{"id":193,"date":"2017-10-04T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T17:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/?p=193"},"modified":"2017-10-04T12:00:30","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T17:00:30","slug":"faculty-interview-tammy-boles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/2017\/10\/04\/faculty-interview-tammy-boles\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty Interview – Tammy Boles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Tell us a little about your background. What brought you to the position you are currently in?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I was actually an undergraduate student at TTU for three years. I met my future husband here, married him and then we moved to Columbia, South Carolina. While he worked on his Ph.D. in chemistry, I finished my B.S. in chemistry and then my M.S. in chemistry at the University of South Carolina. In 1994, we found our way back to Cookeville and I worked in the TTU Water Center as a metals chemist for 10 years. In 2004, I was hired to be a coordinator and academic advisor in what was then the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Extended Education (ISEE). I was able to work on and complete my Ph.D. in Environmental Science-Chemistry in 2009. In 2012, ISEE became the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, and the School of Environmental Studies was created under the college. I applied for a tenure-track position and became the first assistant professor in the School of Environmental Studies in January 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is your favorite thing about your current position?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve always liked working at the university. I think it keeps me young, and I get exposed to new ideas. I like teaching our students, although I would have never dreamed that I could teach.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a day-to-day basis, what do your normal tasks look like?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I usually teach classes two days each week, and on the day in between, I hold office hours. I try to keep one to two days open each week for research. My research lab is in Foster Hall, so I usually spend two days each week there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you currently doing any research and do you have opportunities for students to get involved?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Yes, my research is on licit and illicit drugs in wastewater. I currently supervise research for a doctoral student, a master\u2019s student, and five undergraduate students. Of these seven students, two are within the School of Environmental Studies, with the doctoral student in the Environmental Sciences-Chemistry concentration and an undergraduate student in the Environmental Science-Biology option. <\/span><\/p>\n

What advice would you give students who are preparing to enter the environmental workforce or attend graduate school?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I always encourage students to participate in some type of undergraduate research, whether it\u2019s with me or another professor on campus. I think that gives students valuable experience that sets them apart from other students who apply for graduate school or for a job. I also encourage students to take the internship class, ESS 4900. We\u2019ve had several students take the class, and all of them thought it was beneficial.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: <\/span>https:\/\/www.tntech.edu\/is\/ses\/newsletter<\/span><\/a> (Winter 2017 SOES Newsletter)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tell us a little about your background. What brought you to the position you are currently in? I was actually an undergraduate student at TTU for three years. I met my future husband here, married him and then we moved to Columbia, South Carolina. While he worked on his Ph.D. in chemistry, I finished my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-general-post","7":"category-interviewfeature"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}