Bend grad heads to White House

Published 4:00 am Thursday, December 1, 2011

Jessie McGrath, a 2006 Bend High School graduate, was standing in line at the DMV recently when she found out she would be an intern in a White House office.

McGrath’s phone rang just as a DMV clerk called out her number. Because the caller ID was blocked, McGrath briefly considered ignoring the call. By answering, she’d have to wait in the line all over again.

But she decided to take the call and barely heard above the DMV din that she’d been selected for an internship at the Council on Environmental Quality in the White House. McGrath’s internship runs from January to April. Her work will include researching environmental policy and writing summaries for congressional hearings.

Though McGrath slipped to the back of the line, she had a dream internship — and eventually a renewed driver’s license.

“I ended up probably having the biggest smile I’ve ever had in my life,” said McGrath, 24.

The council works on White House environmental policy, and its chairwoman, Nancy Sutley, is the president’s principal environmental policy adviser, according the council’s website. McGrath wants to make a career of that kind of work.

Appropriately, McGrath’s undergraduate thesis is titled “Maintaining a Common Ground Between Science and Policy: A Case Study of Marine Reserves and Marine Protected Areas.”

Love of marine biology started early

McGrath’s ties to the ocean date to her youth, when she spent summers on Cape Cod.

“I’ve always loved the ocean, and I’ve loved learning about it,” she said.

McGrath’s professional interest came into focus at the University of Oregon, where this year she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and marine biology. During college, McGrath traveled to Ecuador to study insect behavior in the Amazon and spent two summers at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

After the council internship, McGrath plans to begin graduate studies in marine biology.

Currently, McGrath works in research and development at Bend-based Grace Bio-Labs, a medical technology company.

This latest success is no surprise to supervisor and family friend Jennipher Grudzien.

“She’s had a lot of history at being outstanding at what she does,” Grudzien said. “She’s going to take (her talent) as far as she can.”