Salla Heinonen began her work as a chemist in EPSE’s laboratory at the beginning of March. Initially, Salla was supposed to become a nutritionist, but her interest in the natural sciences won and she ended up studying chemistry at the University of Jyväskylä. Salla moved to Ylöjärvi when she started at EPSE and has enjoyed both work and the city very much. Ylöjärvi is already a familiar place for her, since before starting her studies in Jyväskylä, Salla lived in Ylöjärvi for about a year. “It’s nice to be here again,” Salla praises.
In EPSE’s laboratory, laboratory assistants have a corona bubble with each other, as laboratory work cannot be done remotely. Integrating into a new job has been easier when you can work together with a team instead of Teams. EPSE Lab processes a variety of industrial and mine wastewater samples, and challenges are addressed as they arise. “The most challenging so far has been the rapid change in situations. Situations live all the time, and we need to adapt quickly. However, this ensures that no day is exactly the same”, Salla sums up.
The work at EPSE is even more diverse than Salla could have expected. This, of course, is only a positive thing according to her. “The most inspiring thing about the work is problem solving, where I can make concrete use of my studies in the field of chemistry. Knowing that we are working for a cleaner environment adds to the motivation”, Salla adds. Much of Salla’s work is related to communication and arranging and planning things in addition to the laboratory work itself. According to her, humor combined with systematic and hard work is more fruitful than working grimly. “I’m a precise person and I want things done as agreed and on time, but nit-picking is not my thing,” Salla says.
The picture of Salla together with EPSE laborants Asra Mousavi, Svetlina Karkiainen and Veera Linna was taken by EPSE’s CEO Jouni Jääskeläinen.
This article was written by Anni Honkonen.