Education

I am majoring in Biological Engineering which is the study of how biological processes can be manipulated to preform a desired task. Often confused with Biomedical Engineering, I like to differentiate the two majors by saying Biomedical Engineering focuses on human biological processes, while Biological Engineering at Ohio State University is an open-ended, create-your-own adventure geared towards any biological process you choose. This major was a perfect fit for me because I was able to choose so many of my classes while other engineering tracks had a set, required schedule through senior year. I was able to pick courses that fit my unique goals as I like to think of myself as a Biological Engineer with interests in environmental and ecological related processes, shown in the classes I’ve taken including Soil Science, Wetland Ecology and Restoration, Environmental Microbiology, Phytoremediation, Biomass Conversion to Bioenergy, Ecological Engineering, and more. I have also learned a lot about standard engineering principles in Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer, System Dynamics and Electricity, Thermodynamics, Mechanical Engineering – Statics, AutoCAD, and Matlab Computer Programming. These courses have helped me gain knowledge in in all of the areas I hoped for and more.

I feel like I have learned so much about so many topics and feel confident about being versatile in my future career. My career goals include finding a job with a company that does environmental (bio or phyto) remediation using engineering technologies. I hope to help develop these technologies or techniques with a design/research team. I like the idea of researching how to use the functions of microorganisms to our advantage, especially involving remediation sites to use as little chemical products as possible on an ecosystem (for example, I read once how plants and a specific type of microbe can work together to sequester heavy metals from soil). I also have strong interests in sustainability and green energy and could also see myself in a job developing technologies with bioenergy and biofuels. Nonetheless, all of these different interests and aspirations have been supported by my academics and I feel I could be a knowledgeable member of any engineering team. I’m excited to see what I become involved with in the future and where these interests lead me after graduation.

Experience

Undergraduate Research Assistant with Dr. Larry Brown (May 2018 – Present)

I am doing research with a professor at The Ohio State University through the Great Lakes Clean Water Initiative to remove nutrients from agricultural runoff in Putnam County, located in Northwest Ohio. We designed a two-stage structure including a bioreactor that terminates into a phosphate filter to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff water. We are currently collecting data to better understand its effectiveness at removing phosphorus and nitrogen. I’m very passionate about clean water and working to keep nutrients in the soil where plants need them and to reduce the use of fertilizer. This research could help reduce the numbers and/or extent of algae blooms in Lake Erie.

Green Engineering Scholars (August 2016 – April 2018)

Over the course of two school years enrolled in the Green Engineering Scholars program, I was able to contribute over 90 hours of community service to the surrounding Columbus community. I volunteered with programs that involved cleaning up garbage at Tuttle Park around the Olentangy River, making blankets for children in the OSU Wexner Medical Center, and socializing abused rabbits the Ohio House Rabbit Rescue.

Buck-I-SERV Volunteer (December 2018)

I spent a week of my Winter Break 2018 in St. Petersburg, Florida volunteering with the leader of WunderFarms. I helped to plant, maintain, and and harvest crops from three community gardens and learned how to recycle any food waste in compost piles. We also assisted with the upkeep of a local natural preservation by removing harmful invasive species. Over the course of the week we were able to donate 200 pounds of harvested food to local homeless shelters. This beneficial experience brought me to my appreciation of biological systems and the environment. I had the opportunity to learn from a variety of extraordinary, passionate people about their studies and I learned more that week than any other experience I have had outside the classroom. I hope to complete another service trip with the university before I graduate.

Member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) (January 2018-Present)

In my free time I attend SWE meetings and events. I feel very strongly about reaching out to girls and encouraging their interests in science and math because I did not encourage my love for math and science until well into high school. I learned that my differences made me unique, giving a different perspective to those around me. I hope to show other girls that were in my situation that they are powerful and can achieve anything they put their minds to. My favorite event was organizing a station for the Girl Scout Day, where the girls learned about different types of engineering. My station had the girls build DNA using toothpicks, licorice, and mini-marshmallows while I explained it’s role in Biological Engineering. I’m also a big advocate for women’s education globally and hope to become more involved with outreach in the future!

Artifacts

This project completed in my Green Engineering Scholars Seminar class researches the possibility and future of recyclable surgical gloves. My group decided upon this topic due to our interests in the biomedical field and interests in the sustainability of the planet. Millions of tons in medical waste are thrown into landfills, with the United States being one of the biggest contributors. Three out of the four products used to make medical gloves also never decompose in landfills. We found that programs exist where the gloves can be recycled, but the gloves cannot have any kind of hazardous human waste on the gloves, which still allows many of these gloves to be sent into landfills. There are also programs that exist that recycle surgical gloves and medical waste, but it has yet to become a nation-wide practice.

Link to project: gesfinal-pptx

About Me

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I’m Teressa Pell and I’m from Mentor, Ohio near the Cleveland area. I enjoy reading, writing, and any activity I can do outside. I’m currently ending my third year in Biological Engineering pursuing a minor in Environmental Science. After going on my Buck-I-SERV service learning trip sophomore year, I pinpointed my passions for the environment and site remediation. On my trip I was involved with a local nature preserve in St. Petersburg, Florida removing invasive species, taking care of and learning about the community gardens and compost piles, and harvesting food that would later be donated to shelters in the area. Not knowing what I wanted to specifically pursue in my career, I picked this trip based on my enjoyment of being outdoors, but I could have never imaged the impact of my group members. My group had many discussions throughout the week advocating for the environment and our current global situation. Between my hands on experiences and listening to the members of my group, I learned so much and immediately started reworking my college experience geared towards these topics. More than a year later, I can confirm that I made the right choice and am loving the classes I’m in and the research I’m involved with. I hope to continue expanding my horizons on environmental topics and move into my career to help make an impact on the world around me.

Contact Information (email): pell.19@osu.edu