Employee Spotlight: Brianna Dirks

Meet ORAU employee Brianna Dirks! Brianna is an ORAU contractor working under the National Student Services Contract (NSSC) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a Computational Toxicology QA and Data Specialist in Research Triangle Park, Brianna supports EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), the Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE), and the Scientific Computing & Data Curation Division (SCDCD). Brianna provides support for the Public API project's software development, data management, analysis, and QA support.

Within CCTE, the SCDCD develops the knowledge and information architecture necessary for integrating, transforming, and managing large scale data streams related to assessing the risk of chemicals. SCDCD creates and manages online tools and ensures they are compatible with existing chemistry, toxicology, and other experimental data sources.

Brianna is currently maintaining the Testing Suites that she created for the EPA’s CTX APIs using JMeter and Karate Labs. These tests are run regularly for both performance and diagnostic purposes.

When asked what her favorite part of working at EPA has been so far, Brianna said, “My favorite part of joining this team must be the research portion of my job. I am constantly learning and encouraged to understand the different aspects of what goes into our projects. Everyone has been so helpful in explaining their roles and how they tie into what our branch is working towards.”

Background

Brianna earned an Associate of Science in Chemistry at Coastal Carolina Community College in May of 2019. She then transferred to East Carolina University where she graduated in May of 2023 with a Bachelor of Computer Science minoring in Business Administration. She also earned an undergraduate certificate in Applied Data Analytics. Brianna said, “It was exciting to find a position that would use a little of everything I had learned up until that point, which led me to the EPA.”

Outside of work, Brianna enjoys reading horror and mystery novels. She also enjoys taking her dog on hikes at state parks.

Fun Facts:  Brianna learned to swim before she learned to walk!