabilities. I learned to quantitatively assess risk using a structured framework that helped me evaluate the likelihood, consequence and severity of each risk. Working with a project as big as the American energy transition gave me an appreciation for not only how monumental climate change mitigation will be, but also how much effort and planning is necessary for any significant engineering project.

Gonzales, Sierra ’22

Psychology

PROJECT

Contextualizing Social Norms

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Johanna Matt-Navarro, Research Lab Manager, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Gregg Sparkman, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

I studied how social norms in interventions can be effective for change. A social norm is a perception of what others commonly do or believe in a given context. Previous research has conducted experimental work in different content areas to test the effectiveness of specific phrasing. I focused on reading those research papers and categorizing them into different types of mediums, or ways to implement the norm message, as well as confirming previous coders’ interpretations about whether the study should remain in our meta-analysis. The most interesting part of this work was being exposed to the wide variety of social-norm research, as well as discovering areas that still need more exploration. For this reason, I plan to conduct an experiment for my senior thesis in which I will use a social-norm intervention to try to reduce body-dysmorphic thoughts and actions, as my previous research has been on eating disorders. This internship was incredibly rewarding and helpful in improving my research abilities and discipline.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Urban Challenge project, “Norm Dynamics as Agents of Urban Social Change and Environmental Sustainability: Investigating Cross-Cultural Differences and Longevity of Intervention.”

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Hall, Bryant ’22

PROJECT

Plasma Diagnostics for Plasma-assisted Catalysis

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Koel Research Group, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University; Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

MENTOR(S)

Bruce Koel, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Shota Abe, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Certificate(s): Sustainable Energy

I worked with Professor Bruce Koel’s group based at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory investigating the use of plasma as a more energy-efficient process for manufacturing ammonia. The current method for synthesizing ammonia, known as the Haber-Bosch process, requires high temperatures and pressures and constitutes 1-2% of global energy consumption each year. By allowing reactions to occur in a plasma, it may be possible to create ammonia more efficiently. I primarily worked with simulations to study how these chemical reactions unfold, and which ones were the most important in reaching a high steady-state density of ammonia. I used a zero-dimensional kinetic model, which considers a provided list of chemical reactions and their rates to determine how the densities of each of the involved elements and compounds will evolve over time. The simulations were compared with experimental results from the group to confirm consistency.

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Huang, Kenny ’23

PROJECT

Data Science Applications for Electric Reliability

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Office of Electric Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

MENTOR(S)

David Ortiz, Deputy Director, Office of Electric Reliability, FERC

Certificate(s): Statistics and Machine Learning, Optimization and Quantitative Decision Science, Applied and Computational Mathematics

I worked through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program as a data science intern in the Office of Electric Reliability (OER) supporting various data-related tasks that the team worked on. At a high level, OER oversees the development and enforcement of mandatory reliability standards for the electric power grid. During my internship, I completed projects in database curation, data analysis and task automation that directly helped OER’s day-to-day operations. While working on these projects, I learned about several of the different aspects of work in OER, as well as how to implement and use Python programming-language libraries such as SQLAlchemy, Selenium and Natural Language Toolkit. My greatest takeaway was an appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes to keep the electrical grid operating and the infrastructure that supports our daily lives running smoothly. This internship solidified for me that I’m still interested in data science as a career, likely within the realm of energy, and I’m looking forward to continuing that journey.

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Leung, Aaron ’23

PROJECT

A Structured Risk Assessment of Net-zero Emissions Pathways

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Energy Systems Analysis Group, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University; Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Chris Greig, Theodora D. ’78 & William H. Walton III ’74 Senior Research Scientist, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Richard Moss, Visiting Research Collaborator, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

Our project aims to develop energy-transition risk management measures to enhance the resilience of the Princeton Net-Zero America (NZA) project and other energy transition programs, and to offer insight into modeling multisector transition processes. We apply a structured risk assessment framework to risks associated with two NZA net-zero emissions pathways in order to: identify, analyze and evaluate the execution, climate impact and complex risks of the pathways; develop risk-reduction strategies in response; and draw parallels and distinctions in risk exposure and risk vulnerability between these pathways. The experience inspired me to cultivate my interests and skills in a breadth of areas, including: energy transition; the energy value chain; sustainability; environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG); tri-sector leadership; risk and resilience; complex systems; and global interconnectivity.

Lin, Zihan ’23

PROJECT

Plasma-Material Interactions for Fusion Energy

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Koel Research Group, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Bruce Koel, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Shota Abe, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Chemical and Biological Engineering

I investigated the ion incident angle and sheath profile in linear plasma devices with oblique magnetic field incident angles. One motivation for studying plasmas is to obtain energy through nuclear fusion, but achieving controlled fusion faces many challenges. One is designing the plasma-facing component so that it can handle the extreme conditions inside a fusion reactor without degrading plasma performance. My project focused on linear plasma devices because of their more simplified plasma parameters and ease of conducting experiments. I used an equation-of-motion model to simulate ion trajectory in a collisionless plasma sheath and measured the ion impact angle upon striking the surface. The resulting incident ion angle distributions were applied to a Monte Carlo simulation to illustrate the expected erosion profile of a specially designed plasma-facing sample surface. Experimental verification of my simulation results using a linear device will be performed in the future. Through this internship, I gained experience with fusion divertor plasma simulation and learned the complexities of plasma-material interaction research. I also learned valuable presentation skills and gained proficiency in the programming language MATLAB. I plan on pursuing research related to fusion and material science in the future.

