Rachel Bell ’18, a senior chemistry and psychology major, is spending her summer interning for Heritage Research Group. 

Some of Rachel’s responsibilities include: preparing all samples and the samplers themselves, and then traveling to different asphalt plants and paving sites to sample the air that the workers are breathing. After that, she runs a few different tests on the samples to make sure that the workers are not breathing in anything harmful.

“My favorite part of the internship is traveling to the different sites and actually meeting the people that I am helping,” states Bell. “Sampling their breathing zones and seeing what needs to be changed/fixed helps improve their health tremendously. Asphalt is pretty dangerous to work with and I love the feeling that I am making their job just a little bit easier.”

Bell has gained both instrumental and lab safety knowledge through her internship. Heritage Research Group stresses the importance of doing a job both correctly and as safely as possible. 

“Having a background working with a research group will definitely help me stand above the crowd when applying to graduate schools,” says Bell. “I also feel a lot more confident in my lab skills, and I think that will show my future studies.”