An environmental engineering major from Nottingham, New Hampshire, Owen Friend–Gray has been conducting research under the guidance of Dr. Jeffrey Melton since his freshman year. In spring 2007 Owen received an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) grant, which allowed him to continue his studies on environmental contaminant remediation over the summer. “I learned that research doesn’t always go the way you want, [but] there are no right and wrong answers,” Owen says. “The results are what they are.” Owen intends to graduate in December 2008 and immediately begin work on his master’s degree. With that and his future career plans as an environmental engineer in mind, he submitted this article to Inquiry so that he could learn how to reach a broader audience. After all, “most of a scientist’s audience is typically, in the end, non–scientists,” remarked Owen.
Jeffrey S. Melton is a research assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, who specializes in remediation of contaminated soil and sediment and in recycling materials such as crushed concrete into construction projects. As a member of the Environmental Research Group, Dr. Melton has been conducting research on the use of phosphate minerals to remediate sediment contaminated with heavy metals, which ties in closely with Friend–Gray’s research. “I didn’t know Owen before I asked him to work on the project,” admits Dr. Melton. “But it turns out that Owen is a very talented young man, and getting to know him better has been a benefit of this project. The results were interesting but not applicable to sediment remediation, which is fine because now we know that it won’t work and that is more than we knew before.” Having served as a mentor before, Dr. Melton says that he enjoys interacting with students outside the classroom. “I think the experience makes me a better professor and mentor.”
Read Owen Friend–Gray’s research article An Appetite for Apatite: A Study in Black Apatite Adsorption Effects on Organic and Non-Organic Environmental Contaminants >>
