Apply to be a Dana Research Fellow on Reducing Lead Exposure in Carlisle (Spring, ’24)
Applications are invited from Dickinson students for one Dana Research Fellow position to prepare a spatial database of known lead service lines in Carlisle from existing records and also identify areas of unknown service line material for every property, using GIS. The Dana Research Fellow would work for 3-4 hours per week for 13 weeks (40 hours total) during the semester and will be paid $10 per hour. The Fellow will be supervised by Dr. Deb Sinha, Visiting Assistant Professor at Dickinson College’s Environmental Studies department, and Mr. Jared Woolston, Director of Sustainable Community and Economic Planning at the Borough of Carlisle.In 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released revised requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule to better protect our communities, particularly children, from the risks of lead exposure and removing lead from our drinking water systems. To meet these requirements and safeguard the health of residents, the Borough of Carlisle water utility must prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October, 2024. The research fellow would migrate the borough’s paper records of water service line materials that have been collected over many years to an Esri Lead Service Line Solution application, and complete the database of any unknown service line materials is the first phase of the project. The second phase of the project (to be completed in Summer, ’24) would require additional field work to collect missing information about service line materials, sharing the data with the wider community, state authorities and the EPA, and guide the future work of replacement of the lead service lines with copper lines.Dickinson sophomores, juniors, and seniors are eligible to apply. Students from all majors are encouraged to apply.Qualifications: Strongly motivated, dependable students who are highly organized, able to work independently, able to conduct research and synthesize information from a variety of sources, have strong writing and analytical skills, and are highly motivated to learn about GIS applications for environmental management. Experience using ArcGIS Pro software required. Prior familiarity with literature on environmental justice and relevant GIS applications from courses and other experiences are desired but not required.TO APPLY, PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM BY DECEMBER 8 BY 5 PM.