Research Highlight

Summer Research is Ongoing

**Back row from left:** Kimberly Moore (USGS intern), Bridger Ruyle (Harvard University doctoral student and STEEP Trainee), Riley Blais (USGS/NAGT), John Lane (USGS Chief Hydrogeo Physics Branch), Marty Briggs (USGS Hydrogeo Physics Branch), Gordon McQuaid (USGS, Hydrologic Tech). **Front row from left:** Heidi Pickard (Harvard University Research Fellow), Denis LeBlanc (USGS Hydrologist), Courtney Scruggs (USGS Physical Scientist), Cara O’Donnell (Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Water Resource Specialist), Jenna Matthews (Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Water Resources Tech.) July 12, 2018 (Photo: Michael Salerno).

Harvard University STEEP trainee Bridger Ruyle is in the field with United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. They are sampling the Santuit River, also known as the Cotuit River, a 2.3-mile-long river on the border between Mashpee and Cotuit, MA. The river has a sandy/ muddy bottom ranging from a few inches to waist deep. The team measured river width and depth, water temperature and velocity, and collected river water samples for laboratory analysis.

URI Chemical Engineering STEEP Trainees are investigating the unique protein binding properties of PFAS using fluorescence spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance.

STEEP Trainees Jessica Orr, Michael Federeko, and Timo Kuester

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