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Lunsford, Caleb ’23

Electrical and Computer Engineering

PROJECT

Crack Identification in Alkali-activated Slag Cements

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sustainable Cements Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Claire White, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Yige Zhang, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Certificate(s): Architecture and Engineering

I studied the composition and cracking of alkali-activated slag (AAS) cements, an alternative to portland cements with significantly reduced carbon emissions. They also have the potential to be as strong as, or stronger than, portland cements; however, the specific properties of AAS vary significantly depending on their precise chemical composition. I focused on how the addition of zinc oxide impacts cracking as the cement dries. I used X-ray microtomography scanning files to reconstruct two- and three-dimensional representations of several AAS cement samples with different compositions. I then processed the reconstructions to determine how much of the sample’s volume was composed of cracks. Finally, I determined the distribution of cracks throughout the samples and compared how the different cement compositions impacted crack formation. Throughout my internship, I became familiar with ongoing research in the areas of alkali-activated materials and image-based crack identification. I was struck by the interdisciplinary nature of the project and have been prompted to consider how my major and career can interact with other fields.

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Manocha, Aneesha ’23

PROJECT

Macro-energy System Modeling Methodologies and Applications in India for Decarbonization Pathways

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

ZERO Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University; Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP)

MENTOR(S)

Jesse Jenkins, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Neha Patankar, Associate Research Scholar, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Rahul Tongia, Senior Fellow, CSEP

Certificate(s): Sustainable Energy, Environmental Studies, Statistics and Machine Learning

I conducted research with the ZERO lab and the Centre for Social Economic Progress on macro-energy system modeling methodologies and development and decarbonization pathways in India. With the urgency of decarbonizing global energy systems increasing, creating and analyzing energy system models is essential to understand possible low-carbon futures. My goal was to better understand electricity-system model planning and the policy implications of these models, and to build a model of development needs and decarbonization pathways for India. I learned about various modeling techniques, methods of approaching energy system models, and gathered data on various energy end-use sectors for the models I created. This internship reinforced my long-term interests in using energy system modeling to better understand decarbonization pathways as I continue my research over the next two years and plan to attend graduate school.

Maskara, Anika ’23

PROJECT

Supporting the Case for Medium- and Heavy-duty Vehicle Electrification

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

MENTOR(S)

James Fine, Director and Lead Senior Economist, Research and Analytics, EDF

I worked with the energy analytics team at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on issues related to zero-emissions medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles make up less than 10% of vehicles on the road, but contribute more than 60% of mobile-source nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions, causing serious environmental and health problems. EDF’s goal is to ensure all new trucks and buses sold are zero-emissions by 2040. My primary project was to develop an interactive dashboard for estimating the emissions associated with medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in all 50 states, which will allow EDF to easily calculate and share emissions profiles when promoting its policy goals. To make this dashboard, I gathered and analyzed data related to vehicle populations and emissions factors. This internship allowed me to develop my technical programming skills and gain a firm understanding of the current state of the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle market and where it might go in the future. The experience solidified my interest in using technology to promote social good and inspired me to learn more about sustainability in the transportation sector.

Meyer, Sullivan ’24

PROJECT

Community Attitudes to Large-scale Renewable Energy Deployment in Net-Zero America Scenarios

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Johanna Matt-Navarro, Research Lab Manager, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Sara Constantino, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, and Lecturer in the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Elisabeth Krueger, Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer, High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jordana Composto, Ph.D. candidate, Psychology

Certificate(s): Architecture and Engineering

The Princeton Net-Zero America (NZA) project analyzed existing technologies, natural resources and economic contexts to identify five cost-optimizing pathways for America to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. As we know, however, change in America rarely comes in its most cost-efficient form. Market incumbents, entrenched political actors and other social forces also constrain our country’s path to progress. My team’s goal was to identify what these forces may be and begin assessing how they could influence NZA scenarios. The first half of my summer was devoted to conducting a literature review of studies that have examined the sociopolitical barriers to renewable-energy development and to compiling data on energy, politics, policies and demographics. I spent the second half of my internship summarizing those findings in a series of reports on 11 states identified as particularly important to the net-zero transition. I learned about social science research, data collection and management, and various quantitative analysis techniques. I hope to one day work in politics, policy or engineering where I can help segue the findings of projects such as this into tangible change.

Nibhanupudi, Tanvi ’23

PROJECT

Corporate Climates

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Sara Constantino, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, and Lecturer in the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jordana Composto, Ph.D. candidate, Psychology; Melissa Tier, Ph.D. candidate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Certificate(s): Journalism, Finance

I investigated individual and institutional climate change awareness and action through surveys of individual perspectives on COVID-19 and climate change, as well as data on financial institutions’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Our goal was to produce a behaviorally informed understanding of the cognitive and social mechanisms that influence personal and institutional action on COVID-19 and climate change. These analyses will help inform stronger corporate and government policies by providing greater knowledge of the ways in which individuals, institutions and government bodies connect and interact to effect change. In these projects, I used the programming language R to compile data and extract trends for global financial actors across financial and ESG metrics, as well as examine the influence of perceptions of government COVID-19 and climate change action on personal action and trust in institutions. Overall, this experience gave me invaluable skills in cleaning and analyzing data sets that have real-world impact and inspired me to continue this work by adopting a more data-driven and behavioral focus in my economics concentration. This internship was an incredible opportunity for me to shape my own research, and I hope to continue this in my future independent work.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Urban Challenge project, “Norm Dynamics as Agents of Urban Social Change and Environmental Sustainability: Investigating Cross-Cultural Differences and Longevity of Intervention.”

