Exploring Battelle Laboratories

Robotics, materials sciences, fisheries biology and more are what was seen in a walk-through tour of the Battelle labs in Richland experienced by two DO-IT Scholars.

Now, another tour is being set-up for the remaining DO-IT Scholars during the month of April. Katie, a fellow DO-IT Scholar, and I are the hosts of the tour. We saw a lot about the Hanford cleanup and all the things that are still being worked on today at Hanford.

Did you know that materials sciences helped a lot during Desert Storm? Materials Sciences is not only very useful, but it is lots of fun and quite interesting, too. Katie and I saw and felt some of the many different parts of an astronauts gear that are developed by materials scientists.

What about water cleanup technology? Everyone knows that clean water is a necessity of everyday life. Have you ever thought about the different cycles the water needs to go through to be considered drinkable?

How about all the salmon in the Columbia River? Did you realize that the Columbia River's fish need to be checked due to the cleanup? Hanford has a large variety of fish that are being tested daily.

All of the labs were very interesting and could certainly be learned from. The fisheries biology lab was lots of fun, and I think all of the DO-IT Scholars will enjoy it and every lab that Katie and I chose to have the Scholars tour. All the labs were fun!