“Just about everyday, I’m learning a lot about techniques and how to improve my skills. I’m learning a lot about devices and doing research on what works best.”

Research fellow: Charles Flynn
Hometown: Millis, MA
School: Roger Williams University
Major: Electrical Engineering; minor, Chemistry
Mentor: Clifford Murphy
Project: Metallporphyrin-based chemosensors for the marine aqueous detection of thiocyanate ions by electrochemistry and spectrophotometry

Heading into his senior year, Charlie Flynn is spending his last summer as an undergraduate helping create a handheld device that can be used to detect whether cyanide fishing has occurred.

“In the tropics, it’s popular for people to do cyanide fishing to collect reef fish,” explains Flynn, taking a break from his Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) work in the lab of Assistant Professor Cliff Murphy. “The fish can’t be bred in captivity, and the easiest way to collect them is to poison them with cyanide.”

The chemical knocks out or stuns the fish long enough so they can be caught and then brought to fisheries to sell to aquaria, Flynn says. The practice, however, is illegal. The chemical kills the reefs and destroys the surrounding ecosystem.

Utilizing a chemical sensor, the handheld device could detect in seawater the presence of thiocyanate, a toxin produced when the fish metabolize cyanide. The ability to detect thiocyanate in seawater also could help detect potential leeching of chemicals from antifouling paints and coatings used in marine settings.

Flynn says he originally intended to study biology in college, but switched first to biomedical engineering and then found his way to electrical engineering. An organic chemistry class fueled his passion for chemistry and he picked up his minor along the way.

“When I heard about this project, I thought it really related to the three areas I’m interested in — biology, chemistry, and engineering,” Flynn says. “So far, I’m loving it. It’s a lot better than my other job, working in a supermarket.”

More importantly, though, Flynn adds, the research experience is developing his abilities in the lab: “Just about everyday, I’m learning a lot about techniques and how to improve my skills. I’m learning a lot about devices and doing research on what works best.”

With a stipend and equipment funds from RI NSF EPSCoR and a summer free from the academic load, Flynn says he can focus full time on the research without having to juggle homework or a job.

Looking ahead to his graduation plans, Flynn says he hopes to work in research for private industry.

“And, if I can help out the environment,” he adds, “that would be an added benefit.”