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Patcha, Srija ’23

PROJECT

Effect of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Air Quality in Delhi, India

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE), School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Denise Mauzerall, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Public and International Affairs; Disha Sharma, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and C-PREE

I analyzed spatiotemporal air quality data for Delhi, India, to identify trends in air pollution during India’s COVID-19 lockdowns. Delhi is one of the most polluted megacities in the world, exhibiting ambient concentrations of criteria pollutants that frequently exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. However, during the government-mandated COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, multiple news outlets noted clearer skies and cleaner air throughout the city. I aimed to investigate this further by quantifying possible changes in Delhi’s air quality during the two lockdown periods. I downloaded time-series data from 39 continuous monitoring stations throughout Delhi from 2015 to 2021 (using 2015-19 data as a baseline) for five criteria pollutants: two forms of particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and ozone (O₃). As the project progressed, I gained familiarity with Pandas, a data-specific library in the software Python, and learned to implement methods of spatiotemporal visualization. I also learned a lot about the network of air quality monitoring and management in India. This internship provided me invaluable exposure to the intersection of technology and environmental research, which I plan to continue pursuing in college and beyond.

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Pirone, Alec ’24

PROJECT

Efficient Propulsion of Tunabot

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Smits Fluid Mechanics Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Alexander Smits, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus; Liuyang Ding, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Efficient swimmers such as tuna swim with the tail and the caudal (tail) fin having a specific phase difference. The goal of my internship was to design the inside of a tuna robot, called the Tunabot, so that the tail and the caudal fin have a desired phase difference, regardless of swimming speed and external factors such as water current. This would move us one step closer to creating an underwater vehicle with optimal efficiency, which is needed in the face of climate change. I spent most of the summer designing propulsion systems in the software Creo. Throughout the internship, I learned new computer-aided design skills and refined my research skills. This internship allowed me to explore fluid mechanics, which I hope to continue studying. I also am now leaning toward a career with an environmental focus, which can be done by optimizing the efficiency of existing technology, like I did with the Tunabot.

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Sangha , Harvin ’23

PROJECT

Community Attitudes to Large-scale Renewable Energy Deployment in Net-Zero America Scenarios

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Behavioral Science for Policy Lab, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Gregg Sparkman, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Jordana Composto, Ph.D. candidate, Psychology

Certificate(s): Applications of Computing, Finance, Statistics and Machine Learning

I interned with the Behavioral Science for Policy Lab (BSPL) as a part of the Princeton Net-Zero America (NZA) project. Currently, NZA is a techno-economic analysis of various pathways to decarbonizing the American economy. I incorporated organization-level data to the NZA scenarios to investigate which corporate institutions are primed for net-zero transition. I collected corporate variables related to organizational structures — such as the existence of sustainability committees or energy-reduction policies — and firm characteristics, such as the average age of the board of directors or the percentage of women in management. I analyzed the impact of these organization-level variables on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the largest producers of various energies (wind, solar, oil, hydroelectric, etc.) in 11 representative states. I learned new technical skills such as using R software, the Bloomberg Terminal, and basic data analysis. From environmental, social and governance metrics, to GHG-emissions scopes, I gained knowledge of the vocabulary and thought processes needed to address climate change from the corporate side. I’ve also gained new insights into the importance of corporate organizational structures. Through this internship, I gained familiarity with visualization techniques, and I look forward to continuing my work with the BSPL.

Singh, Devdigvijay ’24

PROJECT

In Situ Camera Calibration for SuperPipe

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Smits Fluid Mechanics Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Alexander Smits, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus; Liuyang Ding, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Certificate(s): Engineering Physics

My goal was to develop an image calibration system for conducting particle image velocimetry (PIV) in Princeton’s SuperPipe without the use of a physical target. This would permit a unique opportunity to take noninvasive and accurate measurements of turbulent near-wall flows. I used two angled lasers shone through the clear walls of the SuperPipe that would intersect at known internal points. By moving these lasers to known-world coordinates, a calibration grid can be reconstructed. I then constructed a prototype setup capable of moving the lasers with micron-level precision using stepper motors. I imaged the laser beams using long-exposure photography and a smoke machine. I developed my own calibration system for the stepper motors using a real-time feedback loop with photoresistors. I programmed a batch image-processing algorithm in the software MATLAB to determine the point of intersection, then fit the obtained data to a camera distortion model, resulting in residual errors of less than 1% of the measured values. I extended this work to imaging curved glass surfaces similar to the SuperPipe. This work provided me with valuable experience in stepper-motor control, image calibration, batch image processing, and laser optics.

