Summer Update: Lucy Watson-Cook’s internship with Citgo

Published: August 21, 2024

Lucy Watson-Cook is a NIOSH-funded Trainee in Industrial Hygiene (IH) in the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (SWCOEH) at UTHealth Houston. Lucy received her B.S. in Public Health from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin where she concurrently participated in the accelerated master’s program with UTHealth Houston. In the future, she hopes to earn her Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) credential and begin working in the field. 

Lucy Watson-Cook is spending the summer of 2024 as an intern with Citgo. Based at Citgo's corporate headquarters in Houston, Watson-Cook has had the opportunity to travel to several of Citgo’s refineries and lubricant plants to complete fieldwork. So far, she has spent weeks in Lake Charles, LA, Lemont, IL, and Oklahoma City, OK. She may also visit Corpus Christi, TX later this summer.

“My days are typically very different from week to week,” Watson-Cook said. “While at the corporate office I have been aiding in updating heat stress standards and IH best practice guidelines. During my visits to the refineries, I worked with the on-site industrial hygienists to complete passive sampling of Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) and noise dosimetry surveys as well as generating reports and employee notification emails about their exposures based on the data.

“My largest project was at one of the lubricant plants. I conducted an exposure assessment of crystalline silica and respirable dust and particulates during additive handling tasks. In the future, I am also expecting to complete an analysis of historical benzene & lead data to assess current monitoring programs.”

Watson-Cook is impressed with Citgo’s dedication to environmental protection, conservation, & restoration.

“There are numerous company volunteer opportunities surrounding this mission. Moreover, they have voluntarily entered into the EPA's Energy Star program for energy efficiency and make reports of operational reliability readily available. The Corpus Christi refinery has received three Energy Star certifications in the past four years on top of most of the refineries, plants, terminals, and pipelines receiving awards for their safety as well.” 

“This experience has taught me a lot from the basics of fieldwork and sampling to the inner workings of an IH/HSE department attempting to get things done in a workplace. I appreciate learning about the administrative side of the job because I did not anticipate the competing interests and opinions which need to be managed in a real company environment. On top of this, I have gained hands-on experience with equipment that I only heard about from classes and have been able to pick the brains of the methods of industrial hygienists with years of experience.”

“My time at Citgo has been extremely valuable by providing me with real-world applications of concepts and methods I learned at the SWCOEH and UTHealth Houston. A practicum experience being built into the curriculum allowed me to get the necessary hands-on training to better understand my areas or industries of interest as well as making me a more competitive candidate for future job and career opportunities.”

The SWCOEH provides graduate-level training opportunities for occupational and environmental health professionals through our industrial hygiene, occupational and environmental medicine, occupational epidemiology, and Total Worker Health^® programs.