Employee Spotlight: Hannah Slep

Meet ORAU employee Hannah Slep. Hannah is an ORAU contractor working under the National Student Services Contract (NSSC) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a Geospatial Analyst, Hannah supports the Office of Research and Development Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment team. She also supports the Public Health and Environmental Systems Division, and the Environmental Pathways Modeling Branch located in Research Triangle Park, NC.

Hannah is currently assisting ORD’s GeoPFAS and AFOmap teams with two projects. “The AFOmap team is significant because we analyze particular farms across the United States and how they impact the surrounding environment,” Hannah said. She uses ESRI products and the R programming language to analyze with the team. The GeoPFAS team focuses on where PFAS sources and occurrences potentially exist to aid in more efficient resource management in research and mitigation efforts. Hannah uses data acquisition and management and several ArcGIS web applications to create effective and interactive presentations to demonstrate the GeoPFAS team's resources.

Accomplishments

Two notable professional accomplishments occurred within the GeoPFAS team for Hannah. As a result of her and her co-workers' efforts in developing a detailed StoryMap and presenting it at a conference, they received a Shooting Star. This recognizes those who excelled above and beyond a specified task. Second, Hannah and her co-workers created a static map showcasing their PFAS data overlapping environmental justice data and submitted that to the first EPA Static Map Competition. The map they created won one of the 5 positions used on the EPA Geospatial webpage and promotional materials.

Background

Hannah is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. She continued her education and obtained a master’s degree in Geographic Information Science and Technology from the School of City and Regional Planning at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Her goal is to continue her education and obtain a Ph.D. in Animal Behavior/Zoology to work with animals in the field. She will use her GIS and ecological skills.

Fun Fact: Hannah has practiced yoga for 13+ years and is a certified yoga instructor.