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Takegami, Mina ’23

Molecular Biology

PROJECT

Discovering Patterns and Genes Involved in Fe–S Chaperone Synthesis

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Avalos Research Group, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

José Avalos, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Jeremy Cortez, Ph.D. candidate, Molecular Biology

Certificate(s): Engineering Biology

There is ongoing research to replace fossil fuels by engineering yeast to increase isobutanol production by homologous gene insertion. However, one of the proteins encoded by the homologous genes requires an iron-sulfur (Fe–S) chaperone that differs from organism to organism. The focus of my internship was to improve Fe–S chaperone and protein compatibility. I took a bioinformatics approach by developing a pipeline for prokaryotic genomes being tested in the lab. I started with a database of genomes and filtered out genes through two searches. By running my pipeline, I discovered that all prokaryotes had at least one assembly, cluster and trafficking gene. This implies that all organisms in the data set follow the same general steps to create Fe–S chaperones. There were two groups of genes present in the organisms, but these groups were not dictated by how closely related the organisms were to each other. Through this internship, I learned about the complexities of working with large data and the bioinformatic skills needed to tackle these problems. I also realized that I have an interest in the intersection of computer science and biology, and I plan on pursuing similar opportunities in the future.

Tingi, Ipsita ’23

PROJECT

Case Studies of Yeast8 as a Genome-scale Model and Its Proof-of-concept Applications

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Avalos Research Group, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

José Avalos, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; José Montaño López, Ph.D. candidate, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Certificate(s): Sustainable Energy

studied and modified the genome-scale model (GEM) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae — an organism widely used in industrial biotechnology — to assess the possibility of converting it into a synthetic autotroph. Because autotrophs generate biomass by using CO₂, this new synthetic organism could lead to more sustainable chemical manufacturing. To accomplish this, I added and deleted specific reactions within the yeast GEM to allow the organism to grow in silico. Through this internship, I improved my coding skills using MATLAB and COBRA software, developed effective time management and interpersonal communication skills, and learned how to work both individually and on a team. Moreover, I worked on a research project that prepared me for and sparked an interest in pursuing future independent work at Princeton. Overall, I learned about metabolic engineering with a GEM and its applications in environmental sustainability — something I hope to continue in future work.

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Yeung, Kevin ’23

PROJECT

Case Studies of Yeast8 as a Genome-scale Model and Its Proof-of-concept Applications

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Avalos Research Group, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

José Avalos, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; José Montaño López, Ph.D. candidate, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Certificate(s): Engineering Biology, Language and Culture

I sought to develop the metabolic engineering of yeast into a sustainable method of producing 1-propanol, an important precursor of commercial plastics that is currently sourced from petrol. I relied on a publicly available genome-scale model of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which consists of all the reactions and genes that dictate the organism’s metabolism, to simulate its growth. I used MATLAB software to introduce synthetic pathways into the metabolic network of yeast and found viable in silico strains that are able to anaerobically generate 1-propanol with glucose as a carbon substrate. In addition, I improved the titer and yield of these strains with an algorithm that searches for and knocks out the genes that encode for reaction catalyzing enzymes that compete with propanol production. Some of these genes have been previously identified and confirm the validity of the model, while others have not been considered before. I intend to implement these results into live laboratory strains to investigate the accuracy of these computational predictions. This internship taught me the power of modeling biological systems mathematically, and I hope to integrate this knowledge into future academic endeavors.

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Urban Systems and Planning for a Sustainable Future

Benjamin, Malachi ’23

Architecture

PROJECT

US Architects Declare

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

US Architects Declare

MENTOR(S)

Alexandra (Xan) Lillehei, Fellow, US Architects Declare

Certificate(s): African American Studies

I worked with the finance committee of US Architects Declare researching grant opportunities for the organization. After deciding on four grants to pursue, I assisted in drafting proposals for each. Part of the work I did was assisting in a grant presentation for the Wilks Foundation. I also worked with the justice committee to conduct a literature review of 11 diversity and inclusion frameworks for architecture firms. From that research, I used the design program Adobe Illustrator to synthesize the information in a way that would be comprehensive and allow firms to make the most informed decisions when it came to implementing one of the frameworks. The ultimate goal of this project is to include this information in a guidebook for firms seeking to make their work environment more diverse and inclusive. While I worked with the justice group, I also set up and designed a Discord server for international communication and collaboration among global Architects Declare members.

Cai, Justin ’24

PROJECT

Finer-scale Agricultural Burning Mapping in Punjab, India

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Sustainable Urban Systems Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Anu Ramaswami, Sanjay Swani ’87 Professor of India Studies, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute

I studied the burning of agricultural land by farmers in northern India, which is driven by labor shortages and the timing of growing seasons. Agricultural burning is a significant concern due to its greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. The goal of my project was to map this burning using fine-scale satellite imagery since little information currently exists on where and when this burning occurs. I started by manually classifying burned land to provide training and validation data for a supervised image classification algorithm, which would ideally classify burned agricultural land. Then, I cleaned the satellite imagery to remove potentially defective images and interpolated the resulting missing values to prepare it for classification. I am continuing to research other optimizations and noise-reduction techniques, as well as develop a robust classification workflow and evaluate its accuracy. I gained substantial experience working through a professional data science workflow, giving me a better sense of how geographic analysis is conducted in a rigorous scientific context. This internship sparked my interest in the applications of machine learning in environmental science, and I intend to continue studying civil and environmental engineering and statistics and machine learning, possibly working in these fields in the future.

