“I wouldn’t be speaking at a conference without this experience. I wouldn’t be able to draft my senior thesis. I’m not only getting the results, but I’m also able to communicate those results. So many students don’t get these kinds of opportunities.”

Research fellow: Molly Fehon
Hometown: Durham, CT
School: Roger Williams University
Major: Marine Biology
Mentor: David Taylor
Project: Foraging ecology of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and their potential impact on Rhode Island benthic communities

RWU senior Molly Fehon, a two-time Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF), knows her way around the blue crab stomach — she’s been studying what the species eats, where and when, in the upper reaches of Narragansett Bay since her freshman year.

Regularly working out in the field with Associate Professor David Taylor, Fehon collects samples of blue crabs and then, using a microscope back in the lab, conducts visual analysis of stomach contents. She also carries out tests on the crabs’ muscle tissue to develop a detailed snapshot of their eating habits.

The point, Fehon explains, is to gain a better understanding of the species impact on the Bay’s ecosystem as climate change brings warmer water temperatures and an increasing abundance of the more southerly species expanding its northern range. The shift begs such questions as, will the winter flounder, typical crab prey, suffer the effects and in what habitats and seasons are the blue crabs foraging for food?

In addition to building her data set and gaining experience, Fehon’s efforts gave her the chance to present her research at the 2016 Southern New England Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (SNEC AFS) summer meeting. The opportunity — her first lecture style presentation — marked one of the highlights of her work to date, she says:

“People were really interested. A couple people were thinking about doing stomach content analysis and I was able to sit down and talk with them about my methods.”

Fehon also plans to pull together the work from her undergraduate experience and write it up for a senior thesis. Although she hasn’t arrived at any final conclusions, she says tying all of the data together is rewarding. And, she adds, it wouldn’t be possible without the Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR SURF program.

“I wouldn’t be speaking at a conference without this experience,” says Fehon. “I wouldn’t be able to draft my senior thesis. I’m not only getting the results, but I’m also able to communicate those results. So many students don’t get these kinds of opportunities.”

Fehon says her post graduation plans involve going to graduate school: “I’ve been thinking, ideally, I want to be a college professor. I want to teach and be able to do research — that would be the perfect balance.”

Story and photo by Amy Dunkle