David said, “Robert seems to know just about everybody in the Valley and that turned out to be good for me!”.

Being an avid lover of the outdoors and wildlife, yet not sure which career path to follow, he attended King’s College hoping to sort out his ambitions. There, he rediscovered his great love of the outdoors, and recognized that there was a need to preserve the beauty and transform our local landscapes back home, tarnished by the Anthracite Coal industry of years past. He decided then to attend Penn State University and seek a degree in Environmental Engineering and put his passions to work in order to preserve our natural environment, that can benefit all, while sustaining it for generations to come. Realizing the errors of the past, he was inspired to become an environmental engineer in order to contribute to the community he calls home, right back here in the Wyoming Valley, where EPCAMR has its home base, in the heart of the Anthracite Coal Region.

He graduated from Pennsylvania State University in May 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering. While at Penn State, he gained an understanding of the influence of industrial actions on the environment and the choice of cost effective remediation strategies. He also took classes focusing on water and waste water treatment and sampling and monitoring of the geo-environment. Through his educational experiences in the class, the lab, or field work, he has established the necessary foundation to build a career in the environmental engineering field. David is still in the process of taking tests to obtain his Engineering in Training License, before he can go on to become a Professional Engineer and take his Professional Engineering Exam.

At this time David is putting these skills to use what was for the most part, an unpaid Watershed Outreach Intern working part-time, for EPCAMR, under the direct supervision of the Executive Director, Robert E. Hughes.  He is a team spirited individual with a strong determination to solve problems in a cost efficient and effective manner. EPCAMR was able to secure some small stipends throughout his time with us on several projects including the monitoring of the Groasis Waterboxxes and Stream Restoration Projects, Illegal Dump Site Cleanups, Woody Debris removal projects, and riparian Stream-side plantings, in the Solomon Creek watershed.

“I knew that the EPCAMR internship would give me the experience needed to obtain a job in my field. Robert has already provided me with many networks, connections to other environmental professionals, and interactions with a multitude of organizations, industries, non-profits, State and Federal employees, and other reclamation-related partners that allowed me an opportunity to tell them who I am, what my interests are, and to have the ability to establish a professional rapport with people in my field of interest, to refine my technical skills with hands-on learning, outdoor field training. I’ve learned so much about abandoned mine drainage (AMD) remediation and abandoned mine reclamation in a relatively short period of time from many different aspects from Robert and his Staff, who are one of the most respected regional expert organizations on watershed restoration efforts in the Coal Region,” stated David enthusiastically.

David also had the opportunity as a Watershed Outreach Intern to learn how to read mine maps, shadow other Staff working on mine map scanning,  geo-referencing, and cataloging the data that EPCAMR is collecting for the Mine Subsidence Insurance Program into the PA Historic Underground Mine Mapping Inventory System (PHUMMIS) database. This previous familiarity and training from the EPCAMR Staff has allowed him to be given the chance to move from the Internship into a Part-Time GIS Technician position with EPCAMR starting on March 3, 2014 of this week. He’s in an introductory probationary period now for the next 90 days, but will have the opportunity to stick around with us for the next 2.5 years to complete our scope of work under the MSI Mine Map Grant. “Out of the Internship, and into the Fire!”, joked Robert. “He’ll be scanning, cropping, editing, and cataloging, several thousand mine maps for the majority of the time of his job. He’s fitting in just fine. Just goes to show you the VALUE of an unpaid internship early in his career. Others college students and recent graduates that have little experience, should follow in his footsteps.” suggested Robert.

The post EPCAMR Promotes David Svab, from Watershed Outreach Intern to Part-Time GIS Technician to work on Mine Subsidence Insurance Underground Anthracite Mine Mapping Project appeared first on epcamr.org.

Being an avid lover of the outdoors and animals, yet not sure which career path to follow, he attended Kings College hoping to sort out his ambitions. There, he rediscovered his great love of the outdoors, and recognized that there was a need to preserve the beauty and transform our local landscapes back home, tarnished by the Anthracite Coal industry of years past. He decided to attend Penn State University and seek a degree in Environmental Engineering and put his passions to work in order to preserve our natural environment, that can benefit all, while sustaining it for generations to come. Realizing the errors of the past, he was inspired to become an environmental engineer in order to contribute to the community he calls home, right back here in the Wyoming Valley, where EPCAMR has its home base, in the heart of the Anthracite Coal Region.

He graduated from Pennsylvania State University in May 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering. While at Penn State, he gained an understanding of the influence of industrial actions on the environment and the choice of cost effective remediation strategies. He also took classes focusing on water and wastewater treatment and sampling and monitoring of the geo-environment. Through his educational experiences in the class, the lab, or field work, he has established the necessary foundation to build a career in the environmental engineering field.

At this time David is putting these skills to use as an unpaid Watershed Outreach Intern working part-time, for EPCAMR, under the direct supervision of the Executive Director, Robert E. Hughes.  He is a team spirited individual with a strong determination to solve problems in a cost efficient and effective manner. He is defined as a student for life; determine to succeed both personally and professionally.

“I anticipate that this internship will give me the experience needed to obtain a full-time job. Robert has already during my initial interview process informed me that within just a few short months time, I will have networked with over 50-100 organizations, industries, non-profits, State and Federal employees, and other reclamation-related partners that will ensure me at least an opportunity to tell them who I am, what my interests are, have the ability to establish a professional rapport with people in my field of interest, and refine my technical skills with hands-on learning, outdoor field training, and will learn all about mine drainage remediation and abandoned mine reclamation from many different aspects from my Supervisor, who is one of the most respected regional experts on watershed restoration efforts in the Coal Region. stated David enthusiastically.

David Svab, EPCAMR Watershed Outreach Intern sampling AMD at the Guten Mine Tunnel Drift discharge in Sullivan County, PA on his first day on the job

David has previously assisted with an EPCAMR Streamside Cleanup on Nockley’s Tributary, in the Solomon Creek watershed with his Father, Bernie Svab, on July 15th, 2013. His first day on his internship, he was able to travel up to Sullivan County with the EPCAMR Staff to conduct water sampling, flow monitoring, and a field investigation of the Lewis property Guten Mine Tunnel Drift discharge, in Cherry Township, Sullivan County, outside of Bernice, PA.  EPCAMR is working with the Moshannon District Mining Office of the PA Department of Environmental Protection, the landowner, Mr. Marc Lewis, and Hedin Environmental, Inc., our contractor to rehabilitate an Anoxic Limestone Drain (ALD) Treatment System that has been having some plugging issues and a reduced treatment system efficiency due to the plugging of the system with iron, aluminum, organic plant material roots from sedges that have taking over the pond, and possible mixing of a compost layer. “He was put to task right away with learning how to monitor AMD discharges in the field by utilizing our AMD HACH Testing Kits, sampling iron levels, acidity, alkalinity, pH, and Temperature. We’ve got lots of small projects for him to undertake that will allow him to get his hands dirty, so to speak, because with EPCAMR, if you don’t come back to the office with some amount of orange-colored iron oxide on you, you probably didn’t work hard enough that day,” joked Robert.

The post David Svab, Recent Graduate from Penn-State’s Environmental Engineering Program from Laflin, PA Joins EPCAMR as a late Summer/Fall Watershed Outreach Intern appeared first on epcamr.org.