For the September edition of our department’s graduate student spotlight. We are highlighting Adrianna Gorsky, a Freshwater and Marine Sciences PhD student. She is a part of the Dugan and Stanley lab. She provides insight on her work and life as a graduate student here.
1. Explain your research so that your grandparent or a 5-year old would understand it?
My research focuses on urban water quality from individual ponds to the global scale. As limnologists or freshwater scientists, we still do not have a unifying definition of an urban lake, even though these waterbodies have unique challenges and management needs. I am specifically interested in expanding our knowledge of winter and long-term dynamics in urban ponds and lakes.
2. What inspired you to pursue that research?
Freshwater is a finite resource, yet essential for all lifeforms. Urban expansion and climate change, impact the morphology, hydrology, and environmental quality of freshwater resources. Everyone deserves access to clean water. I was fortunate to take a limnology course in my undergraduate, which first exposed me to the field. After graduating, I worked as a lab technician for 3 years at the environmental lab at William and Mary. I saw first hand some of the water quality issues facing my own community through our quarterly sampling program and research into greenhouse gas emissions from urban ponds.
3. What are your hobbies or interests outside of school?
As someone who grew up in Virginia, I learned to embrace winter by picking up cross-country skiing and ice skating. During the summer, I like to travel, hike, and explore U-Pick farms. My indoor hobbies include sewing, cross stitching, and cooking. This past year, I joined a volleyball team with fellow iBio students, which has been a lot of fun.
4. What are your favorite places/things to do in Madison?
I like exploring the many parks around Madison, especially those that border the lakes 🙂 like Devil’s Lake State Park. There are so many coffeeshops, bakeries, and bars to sample. My favorite area in Wisconsin and close to Madison is the Driftless area, where I love to camp, hike, and trout fish (a hobby I picked up during the pandemic).
5. What are some pleasant surprises you’ve encountered while being a graduate student here?
University of Wisconsin-Madison is such a large school that there are so many cool opportunities for students. I’ve always wanted to study Portuguese to connect more with my family in Brazil. During the summer of 2020, I received a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship to study Brazilian Portuguese at the Summer Intensive Portuguese Institute hosted by UW-Madison.
6. What is your dream job?
I am interested in a career in environmental research that shapes management applications in the realm of water quality. After receiving my master’s from UW-Madison in 2021, I decided to continue on to a PhD to further prepare me for a career as a research scientist.