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Photo provided by EPA Region 4
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Environmental Studies program at Ohio University. On Sept. 27, the OHIO community was invited to attend an alumni panel to reconnect with fellow alumni and celebrate 50 years of environmental education, research and stewardship.
One of the panelists was Andreana Madera Martorell, who graduated from Ohio University with her M.S. in Environmental Studies , receiving a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Cartography certificate from the College of Arts and Sciences. Her time since graduation has been spent engaging in community education and ensuring drinking water safety.
Facing a new environment
Coming to Ohio University was Madera Martorell's first time moving away from home and her parents, and she found herself constantly having to adapt to new things, including the cold weather. However — despite facing an unfamiliar environment — she excelled in her work and developed an interest in geothermal energy after a conversation with professor Dr. Dina Lopez.
“[I] started a thesis about geothermal energy with no previous knowledge or courses in geothermal energy and groundwater modeling,” she said.
Her plan was to create a groundwater model and study the potential of an abandoned underground coal mine (AS-029) as a geothermal energy reservoir. However, she initially struggled to gain access to local wells.
“I lost all hope on my thesis very early on because I needed permission from landowners to access their wells,” Madera Martorell said. However, her persistence shines through in how she handled this challenge, “I sent letters, no response, I went house by house, no one granted me access, I even went on Facebook groups in The Plains and Athens.”
Finally, after two months, she received a response from a resident and gained access to their well.
“That's when I said ‘ah-ha!’ With patience good things come along, and my thesis is not dead,” she said. “I overcame these challenges by believing in and being proud of myself for taking the big step of moving out to a new place and learning new things.”
She presented her thesis at the annual Geological Society of America (GSA) in 2019, and a year later graduated with her master’s degree.
While pursuing her degree, Madera Martorell worked as a graduate assistant at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service . She developed lectures and experiments about renewable energy for high school students and created educational videos for summer camps and STEM online platforms.
Working for the community
After graduating from Ohio University, Madera Martorell moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where she worked in the private sector as an environmental compliance inspector and as a storm water estimator before taking a job at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2022.
Madera Martorell has worked at the EPA ever since, and is currently a drinking water technical officer for EPA Region 4 in Atlanta, GA. In her current position, she provides technical aid to states and reviews grant work plans to ensure that underserved and disadvantaged communities have access to safe drinking water.
Community and sisterhood
When discussing overcoming challenges, Madera Martorell highlighted the support of the community around her, especially her professors and colleagues at the Voinovich school.
“Dr. Lopez would sit with me via Zoom until 11 p.m. teaching me how to use MODFLOW and my colleagues would always help me with ArcGIS,” she said. “They helped me to feel more at home when home was far away, I couldn’t have done it without them.”
She also recognizes the influential woman who aided and inspired her during her time at OHIO. Among many, she noted the impact of professors Lopez, Natalie Kruse and Ana Meyers, and staff Nora Sullivan, Nicole Kirchner and Jen Bowman.
“All of these women inspired me, as strong scientists and hard-working mothers,” she said. “They all were involved in so many projects and did it so eloquently, that inspired me to do big things.”
While the staff provided needed academic and life advice, some of her favorite OHIO memories were the moments with her cohort.
“We were very united and friendly; it was such a healthy university environment with them. [I] miss them dearly,” she said.
In fact, she even spent her free time volunteering for her colleague's theses and would tag along on their field trips to diversify her studies and skills. She points to this openness to learning new skills for her current success.
“My main advice to OU students is to be open to learn and take classes in other departments,” she said. “It is likely you will have different tasks in a job, it won’t necessarily be what your degree was in.”