Laboratory Codes and Standards Research Intern

Background on the Project:

Laboratories, in the words of Don Prowler, attract 'the greatest
intellectual and economic resources of our society.' Within the university
context, laboratories also represent the most energy and water consumptive
building typology. While a very wide range of resource intensive
technologies are installed in a wide variety of laboratories, the collective
impact of all campus laboratory fume hoods place them at the top of the list
for energy intensive technologies within campus laboratories. In essence,
the laboratory fume hood represents the most energy consumptive devise
operating within the most energy consumptive building typology within the
most energy intensive universities in the world.

The fume hood is designed to satisfy a convergence of human health,
environmental, research and financial needs. A cohesive set of fume hood and
associated laboratory ventilation standards, as well as a methodology for
ongoing performance testing is essential for the university sector to be
able to optimize the financial, environmental and human health performance
of laboratories. Yet presently, the codes and standards for laboratory
ventilation and fume hoods are contradictory and often not based on a
scientific understanding of operational safety. The overall goal of this
project is to bring together the best thinking (current research and best
practices) and the right people (academics, staff and industry
representatives) to begin to map out a path to more environmentally and
socially sustainable lab guidelines.

Duties:

• Bring together relevant academic research that may be useful to
  directing best practice and a future course of action which would influence,
  constructively, the revisions to and uniformity of laboratory design and
  operations to benefit safety, efficiency and environmental performance.
• Meet with a Steering Group of core representatives of faculty and
  staff from Harvard and other Universities to assess the below research.
  Intern will be reporting to the same group.
• Draw the active participation of the laboratory industry into a
  forum for the purpose of addressing this research. Such a forum should shape
  a center of collective intelligence for this research.
• Research goals:
  1. Compile and clarify the governing ventilation and fume hood
     standards and codes for a diverse range of laboratory facilities in
     universities. Outline in which cases these codes are based on operational
     safety and in which cases research needs to be done to understand the
     relationship between the codes or standards and operational safety.
  2. Identify the opinions and attitudes of laboratory professionals
     utilizing existing codes/standards, and their opinions and knowledge about
     the safety, financial and environmental implications of different codes and
     standards.
  3. Develop an assessment of actual ventilation and fume hood
     performance requirements leading to a new set of performance recommendations
     for the university sector.
  4. Identify a methodology for testing ventilation and fume hood
     performance over the life of the laboratory.
  5. Compile a variety of laboratory design best practices to inform
     future university lab design, renovation and maintenance.
• Deliverable:
  Report submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Harvard
  Green Campus Initiative and the intern's Steering Group. This report
  summarizes the interns work, the input of the steering committee, and
  recommends a course of action for research, policy and ongoing information
  sharing.

Required Education and Experience:

• Intern candidate must either be a current student or returning to a
  graduate program within nine months of the start of the internship.
• Intern candidate must be a citizen of the United States, its
  territories or possessions, or lawfully admitted to the United States for
  permanent residence. Having a student Visa does not meet this requirement.
  Also, the intern should:
• be taking courses toward a graduate degree in Environmental
  Sciences, Industrial Hygiene, Environmental or Occupational Health, Public
  Policy or related fields. Work experience in these fields is a plus.
• be able to travel at least once (likely to Washington to get input
  from EPA staff).
• have genuine interest in the environment.
• have proven organization skills, excellent communication, listening
  and interpersonal skills.
• be creative, hard working and entrepreneurial with high level of
  energy and enthusiasm.
• have a proven ability to work independently and deliver work on
  time.
• have the ability to work in a team with a variety of individuals,
  including senior administrators, faculty, staff and students.
• be proficient in MS word, Excel, Powerpoint.

Terms:

Full Time: Summer Intern (13 weeks at 40 hrs / wk) June 2nd - August
29th
Salary Grade: Master's level: $500 to $650 per week, or $700 if
outstanding; Ph.D. level: $700 per week cap

Application Instructions:

Please send cover letter and resume to:

Jessica Woolliams, Longwood Coordinator
Harvard Green Campus Initiative
Harvard University
Landmark Center, P.O. Box 15677
401 Park Drive, 4rth Floor WEST, Room C3
Boston, MA 02215, USA