Employee Spotlight: Alex Schweitzer

Meet ORAU employee Alex Schweitzer. Alex is an ORAU contractor working under the National Student Services Contract (NSSC) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a Research Assistant with Dr. Mallikarjuna Nadagouda in Cincinnati, Ohio, Alex supports EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), The Center for Environmental Solutions & Emergency Response (CESER) along with the Water Infrastructure Division (WID) and the Chemical Methods and Treatment Branch (CMTB). Alex’s work with EPA is critical to assisting the mission of the agency by supporting experimental research in a laboratory environment.

CESER plans, coordinates, and conducts 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. Within CESER, WID and CMTB conduct customer-driven research and support, providing scientific leadership on national-scale problems associated with water quality in the built infrastructure.

Alex’s work with the CESER team includes being a member of a multi-disciplinary research team and assisting with a bench-scale wet air oxidation system, conducting experimental runs, and analyzing water and soil samples. Alex is working in Dr. Nadagouda’s lab learning novel approaches to PFAS remediation and wastewater treatment processes. In addition, he is learning various equipment and procedures that make PFAS testing possible.

When asked what his favorite part of working at EPA has been so far, Alex said, “I think the best part so far has been the people I work with. Everyone is very open and willing to teach, and the other ORAU employees who share our office space are always a good group to be around! The work also feels meaningful, which makes coming to this place just that much more exciting!”

Background

Alex graduated from Boise State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology. He then enrolled at Miami University to study Geology and Geochemistry, where he graduated with a Master of Science degree. At Miami University, he worked on geochemical aspects and co-instructed geology field camps and Intro to Geochemistry and Structural Geology. In addition, he was nominated by his instructors for the NAGT (National Association of Geoscience Teachers) student teaching instructor award in 2023 for his efforts. When Alex was defending his master's thesis and instructing field camps out of Montana, he discovered this Research Assistant position on the ORAU outreach website.

Fun Facts:  Alex has been somewhere on Earth that only two other people have been to. Where is that you might ask? During the summer of 2018, Alex was selected with four other students from three universities (Boise State University, University of Idaho, and MIT – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) to participate in an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). This research experience objective was to assist and participate in examining a specific region of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (the vast mountain range that forms the plate boundaries between the North American and European/African tectonic plates). They participated in a 5-week research cruise where he conducted 18 submersible dives in the ALVIN submersible to collect and analyze over 400 samples of material from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. During that time, he went on a dive where they descended nearly 3500 meters (roughly 11,400 ft) to the bottom of the ocean. Why were they collecting samples from here? In the 1980s, a Soviet dredging operation turned up some peculiar lavas from this location that, upon arriving on the deck of the dredge ship, began to spontaneously “Pop!” thus earning the nickname “popping rocks.” This research cruise aimed to uncover the extent of these “popping rocks” and to determine potential origin causes for these rocks.

When not engaging in submersible dives or assisting Dr. Nadagouda with research, Alex enjoys spending time with his wife and completing improvements to their home. During the spring and summer, Alex and his wife are out in the garden preparing for the growing season. One of their favorite things to do is to take their 1-year-old Corgi named ‘Butter’ out to explore different places and sights. He also enjoys hiking, golfing, reading, and occasionally playing video and board games.