Five Southern California Undergraduates Selected as
John D. Isaacs Research Assistants
Contact for Isaacs Program:
Shauna Oh,
Assistant Director
California Sea Grant
College Program
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
E.: shaunaoh@ucsd.edu
T.: (858) 534-4440
Relevant Links:
- California Sea Grant Educational Opportunities
- John D. Isaacs Marine Undergraduate Research Assistant Program
Tools:
Revised:
July 6, 2010
Gabriela Navas in Hechinger Laboratory.
Credit: Ana Garcia, UCSB
July 6, 2010
Contact: by Rebecca Buddingh
For Gabriela Navas, an undergraduate senior and biology major at the UC Santa Barbara, an average day in the lab is spent among numerous New Zealand Mud Snails.
“I really enjoy research and this was a new facet of research to explore,” Navas said.
Navas ensures that the invader snails are receiving correct amounts of air and food, performs dissections, and checks for disease. New Zealand mud snails “hitchhiked” to the United States in the late 20th century and have been elbowing out native species ever since.
Her work is part of a larger research project, led by UCSB’s Ryan Hechinger, to find a biological control for halting the snail’s persistent march into yet more rivers and creeks.
Navas is one of five students selected this summer to assist California Sea Grant-funded researchers through the John D. Isaacs Marine Undergraduate Research Assistant Program.
This program, which grants each undergraduate student $2,500 for a summer of research work, was established in 2006 in memory of John D. Isaacs, a former Scripps Institution of Oceanography professor and an influential scientist in the world of marine biology.
Navas, who was born in Lüneburg, Germany, has worked in the Hechinger laboratory for two years. She plans to apply for graduate school this year to pursue a master’s degree in marine biology.
The other four recipients of the Isaacs award are equally committed to their investigations of different biological topics.
Minh Khuc in the Gerwick Laboratory.
Credit: Emily Trentacoste, UCSD graduate student
Minh Khuc, a fifth-year human biology major at UCSD, has been assisting Scripps professor William Gerwick and his team of researchers for over a year on a project to turn algae into biofuels.
Though he plans to attend medical school to become a primary-care physician, he appreciates his role in the lab and expresses a great deal of interest in the biofuel movement.
David Ortiz-Suslow, a junior at UCSD, will be working with Peter Franks, also a Scripps professor, this summer analyzing water samples collected during the IB09 experiment, short for Imperial Beach 2009.
He will be preparing bacterial slides and analyzing them for different phytoplankton species.
Though undecided on a specific career for his future, Ortiz-Suslow, a physics major, said the summer research is something he is very excited about.
“I am interested in oceanography and coastal studies,” he explained.
Erick Ruiz Cadena, a third-year student at San Diego Mesa Community College, is spending his summer working with Scripps professor Paul Dayton on a project to improve wetland restoration along the California coast.
Cadena was introduced to this project through volunteering with the non-profit Ocean Discovery Institute. He said he believes this internship will help him to achieve his career goal of studying environmental science.
For Lyndsay Trimble, a senior at San Diego State University working with Carl Carrano, the Isaacs program is an important step on the path of pursuing a career in research.
A chemistry major, Trimble chose to work in Carrano’s laboratory because of the blending of different elements of chemistry, biochemistry and marine biology.
“The overall goal of the lab is to better understand toxic algal blooms,” Trimble said.
Through her work in the lab, she has learned many important techniques, such as DNA extraction, bacterial growth, and quantitative PCR, short for polymerase chain reaction (the process of amplifying a strand of DNA to create millions of copies).
Trimble said her professional aspirations include biological research.
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