Sunday, June 19, 2022
By:
For the past few weeks, I have been telling all my coworkers how cold I get in the ACP building. This week, I realized it may be a blessing in disguise. I spent all of Thursday working on the third floor balcony, and I love it! It has a great chair and is warm without being under the sun. I get to listen to the bird (and the occasional plane) and see the wind ripple through the trees. I can even sit there when it is raining! It has become a great working environment for me, and I’ll have to thank Brad for showing it to me on the first day. I’m still going to start bringing a blanket to work though (just in case!)
My current project at work is focused on low doses of radiation. Because this was not something I was familiar with before, I’ll explain it a little here. Lose-dose radiation is being researched to see if there are significant health risks, especially in comparison of high doses of radiation. I have been not only exploring the science policy side of it, which concerns how the research is done by the government, what regulations are set, etc., but also the socio-political side of it. A few weeks ago, a report was released on the Department of Energy’s research of low-dose radiation. On Thursday, I attended a briefing, where the public could submit their comments for review by Congress.
Listening to these commenters advocate for the National Institute of Health to take over research or for there to be international research as well was deeply moving. Something that I had barely known anything about a few weeks ago great affected the life of these public commenters, and their perspectives changed my perspective on this topic just a little bit. I really appreciated hearing them speak.
This week, I attended an informative talk on Juneteenth with my roommate, and had a wonderful time at the orchestra. Happy Juneteenth, and Happy Fathers’ Day to all who celebrate!
Matangi Melpakkam