{"id":7123,"date":"2013-04-29T09:33:34","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T14:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=7123"},"modified":"2015-11-12T08:01:42","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T14:01:42","slug":"ciara-rahn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/","title":{"rendered":"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
Ciara Rahn<\/dt>\n
Degree:<\/strong> MS Freshwater Sciences, School of Freshwater Sciences<\/dd>\n
Hometown:<\/strong> Delafield, Wis.<\/dd>\n
It\u2019s a fact:<\/strong> She boasts a fine collection of rubber ducks!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.<\/p>\n

But at the end of her four years at UW-Madison, her bachelor\u2019s degree and a certificate in environmental science in hand, she took a little time off to explore which path to follow next.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I would need a master\u2019s degree, but I didn\u2019t want to continue in geology,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

To help, she \u201cbulked up\u201d on a few undergraduate non-geology science classes, first at UW-Waukesha and then at UWM. Both experiences pointed her in the same direction: At UW-Waukesha, biology lecturer and UWM alum Michael Pauers encouraged Rahn to look into the School of Freshwater Sciences. Sandra McLellan, a UWM professor of freshwater sciences, suggested the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a hands-on experience that would serve me well going forward into a science career, and the fact that I could finish this degree in two years was very appealing,\u201d says Rahn.<\/p>\n

She chose the option of earning a professional master\u2019s degree, one that does not require a thesis for graduation. The option is designed for those who are not planning to pursue a Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Choosing carefully has paid off. The City of Racine Health Department hired Rahn to monitor contaminants in its local waterways, a skill she learned while completing an internship there.<\/p>\n

Heading outside<\/strong><\/p>\n

At SFS, Rahn got the outdoor projects she craved, although she admits she initially had to get her \u201csea legs.\u201d She counts a day out on Lake Michigan aboard the research vessel Neeskay <\/em>as an academic highlight.<\/p>\n

Each member of the class was assigned sampling and collecting data on a different aspect of lake ecology. Rahn\u2019s task was retrieval of zebra and quagga mussels, an invasive species, from the lake bottom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish the waves had been a little calmer. But it was a lot of fun,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Sampling environmental health indicators, like the effects of invasives, would ultimately help Rahn land an important component of the master\u2019s program \u2013 an internship.<\/p>\n

Julie Kinzelman, a research scientist for the Racine health department and UWM alumna, hired Rahn for an internship opportunity that involved water sampling and data collection along the Pike River.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tested for levels of the bacteria E. coli<\/em> at 29 sites along the river,\u201d she says of the six-month experience. \u201cThe Pike is an impaired river with runoff pollution that is typical of urban rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work is essential because baseline data has never been collected before. The aim, for now, is to gather the information that will help biologists understand what is going on in the lake\u2019s ecosystem before they begin the process of remediation.<\/p>\n

The role of the public <\/strong><\/p>\n

Rahn discovered she enjoyed the part of the job that called for working with the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the aspect of interacting with the public, to work with individuals and groups to find out what\u2019s wrong with the waterways and then try to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, she remembers being pleasantly surprised at the level of citizen interest in clean rivers. \u201cSo many people would show up at the public meetings that they\u2019d have to bring out more chairs,\u201d she says. \u201cThey were just ordinary citizens and if they didn\u2019t understand something, they weren\u2019t afraid to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

Post graduation, Rahn\u2019s job entails gauging what\u2019s in the water at a different location \u2013 the Wind Point watershed that lies between South Milwaukee and Racine.<\/p>\n

Sounds perfect for the young woman who wanted to be outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe monitoring goes on in all kinds of weather,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of the collection points are off the beaten path. So it\u2019s kind of an adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":836,"featured_media":7289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-7123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-campus-community","section-students"],"yoast_head":"\nShe achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UWM REPORT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-29T14:33:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-12T14:01:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Otto\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UWMNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UWMNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Otto\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Otto\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f360a26f3df4ff8f31b58e43d772565\"},\"headline\":\"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-29T14:33:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-12T14:01:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/\"},\"wordCount\":673,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/\",\"name\":\"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-29T14:33:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-12T14:01:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":640},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"UWM REPORT\",\"description\":\"News from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"width\":225,\"height\":224,\"caption\":\"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/UWMNews\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f360a26f3df4ff8f31b58e43d772565\",\"name\":\"Laura Otto\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/author\/llhuntuwm-edu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019","description":"When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019","og_description":"When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/","og_site_name":"UWM REPORT","article_published_time":"2013-04-29T14:33:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-11-12T14:01:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Laura Otto","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UWMNews","twitter_site":"@UWMNews","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura Otto","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/"},"author":{"name":"Laura Otto","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f360a26f3df4ff8f31b58e43d772565"},"headline":"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019","datePublished":"2013-04-29T14:33:34+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-12T14:01:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/"},"wordCount":673,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/","name":"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg","datePublished":"2013-04-29T14:33:34+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-12T14:01:42+00:00","description":"When Ciara Rahn chose a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology, she did so because the physical science appealed to her \u2013 as did the fact that she would spend a lot of time outdoors.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/04\/grads-s13-Ciara-Rahn-xz4fw5.jpg","width":960,"height":640},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/ciara-rahn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"She achieved a master\u2019s \u2013 and the \u2018anti-desk job\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/","name":"UWM REPORT","description":"News from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","width":225,"height":224,"caption":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/UWMNews"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f360a26f3df4ff8f31b58e43d772565","name":"Laura Otto","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/author\/llhuntuwm-edu\/"}]}},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 21:03:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/836"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7123"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22258,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123\/revisions\/22258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"display_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_categories?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"related-coverage","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/related-coverage?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"uwmnews-feed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uwmnews-feed?post=7123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}