Research fellow: Brooke Fenderson
Hometown: Hampton, NH
School: Roger Williams University
Major; minors: Biology; Math, Chemistry, Public Health

Almost halfway through her Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship with Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR, Brooke Fenderson, a rising junior, remains undecided about exactly which direction she wants to head in after graduation.

But at this moment, she knows there is no place she would rather be. And, more importantly, she is gaining insight on where her scientific interests lie.

“I’d take this job any day over another summer job,” Fenderson says of the full-time position that pays a $4,500 stipend plus up to $500 in supplies to immerse herself in lab and fieldwork. “I like the hands-on research work. Last summer, I worked at a clothing store.”

Throughout her sophomore year, Fenderson took biology and virology classes taught by Professor Marcie Marston, worked in Marston’s lab, and found she liked the research work.

“I’m really interested in infectious diseases and working on viruses, figuring out what the virus and host interaction is,” says Fenderson, who is spending her SURF experience under Marston’s guidance, working on the project “Ecology and evolution of marine viruses and cyanobacteria in Narragansett Bay.”

Marston’s research focuses on cyanophages, viruses that infect and subsequently kill Synechococcus species, single-celled, photosynthetic cyanobacteria that contribute to primary productivity in coastal marine ecosystems. Fenderson’s work this summer will provide baseline data about the ecology and evolution of virus-host interactions that could be used to assess future impacts of climate change on viral and cyanobacterial communities in Narragansett Bay.

Taking samples from four different areas, including sites in Greenwich Bay and at Roger Williams University and a Newport beach, Fenderson explains she has set up plates to grow the viruses and conduct genetic analysis to determine their species.

“We want to know what type of virus they are,” she explains. “We set up plates with straight sea water with different dilutions and do a rough estimate on how many viruses there are. It’s kind of like a window into what’s going on in a specific location.”

Although she arrived on the RWU campus as a biology major, Fenderson says she had no idea about what she wanted to do. Now, however, the research experience in the Marston lab has given her direction.

“I definitely want to go to grad school,” she says. “I’m thinking epidemiology, maybe public health careers, something that centers around infectious diseases.”

Story and photo by Amy Dunkle