Employee Spotlight: Savannah Mays

Meet ORAU employee Savannah Mays. Savannah is an ORAU contractor working under the National Student Services Contract (NSSC) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a Materials Management Researcher in Cincinnati, OH, Savannah supports EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER) along with the Homeland Security and Materials Management Division (HSMMD). Savannah work assists both CESER and HSMMD with data collection/entry, laboratory analysis, and experimental upkeep.

CESER’s focus is to plan, coordinate, and conduct an applied, customer-driven, national research and development program to improve decision-making by EPA, federal, state, tribal, and local agencies when faced with challenging environmental problems in the built environment. Savannah’s work with the CESER team includes digitizing information and data from scanned documents into databases, recording laboratory data into appropriate EPA Laboratory Notebooks, following appropriate EPA quality assurance and quality control protocols, and much more. She is working towards publishing different types of waste databases. In addition, she is learning and testing tools used in landfills to measure gases to see if they may contribute to future research.

When asked what her favorite part of working at EPA has been so far, Savannah said, “I enjoy getting the opportunity to meet a group of amazing people with so many different skills coming together for a greener future. Plus, getting to help contribute to science in any way that I can allows me to fulfill my lifelong dream of being like MacGyver.”

Background

Savannah is a senior at Xavier University, where she will earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, Sustainability, and Society. She chose this field because she wanted to learn about the environment and sustainability in a way that could be understood across intersectional global concerns.

Fun Facts: Savannah’s favorite animal is sharks! She enjoys watching movies and playing cards with her friends, and she also enjoys baking and cooking.