Fate puts Rachael to work on the environment

Rachael Elizabeth Williams received a PhD in Environmental Engineering and Science at the recent graduation exercises of Clemson University in South Carolina. The only daughter of Jean and the late Carl Williams of Arima, she is currently employed as the health research scientist at the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC) in St Augustine. Rachael graduated from Bishop Anstey High School with both O’ and A’ levels, and from the University of the West Indies in St Augustine with a Bsc in Natural Sciences. A British Commonwealth scholarship to the University of Reading, England, brought a Masters of Science degree in biometrics which, with the term biometry, has been used since the early 20th century to refer to the field of development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis problems in the biological sciences, eg medicine and agriculture. Returning to Trinidad, she was the first biometrician employed at the Ministry of Agriculture.

At the end of four years, an OAS scholarship took Rachael to the Pennsylvania State University with plans to pursue a doctorate in biometrical statistics. With a chuckle she explains: “I had a change of heart and ended with another Masters, this time a Master of Arts in statistics.” And for those of us who are not sure of the difference in the MA and MSc, for the  arts degree you complete a paper, for the science, a thesis. Determined to pursue doctoral studies, Rachael moved to South Carolina and started a programme in environmental toxicology at Clemson University. After a year, the department collapsed: “Seven out of eight faculty left so the programme ended temporarily.

I started looking around and ended up in Environmental Engineering and Science and did the PhD in this.” After chatting with  Rachael, one realises that matters which relate to the environment are simply not those related to noise pollution, erecting unapproved buildings or wanton clearing of our forest reserves. For example, she explained: “We have the oil and methanol industries, and the agricultural area, and that’s where you get your main environmental problems through excessive use of pesticides with the agriculture. Also, once you complete all the processes that go on in the oil industry, what happens with the waste, even in the running of the plants, some of those chemicals they are dealing with they have to be very careful with them and that is where environmental science comes in.”

Environmental Engineering and Science includes the studies of fate and transport, environmental chemistry, process engineering, environmental waste management and the nuclear environmental focus area. Rachael’s specialties are fate and transport where one looks at transport and fate processes of contaminants in engineered (man-made) and natural systems, which will include the atmosphere, surface waters and subsurface waters; and the risk assessment area of the Nuclear Environmental Focus curriculum.

Risk assessment has mainly four steps:
(a) Hazard identification looks at identifying a potential contaminant, for example, if one is considering building a chemical industrial plant near to a community, one needs to assess potential sources of problems or if there has been a release of a contaminant in the soil, water or air, one needs to be able to identify the contaminant and the amount of release.
(b) Contaminant transport — one needs to be able to follow the movement of the contaminant in air, water or soil (which is Rachael’s specialty) and in most cases trace the movement using mathematical models.
(c) Exposure assessment — one needs to assess the risk of the exposure from the contaminant to humans or the eco-system, and
(d) Risk characterisation — one needs to physically quantify the risk to humans and the ecosystem, for example to humans, if one is exposed to radiation, the amount and type of radiation to which one has been exposed, has to be quantified.

Rachael chose not to pursue a doctorate in statistics as “it was too abstract,” but specifically wished to study something which could be used in the Caribbean. In her new job, she is involved in the area of essential national health research for the 18-member countries of CHRC. “The council needs to be able to get people working in the countries to recognise the health issues that need to be addressed. The results of the  research need to be used and acted upon to make an improvement in the health conditions for the people in their countries,” says Rachael. She did not know that Environmental Engineering and Science was the path that she would follow: “I wanted to do something in math, but not teach because there is more to math than just teaching, although I did teach for a term at St Augustine Senior Comprehensive after coming back from England. However, working in the Ministry of Agriculture was where I started taking an interest in environmental issues, and that’s really how it all started.

“It is still too soon for me to see where I can best fit in, but I want to be of some benefit not only to Trinidad and Tobago but to the wider Caribbean, in general, in education and research in environmental areas. I want to work eventually in the environmental area whether it be environmental engineering, science or health, and am basically looking at the whole picture right now,” says Rachael, who never forgets to remind you that her name is spelt with an “a” after the “h.”