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Gao, Xuefei ’22

Architecture

PROJECT

US Architects Declare

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

US Architects Declare

MENTOR(S)

Paul Lewis, Professor of Architecture, Princeton University; Alexandra (Xan) Lillehei, Fellow, US Architects Declare

Certificate(s): Language and Culture

I helped support US Architects Declare in their mission to address the interconnected crises of carbon emissions, biodiversity loss and social injustice caused by issues within the built environment. For my first project, I wrote, designed and published the organization’s first “Year-One Survey Summary” detailing where their signatories were in terms of the declaration. Further day-to-day work included outreach to signatories and the general public via social media for the signatory subcommittee. For my final project, I edited, wrote and designed five pamphlets for the Carbon Working Group aimed at educating fellow professionals in the field on what architects can do to mitigate climate change, including through the selection of low-carbon materials, conducting building life-cycle assessments, and relevant conversations with their clients. I left Architects Declare with a keen awareness of the role that the building sector plays in climate change, which will be a critical component of my own path to becoming a practicing architect.

Jordan, Eva ’24

PROJECT

Urban Biodiversity and Conservation at New York City Parks

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Natural Resources Group, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks)- New York City, New York

MENTOR(S)

Georgina Cullman, Ecologist, NYC Parks

I worked with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s Natural Resources Group (NRG) to conduct an ongoing wildlife-monitoring project is assessing the habitat and hydrological connectivity within two salt marshes bisected by roads. This study will continue in the coming years after these roads have been reconstructed with environmentally minded features such as culverts and ecopassages. Monitoring before and after reconstruction will allow the NRG to assess the efficacy of these technologies in mitigating the impacts of the built environment on nature, and provide evidence to support this type of reconstruction in the future. I spent most of my time conducting fieldwork, which included setting and retrieving traps, marking and measuring diamondback terrapins and minnows, and gaining hands-on experience in saltmarsh ecosystems. I also worked with the management and analysis of our mark-recapture data. This internship was a valuable opportunity for me to become more familiar with conservation work through government organizations and to solidify my interest in pursuing ecological fieldwork. It also allowed me to further explore the intersection of ecology and engineering, which I hope to apply to my future independent research.

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Kreike-Martin, Nora ’24

Classics

PROJECT

Religious Environments in Roman Britain

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Kay Research Group, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Janet Kay, Associate Research Scholar, Art and Archaeology

Certificate(s): Archaeology

The goal of my internship was to collect data on the religious environment in Roman Britain in order to understand religious cults and ideas, as well as how Roman religion interacted with British practices and deities. I focused on natural environments such as springs and groves, and built environments such as wells and temples. I designed an independent research project about Roman imperial cults using the “Roman Inscriptions of Britain” (RIB) database. I collected and mapped data from the RIB in order to determine where these cults appeared, which were most prominent, and the implications for the prevalence and reach of imperial influence, as well as religious syncretism. At the start of my research, I referred to earlier scholarly categorizations of two main cults: the Numen cult and the Divine House cult. My results identified two additional categorizations based on the purpose of the inscriptions. I plan to further examine the four categorizations and then compare my findings on Britain with another Roman province to build a deeper understanding of the role of these cults in stabilizing the Roman Empire.

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Madsen, Heather ’24

PROJECT

Religious Environments in Roman Britain

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Kay Research Group, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Janet Kay, Associate Research Scholar, Art and Archaeology

Certificate(s): Archaeology, Environmental Studies

Through my internship, I gleaned a background in ancient Roman archaeology and culture. We began by reading work on Roman Britain by British archaeologist Miranda Aldhouse-Green so as to establish a foundation of religious and funerary practices and customs. We then proceeded to categorize religious sites mined from the text, supplementing them with more found online. Once we had a large base of data in the online database Airtable, we embarked on independent research. I studied the health implications of Rome’s dependency on lead in Britain and, in particular, how water and aquatic cults intensified the epidemic of lead poisoning in the ancient world.

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Matos, Andrew ’23

English

PROJECT

US Architects Declare

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

US Architects Declare

MENTOR(S)

Alexandra (Xan) Lillehei, Fellow, US Architects Declare

I researched legislative policy surrounding the social and environmental impacts of architecture, culminating in a white paper I wrote on behalf of US Architects Declare in response to Congress’ infrastructure plan. My research focused on affordable housing, regulations for the life-cycle carbon emissions of buildings, and the development of utilities in places where they are inadequate. The white paper identified the policies Architects Declare supports and where more needs to be done, as well as explained the built sector’s contribution to climate change. The paper will be published on the Architects Declare website and will be used as the basis for an op-ed. Another project I worked on was planning a seminar series facilitated by the organization where architects can learn best practices for ensuring community engagement in their projects. I also spent time reorganizing Architects Declare’s structure to further connect their focus groups for carbon, biodiversity and social justice. My internship helped me appreciate the link between the climate crisis and social inequity, and it allowed me to see how an intersectional approach can address both. I will carry this insight wherever my career takes me.

