Hi my name is Audrey and this summer I will be working as a research intern. I will work with Dr. Laura McKinney, two graduate students, and one other undergraduate student on a sociological research project. The overarching objective of our research is to establish a presence in the community surrounding the EVR-Wood Treating/Evangeline Refining Company Superfund site and gather preliminary data to advance the viability of external funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to establish a Superfund Research Center. We aim to collect preliminary data from a variety of stakeholders to uncover knowledge gaps and identify local needs that the Superfund research team can help address. This site is a rural community close to Jennings, Louisiana that has recently been named a Superfund site. In case anyone is unfamiliar with this phrase, Superfund sites hold high quantities of toxic waste (usually at the fault of large corporations) and have been designated for clean-up by the Environmental Protection Agency. Here’s a link to the site’s profile on EPA’s page. In this Superfund site, many of the contaminants have spread into the surrounding wetlands and downstream surface waters. Since this site has only recently received attention from environmental agencies, we plan to help produce more knowledge about the people who live in the area. One goal of our research is to understand the residents’ level of risk to the health problems caused by these contaminants.
I “found” this internship by talking with my sociology professor, Dr. McKinney. I took her Global Social Change class at the beginning of the year, and I loved her as a teacher. We developed a relationship throughout the semester, and by the end, we began talking about doing research together in the summer. During spring semester, we kept in contact and worked out all of the details. I’m so excited to work on this project this summer because I find the subject matter interesting and I also like the people I’m working with.
Most of my work will take place on Tulane’s campus in the Sociology Department. However, at the end of June, all five of us will take a trip out to the superfund site itself. On our trip, we will go door-to-door passing out surveys and conducting in-depth interviews. My first week of work was primarily focused on putting together this survey and interview guide. First, one of the graduate students, Clare, gave me a stack of journal articles to read which all related to our research. She said the purpose of reading these articles was to gain a general understanding of what has already been covered in our specific field of study. As I read, I made notes of common themes and strategies used by other scholars. Then, Clare and I compared notes and worked together to produce a survey and interview guide. I really enjoyed this week because I got to see how sociologists actually do research. It was actually pretty similar to the type of work I do in school. That surprised me, actually. I also liked my work this week because I felt like I was contributing to the final product. I wasn’t making photo copies or anything boring. My ideas were actually taken seriously. That felt good.
By the end of the summer, I’m sure I’ll have learned a lot considering how much I learned in the first week. I’ll have more experience in conducting interviews, I’ll have a better understanding of the processes behind sociological research, and I’ll gain more knowledge about my surrounding environment here in Louisiana. So far, I’ve had a great week!