Students Selected for Internships at Disney’s Animal Kingdom®

LSU chemistry graduates Heidi Olivier and Cody Leegwater are spending their spring semester at the "Happiest Place on Earth" as interns at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The duo will be working under the direction of Kent Semmen in the Department of Water Science . Their training in instrumental analysis, a strength of LSU's undergraduate program in the Department of Chemistry, will serve them well as they collect samples from animal exhibits and then analyze and treat the water according to their findings. Olivier and Leegwater have a range of impressive experiences that set their internship applications apart from the rest.

Leegwater performed research in the laboratory of Professor Jayne Garno, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study proteins on surfaces. She spent the 2014-15 academic year at Philipps Marburg University, as a participant in a study abroad program.  She was an intern at the Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique aux Energies Alternative in Summer 2014 as part of an HHMI program and at Motiva Enterprises in Summer 2016.  Leegwater was also certified as a Distinguished Communicator at LSU and also served as a University Hearing Panelist.

Olivier specialized in environmental chemistry and worked in the laboratory of Professor Robert Cook at LSU and performed research at the LSU Aquaculture Center for two and a half years. She also participated in two study abroad programs – one in England and the other in Grenoble, France and also served as president of the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society.