Environmental re太阳城娱乐城 making a difference in 北卡罗莱纳

今年夏天, 玫瑰Houck ’25 is tackling two projects as an intern for the 北卡罗莱纳 Collaboratory to help improve the health and safety of 北卡罗莱纳 residents.

One of her projects focuses on water quality at a local reservoir and the other tackles flood resiliency.

“Our re太阳城娱乐城 is catered specifically to improving the water quality in Falls Lake and the surrounding watershed. We are working entirely with 北卡罗莱纳 university re太阳城娱乐城ers so everybody is familiar with the local context,霍克说。, who is a double major in biology and applied data science. “All the discussions and collaboration are with North Carolinians, so it’s really awesome to see a community and state-driven project. The work is tied to where I grew up and benefitting my home state.”

N.C. General Assembly established the 北卡罗莱纳 Collaboratory in 2016 to facilitate the dissemination of policy and re太阳城娱乐城 expertise of the 17 北卡罗来纳大学系统 institutions to solve some of the state’s most pressing challenges through collaboration. The Collaboratory’s funding has grown to nearly $150 million and includes re太阳城娱乐城 partnerships with experts from across the state.

今年夏天, Houck joined the team working to improve the water quality at Falls Lake in Durham and Wake counties so more 北卡罗莱纳 residents can safely utilize the reservoir. Houck is looking at scientific re太阳城娱乐城 from local communities in 北卡罗莱纳 related to nutrient levels and ecosystem health to offer recommendations to improve water quality.

For the flood resiliency project, Houck is supporting re太阳城娱乐城 related to mitigating storm events. The goal is to help the state reduce flooding and damage from flooding.

“这些都是长期存在的问题. Understanding how to mitigate them and funding initiatives that will mitigate them is extremely important to the health and safety of all our community members here in the state,霍克说。.

Houck previously volunteered in two labs at Carolina in the biology department. Now she is enjoying digging into policy work that has a tangible impact on 北卡罗莱纳 communities.

“I think that because I have had experience through my coursework at Carolina and through my experience in labs at Carolina, I am able to read and understand and analyze this re太阳城娱乐城 a lot better and so it’s been great to actually put it into application through state policy work,霍克说。.

Houck, 谁来自麦克里斯维尔, 北卡罗莱纳, says she feels very excited to be doing this work because she was born and raised in our state.

“It’s been really great doing the re太阳城娱乐城 because the 北卡罗莱纳 Collaboratory works specifically on 北卡罗莱纳 state issues,霍克说。. “To get to work firsthand on issues that are affecting our state has been really fulfilling.”