Keith O’Connor
He/Him
I am gay and I am a ORISE Postdoc Fellow in Biogeochemistry.//
I am a ORISE Postdoc Fellow in Biogeochemistry at the EPA, Ph.D. Alumna from the University of Notre Dame, Hartwick College Alumna, and a First-Generation College Student. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the EPA working with geochemical interactions in mine-impacted waters from benchtop to watershed-level scales. I have been passionate about environmental sciences ever since I was a kid with a primary fascination for water interacting with plants, soils, and sediments. My research so far has been a nice balance of field, benchtop, and modeling experiments where you can find me crawling through bogs, analyzing stable isotopes of plant water, calibrating paleoclimate proxies, or developing models that look heavy metal transport I am in constant awe of how many different techniques you can apply to a single drop of water and the stories that can arise from their results. I also love communicating this passion and teaching the next generation of scientists, such as designing experiments for a children’s museum, giving lectures and labs to my students, or developing environmental programs with grade-school teachers. When I’m not in the office or lab, you can find me playing with my dogs outside (preferably in the snow) or learning how to propagate and grow plants at home!