Research fellow: Courtney Conklin
Hometown: Warwick, RI
School: Salve Regina University
Major: Biology, with environmental science concentration

Research fellow: Katarzyna Kos
Hometown: Braintree, MA
School: Salve Regina University
Major: Biology, with environmental science concentration

Mentor: Jameson Chace
Project: Response of near shore marine macroinvertebrate and small fish populations to climate driven sea level rise and associated abiotic conditions

 

The summer sun starts its daily climb over Narragansett Bay as Katarzyna Kos and Courtney Conklin amble down the dock in a Wickford Harbor marina and step into the 16-foot Boston Whaler named Biology Research.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURFs) from Salve Regina University untie the ropes as marine biology tech Katie Jones turns on the motor and eases the boat out of its slip before turning the wheel over to Kos.

“Everyday, we go out in the boat and collect traps,” Kos says, explaining the routine. “There are nine locations, with 33 sub-sites. So, we rotate traps through the sub-sites every day. Half the week, we do the north sites and half the week the south ones.”

They motor from buoy to buoy, each hand-painted with Salve Research Gear, and stop to pull up small, cylinder cages. As Kos idles the boat, Conklin and Jones split open the traps and spill out the contents into the shallow water of a plastic bin.

Conklin counts the mud snails and dumps them back into the water as she reports the number for Jones to record. Then, from a small cooler, they fish out fresh bait, fill the trap and loop it shut with plastic ties, working together easily and methodically from one sub-site to the next.

During low tide, the crew tracks marine life along the shoreline to measure the quality of the biological and physical conditions across a wide reach of western Narragansett Bay. To do so, the students map out small sample areas and determine the density of intertidal organisms and the size and composition of the surface — sand, cobble, boulders, etc., — that the organisms are living on.

They also test water quality conditions across a depth profile at each location — acidity, salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen — to gauge patterns of quality and changes over the duration of the summer. Salve Associate Professor Jameson Chace is using the collected data to document the response of near shore marine macroinvertebrates to changing climate conditions and sea level rise.

Putting Kos and Conklin’s work this summer into context, Chace explains: “They are sitting at the end of five years of intensive summer sampling across a wide spectrum of the near shore environment in the Bay and outer Newport Neck, trying to understand the drivers of the abundance and distribution of key organisms — small fish and macroinvertebrates — that are near the base of a magnificent food web that promotes the diversity of the Bay and economic base of Rhode Island’s fisheries.”

For both students, the SURF project is their first experience with fieldwork. Conklin, heading into her junior year, says she applied to the program after hearing about it from other students.

“It’s been a lot of fun, and I’m learning a lot of research methods and techniques,” she says.

Kos, a senior, says she had done some research work in a lab, for credit, during the academic year: “This is awesome. I love the outside aspect to the work, and now I have a better sense of our surroundings. I’m learning a lot how to process and analyze the data.”

The project with Chace, she says, has given her a broader perspective of the bigger issues facing society and made her think about how they might be solved, possibly orienting her toward the field of environmental engineering. Conklin remains unsure of her exact direction, but says the summer’s experience has piqued her interest in research.

Jones, a former SURF student and 2016 Salve grad, planning to apply to graduate school, has her sights set on becoming a marine biologist and doing fieldwork.

“I definitely think this helps out students a lot,” she says of the SURF opportunity. “Salve being a part of this program gives us a lot more experience.”

In Chace’s view, the value of hands-on research is integral to undergraduate learning and gives students insight to the process of doing science:

“It cannot be said enough — real experience trumps classroom experience for deep learning and understanding. However, you have to have both. We have plenty of the latter on campus and SURF provides opportunities for the former.”

He adds, “Ecology comes alive when presented with authentic questions and managing research and address those questions. Students come to realize what ends up in the published paper is the result of countless headaches, wrong turns, days of no data or lost data, and what seems so neat and tidy isn’t necessarily so.”

Story and photos by Amy Dunkle