Murray, Emily ’23

Astrophysical Sciences

PROJECT

Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum Project

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

GCAM | Global Cultural Asset Management Group- North Adams, Massachusetts

MENTOR(S)

James Pihakis, Senior Project Manager, GCAM

The Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum (EMRCA) project is creating an immersive museum experience that combines train models and architectural models in a uniform scale. This project aims to revitalize the small town in western Massachusetts where it will be located by drawing people to the area. My goal was to estimate the museum’s total electricity, natural gas and water usage. These estimates are important to the EMRCA project team and investors so they can understand the museum’s potential operating costs and make better long-term plans. I developed comprehensive estimates based on the power draws of the models, digital displays and building as a whole. After estimating the museum’s needs, I researched clean-energy sources to help meet them. I made recommendations on the sources that would be the best to implement based on electricity generation, net savings, overall feasibility and sustainability. Through this research, I strengthened my data analysis skills and gained extensive knowledge of building studies. This internship opened me up to the possibility of applying my physics skills in an arts or culture context. I enjoy working at the intersection of fields and may pursue this in the future.

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Nguyen, Cam My ’23

Architecture

PROJECT

Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum Project

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

GCAM | Global Cultural Asset Management Group- North Adams, Massachusetts

MENTOR(S)

Yina Moore, Chief Architect, GCAM; James Pihakis, Senior Project Manager, GCAM; Chris Li, Architect, GCAM

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Urban Studies

My internship focused on a new cultural development and revitalization project for Berkshire County and the city of North Adams, Massachusetts. I helped advance the Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum by making sustainable-design recommendations in pursuit of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. To get acquainted with the project, I began by researching funding opportunities, grant programs and the current state of the project site, looking into potential remediation pathways and sustainable redevelopment. Another major aspect of the work included creating a 1:48 scale model of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater as a benchmark for model creation moving forward. Working with my mentor, I used Rhino 3D software to prepare and create files for the buildings and furniture to be 3D and resin printed. This internship provided me with insight into the process of design and construction of large-scale projects and the ways that sustainability can be integrated, and it reinforced my career goals to be an architect with a focus on sustainable design.

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Root, Charlotte ’22

Art and Archaeology

PROJECT

Religious Environments in Roman Britain

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Kay Research Group, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Janet Kay, Associate Research Scholar, Art and Archaeology

Certificate(s): Archaeology

I researched inscriptions from Roman Britain that were religiously syncretic in that they linked Roman deities with British deities by fusing disparate deities into one, or they listed deities from both Roman and British religions in one inscription. Analyzing religious syncretism in the ancient world could shed light on the process of cultural exchange and, in this case, in the context of colonialism. I created a database of these inscriptions, including information on the etymological origin of the dedicators’ names and how the inscription was syncretic. I also mapped where these inscriptions were found. I discovered that very few people with identifiably native British names participated in this medium of syncretic epigraphic worship. Very few Britons participated in any method of syncretism and only a few used epigraphy to worship solely British deities. This indicates a British disinclination to participate in the Roman practice of epigraphic worship, especially worship that related to Roman religion. I hope to continue this research for my senior thesis, though I will focus more closely on Hadrian’s Wall, a hotspot for epigraphic religious syncretism.

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Weng, Cathleen ’24

Undeclared

PROJECT

Religious Environments in Roman Britain

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Kay Research Group, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Janet Kay, Associate Research Scholar, Art and Archaeology

The goal of the project I worked on was to study and collect data on various elements of religious environments in Roman Britain, a time period during which Britain was under Roman rule. To organize these data, we used the collaborative software Airtable to record information about cults, religious sites, deities and inscriptions from Roman Britain. I focused on a few burials from this time period, all of which went against the custom of their time period in some way. I wrote a paper arguing for the examination of noncemetery burials in conjunction with one other to understand what each community valued based on their burial sites. I also compiled information about some of the cults, locations and deities that I researched into the shared Airtable. I not only now have a much better understanding of Roman Britain, but also of the preparation and implementation of long-form research projects. It certainly cemented my interest in archaeology and encouraged me to pursue a certificate in archaeology.

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Wu, Lois ’23

Anthropology

PROJECT

Urban Omnibus: Publication Work at an Architectural Nonprofit

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

The Architectural League of New York

MENTOR(S)

Mariana Mogilevich, Editor in Chief, Urban Omnibus, Architectural League of New York; Joshua McWhirter, Managing Editor, Urban Omnibus, Architectural League of New York

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Urban Studies

I worked as a project assistant at Urban Omnibus (UO), a publication of the Architectural League of New York focused on observing and documenting the processes of making a city. I mainly supported publication work for UO’s ongoing series on remediation. I researched the history of landfill parks for a case study on Shirley Chisholm State Park in Brooklyn, created a 14-term glossary on chemical wastes, and screened projects from a local community environmental fund for a future photographic feature. I also performed outreach and publicity work for the series, compiling a 142-entry database of contact information for publicity purposes and sharing the series via email with other environmental nonprofits and governmental organizations. Beyond this, I proofread, fact-checked and performed layout work for articles published by UO. I enjoyed the process of constant learning that came from fact-checking articles and researching different topics for a variety of projects, and I look forward to exploring this work further in the future.

