Department of Civil Service

Description:

The Analytical Service Unit under the Bureau of Ecosystem Health, Division of Fish and Wildlife, has supported New York State's environmental monitoring program and the ecotoxicology studies on environmental contaminants and pesticides for decades. It is mainly responsible for quantitative analysis of legacy contaminants (e.g., mercury, PCBs, organochlorine pesticides) in fish and wildlife tissue samples collected from across New York. The results provide scientific basis for DEC and other state regulatory agencies such the Dept. of Health in developing water quality standards, ecotoxicology risk assessment and fish consumption advisories. The unit include both senior level scientists and entry-level technical staff occupying a recently upgraded analytical chemistry lab at the Hale Creek Field Station in Gloversville, NY. The current focus of the unit is developing analytical capacity for contaminants of emerging concern (e.g., PFAS) in biota and environmental samples.
The interns will learn to prepare fish and other wildlife samples for chemical analysis, assist chemists in sample extraction, cleanup, and analysis for environmental contaminants, and participate in report preparation. When needed, the interns will also participate field collection of fish and wildlife samples for chemical analysis.

Skills:

Organic chemistry

analytic, chemistry, chemical extraction

anaimal anatomy and dissection

environmental samples

Internship Areas: Environmental Conservation, Scientific Research