Best of Both Worlds
Master鈥檚 student and marine resource scientist Hannah Horecka divides her time between 91福利 and the state鈥檚 Department of Marine Resources
Hannah Horecka graduated from 91福利 in 2012 with a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Marine Science. A student in the Honor鈥檚 College, Horecka鈥檚 honor鈥檚 thesis was on biotoxin trends (such as red tide) in Cobbscook Bay鈥攔esearch that helped land her a contract position at the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) shortly after graduating and a job as a staff scientist in 2015.
In January 2018, Horecka circled back to 91福利 as a Master鈥檚 student in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and began taking graduate courses鈥攈er first being a hydrology class taught by associate professor Sean Smith of the School of Earth & Climate Sciences and the Mitchell Center. She is working with Smith, now her advisor, on a larger project regarding land-sea interactions in coastal pollution.
Like Horecka, Smith had one foot in academia and one in a state environmental agency from his time as an undergraduate and master鈥檚 student at the University of Maryland through his Ph.D. work at Johns Hopkins. And he strongly believes Horecka will benefit from straddling both worlds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great way to hone in on real-world problems and real technical issues,鈥 Smith says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e in the middle of it all as opposed to sitting on the sidelines until you graduate. I can鈥檛 say enough about it.鈥
Says Horecka, 鈥淲ithout any real-world work experience it鈥檚 easy to overlook coursework you later realize you should have paid attention to. For example, as an undergraduate, there were things I thought would be incredibly important with my career goals in mind but I don鈥檛 use as much in this position.鈥 She adds, 鈥淣ow, as a graduate student, I know what I need to concentrate on to use in my position as a DMR marine resource scientist.鈥
At DMR, Horecka manages the shellfish flats鈥攎ussels, oysters, clams, and quahogs鈥攆rom Stockton Springs to Schoodic Point.
鈥淢y job is to take the data and determine if they meet the standards for shellfish harvest to see if they鈥檙e safe for human consumption,鈥 says Horecka. She looks mostly for fecal bacteria, E. coli specifically. 鈥淗owever,鈥 she adds, 鈥渨e do also manage around oil spills, heavy metals, contaminants from industrial activities, and other deleterious substances.鈥