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Water and the Environment

Adkins, Caroline ’22

PROJECT

Modeling Hydrogel Swelling in a Cohesive Granular Medium

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Datta Lab, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Sujit Datta, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Jean-François Louf, Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering, Auburn University

Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy, Sustainable Energy, Engineering Biology

On the surface, hydrogels resemble small colorful beads. In reality, these little beads can absorb about six times their weight in water, making them extremely useful water reservoirs that can be employed in a variety of contexts. The agricultural industry is a big consumer of this technology, leveraging hydrogels’ absorbent potential to combat water stress in crops during drought. In some cases, the distribution of hydrogels in soil successfully increases crop yields while simultaneously reducing necessary water inputs. In other cases, for unknown reasons, we see the complete opposite outcome. To help solve this mystery, I developed a computer model to simulate how a hydrogel may (or may not) swell under varying soil conditions. Once the model was complete, we obtained quantifiable evidence that the weight and cohesivity of soil can have drastic effects on hydrogel swelling, indicating that the technology would be more effective in lighter, more compressive soils. As I enter my senior year, I will apply everything I learned — a new coding language, technical polymer physics, hydrogel mechanics and more — as I continue to work with hydrogels in the Datta Lab and explore their vast environmental potential.

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Alvarado, Juan Pablo ’23

PROJECT

Biofilm Droplet

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Interfacial Water Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ian Bourg, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Avery Agles, Ph.D. candidate, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Certificate(s): Materials Science and Engineering

As the availability of fresh water becomes increasingly scarce and unpredictable, we must understand the natural phenomena driving the availability and behavior of water in soils. Scientists have recently realized the important role of biofilms in soil water availability. However, attempts to model biofilm-soil dynamics are limited by a poor understanding of the interactions of these components at the molecular level. My project focused on creating molecular dynamics simulations to better understand the molecular interactions between biofilms and clay in aqueous systems. We hypothesized that the presence of both biofilms and clay would lead to synergistic dynamics that would have implications for water transport and retention. I learned how to create and run simulations using GROMACS, an open-source software that simulates the Newtonian equations of motion for systems with hundreds to millions of atoms, while also troubleshooting errors. Once I learned GROMACS, I primarily worked on fine-tuning my system to produce the desired raw data. After studying such a system and reading numerous papers on biofilms, this is a topic that I would like to further explore through my senior independent research.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Water and the Environment Challenge project, “Microphysics of Water in Secondary Organic Aerosol.”

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Contreras-Godfried, Katharine ’22

PROJECT

Engineering Microfluidic Devices to Increase the Degradation Rate of Organic Contaminants Under Flow

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Complex Fluids Group, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Howard Stone, Donald R. Dixon ’69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Samantha McBride, Postdoctoral Research Associate and Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy

In this research internship, I learned about and explored the applications of microfluidics, which culminated in independent experimentation. My co-intern and I began by studying the mechanics of microfluidic systems, both to decrease fouling as well as purify water. Once we had a better understanding of the concept, we decided on the question we wanted to answer through microfluidics. We decided to create experiments wherein we removed mehtlyene blue, a salt used as a medication and dye, as this is a good substitute for volatile organic compounds in water. From there, we conducted several experiments with different geometries in an attempt to find the most efficient structure.

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DiMare, Francesca ’23

PROJECT

Engineering Microfluidic Devices to Increase the Degradation Rate of Organic Contaminants Under Flow

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Complex Fluids Group, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Howard Stone, Donald R. Dixon ’69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Samantha McBride, Postdoctoral Research Associate and Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Materials Science and Engineering

I worked with my mentor to devise a research experiment from the ground up. After reviewing the literature surrounding microfluidic devices, we discovered there was high potential in using microfluidics to study photodegradation. Photodegradation is a method of treating organic water pollution and has significant value in expanding access to potable water. However, photodegradation has various limitations, including a deficiency of dissolved oxygen. Microfluidics can be fabricated with trapped air pockets (i.e., plastron layers) that potentially address this limitation. Taking inspiration from relevant literature, we systematically varied flow rate, plastron volume and triple-phase contact length to explore how trapped plastron layers influence photodegradation kinetics under flow. Though we have not yet measured significant levels of photodegradation with our current experimental design, this research is ongoing. This internship gave me familiarity with various image analysis techniques, such as measuring contact angles and analyzing particle velocimetry. Additionally, reviewing literature and having direct influence in the process of posing a research question enhanced my research abilities and increased my confidence in pursuing research after graduation. Applying microfluidics and photocatalysis to water purification also reaffirmed my passion for addressing environmental issues.

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Gupta, Tejas ’24

PROJECT

Data-intensive Analysis of the Climate-Water Crisis in India

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

NITSAN Sustainable Development Lab, Tel Aviv University

MENTOR(S)

Ram Fishman, Senior Lecturer (With Tenure), Public Policy, Tel Aviv University

Certificate(s): Values and Public Life, South Asian Studies

As one of the world’s fastest growing countries, India has a substantial agricultural sector that currently diverts 90% of the country’s water resources to crop production. My goal was to examine the relationship between water scarcity and alternative irrigation methods, with the central question of whether villages that are water poor use more efficient drip or sprinkler irrigation. I developed metrics for water scarcity and irrigation using remote sensing and census data, and I added demographic controls to our model to account for population differences across India. With those metrics, we ran multiple regressions from the village to the state level to determine whether such a relationship exists. However, we did not find a significant relationship and our models indicated that alternative irrigation methods were influenced more by other variables. I not only learned about modeling complex situations from this project, but also how data can be a powerful tool for understanding real problems. After working in Indian villages at a different nonprofit, this internship and my enlightening discussions with my mentor showed me a macro perspective on the issue. I hope to continue working to solve India’s water crisis during my studies.

