BS Environmental Health senior student, Elijah Wood, did his 10-week summer internship at St. Mary’s County Health Department in Leonardtown, Maryland.  Elijah worked primarily with the Septic and Well team, and they performed site evaluations regarding proposed changes to a home (e.g., addition, deck building, shed building) and perchloroethylene (PERC) tests for new construction homes or homes whose current septic system was in failure and needed a replacement.

Another program that Elijah shadowed was the county rabies program, wherein they collected specimens and prepared them to be sent to the state rabies lab for testing.  A program area which he did some work in was the mosquito vector reduction program, wherein involved Zika virus education outreach and mosquito spawning source reduction.  Elijah assisted in preparing and creating educational handout materials for the public, which covered mosquito source reduction, preventing mosquito bites, and information on the current state of the Zika Virus.

Other activities that he was involved in were assisting with county wide pool inspections, sampling for Legionella at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home, beach sampling for tidal waters associated with Chesapeake Bay for subsequent testing for enterococci, inspection of food service facilities, the annual radiological training (a.k.a. the Calvex drill) with the county emergency department, local hospitals and the health department, and working on a project on the Best Available Technology (BAT) for nitrogen-reducing septic tanks.

“I want to thank the National Environmental Health Association for this opportunity,” Elijah said. “While in St. Mary’s County, I had a chance to experience what I have learned in school while in the field. It was overall such a positive experience, between the health department’s willingness to take the time and work with me and for me to learn even more while working on the job. The staff in St. Mary’s County Health Department was so incredibly nice and made sure I was able to make the most of my time and learn all I could. This summer has been the internship I have been looking for. After my time in St. Mary’s County, the health department has asked if I would consider returning to a full time position after I graduate.”

Photos courtesy of Elijah Wood