Senior Olivia Macek reports on summer internship at University Of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center

Olivia Macek (environmental science and biology '16)

Olivia Macek writes about her experience at University Of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) in summer 2015:
 
 "My name is Olivia Macek and I am a senior biology and environmental science double major.  During this past summer, I had an internship at the University Of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center in Northwoods, Wisconsin. 

Olivia sets up an insect emergence trap on Long Lake, WI

During these ten weeks I learned about vertebrate biology, insect ecology, aquatic ecology, and forest ecology.  I also had the opportunity to work on my own research project with emergent aquatic insects and how they are affected by different dissolved organic carbon levels in Long Lake, Wisconsin. It was such a great opportunity to be a part of this internship and to learn many field and lab techniques that I hope to use as a future environmental scientist." 

The summer research program for undergraduates at UNDERC includes 3 credits of ecology coursework and an independent research project conducted with support from a scientist-mentor.  Olivia also conducted directed research during her junior year on the dynamics of zooplankton in seasonal ponds at the Black Fork Wetlands Preserve. In 2015, Olivia was one of four AU students awarded a $2,500 Environmental Science and Engineering Scholarship from the Ohio E.P.A.