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Liu, Grace ’23

PROJECT

Data-intensive Analysis of the Climate-Water Crisis in India

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

NITSAN Sustainable Development Lab, Tel Aviv University

MENTOR(S)

Ram Fishman, Senior Lecturer (With Tenure), Public Policy, Tel Aviv University

Certificate(s): Statistics and Machine Learning, Language and Culture

I worked with two other interns investigating whether villages in India with greater water scarcity have higher rates of micro-irrigation systems — such as drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation — which are more water efficient than traditional canal and flood systems. The first couple of weeks consisted of cleaning and merging data from India’s demographic census and India’s Minor Irrigation Census with remotely sensed data for the analysis. Then we performed exploratory analyses to find patterns in the data, using the enhanced vegetation index and the percentage of wells not in use as an indicator of water scarcity. I focused on mapping the explanatory and outcome variables using the program GeoPandas so we could get a better sense of their spatial distribution. The meat of our analysis consisted of using regression techniques in the R programming language to quantify the impact of our water-scarcity proxies on the percentage of drip and/or sprinkler irrigation systems in a village. Overall, this project helped me learn how to collaborate with other students and focus on our individual strengths, while still challenging myself to develop new technical abilities.

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Martinez, Daniela ’24

PROJECT

Modeling Organic Contaminants at the Air-Water Interface

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Interfacial Water Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ian Bourg, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jennifer Willemsen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

I studied through simulation research the behavior of environmental organic contaminants at the air-water interface. My project focused on using the fundamental properties of these contaminants to predict their adsorption at the air-water interface, in addition to calculating various thermodynamic and structural properties. Investigating the properties of these contaminants can lead to improved remediation technology and strategies. I created a database of simulation input files for modeling organic contaminants, then simulated them at the air-water interface to produce their free energy profiles. I created the input files by writing scripts describing the molecules’ structure. The molecular dynamics program Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS) read these scripts and produced visualization and output files, which provided thermodynamic data for the molecule. These visualization files were inputted into the molecular modeling and visualization program Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD) to view the organic contaminants’ behavior at the air-water interface. Through this internship, I realized how understanding fundamental properties can provide insight on what to do at a larger scale. I hope to apply these fundamental properties to strategies for removing contaminants from the environment.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Water and the Environment Challenge project, “Microphysics of Water in Secondary Organic Aerosol.”

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Mattews, Aidan ’24

PROJECT

Data-intensive Analysis of the Climate-Water Crisis in India

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

NITSAN Sustainable Development Lab, Tel Aviv University

MENTOR(S)

Ram Fishman, Senior Lecturer (With Tenure), Public Policy, Tel Aviv University

The goal of my project was to determine if there is a relationship between water scarcity and the adoption of more efficient irrigation methods in India. To accomplish this, we employed data analysis in the programming language R on available Indian census data. I was in charge of fixed effects regressions dealing with geographic variables and I contributed to cleaning and merging data. I learned econometric techniques and improved my data analysis skills immensely. As I learned more about water-scarcity issues, I decided I’d like to contribute to rural and agricultural development in some capacity during my career. I’d also like to continue studying sustainability and the effects of climate change.

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Montiel, Natasha ’22

PROJECT

Site Analysis of New Jersey Stream Health

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

The Watershed Institute

MENTOR(S)

Steve Tuorto, Director of Science and Stewardship, The Watershed Institute; Erin Stretz, Assistant Director of Science and Stewardship, The Watershed Institute

The Watershed Institute aims to protect local streams through their StreamWatch program. StreamWatch relies on trained volunteers who collect data at various stream sites around New Jersey, which are then analyzed by interns and scientists at the Watershed. Under the guidance of my mentors, I organized years of chemical and biological data and input-relevant information into Access databases. I then assisted with the creation of “report cards” that allow for the high volume of data from each site to be communicated in a succinct and understandable manner. Finally, I developed a time series for important measurements from each site that showed how stream health has evolved during the past decade. Through this internship, I learned that there are many different indicators that scientists can look at to determine the health of streams. While looking at the data for these different indicators, I was able to develop better data analysis skills, as well as proficiency with Access databases. Moreover, my work with the Watershed confirmed my desire to work with an environmental nonprofit organization.

Neapole, Ryan ’23

PROJECT

Modeling Organic Contaminants at the Air-Water Interface

ORGANIZATION / LOCATION

Interfacial Water Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

MENTOR(S)

Ian Bourg, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Jennifer Willemsen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering

I worked on a team using molecular dynamics simulations to create a library of simulation input and output files for different organic contaminants. These files were then used to determine the free energy profile of the contaminants at the water-air interface. My primary focus was constructing the contaminant files for five organic contaminants: triclosan, benzo(a)pyrene, coumarin, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and ketoprofen. I built the contaminants using the optimized potentials for liquid simulations (OPLS) parameters, which are a set of constants associated with atom types determined by surrounding atoms. I learned how to code input and output files for contaminants and use organic chemistry to identify the OPLS atom types within each contaminant molecule. The remote nature of the internship taught me how to independently form solutions to new and variable issues. Working through problems on my own was a major component of my experience. This internship furthered my passion for environmental engineering, and I look forward to continuing my academic studies in this field and seeing where it leads me.

* This internship is connected to the HMEI Water and the Environment Challenge project, “Microphysics of Water in Secondary Organic Aerosol.”

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Wiese, Morgan ’23