Research fellow: Evan Ernst
Hometown: Clifton, NY
School: University of Rhode Island
Major: Marine Biology

Evan Ernst grew up in New York state, just north of Albany, about four and a half hours from the ocean. But, out of sight did not mean out of mind.

When the time came to choose a college and educational path, Ernst, in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (CELS), says he was drawn to the University of Rhode Island and the opportunity to dive into the marine science field: “I was struck by how little we know about the ocean.”

Now, as a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF) with Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR, Ernst is getting a chance to help find answers and add to the body of science, investigating harmful algal blooms with the Thornber lab in a full-time, 10-week internship that pays students a $4,500 stipend plus up to $500 for research supplies.

Ernst says he applied for the competitive program after gaining his first exposure to research during the academic year. For the past two semesters, he assisted teaching professor Brad Weatherbee in a shark tagging project where he plugged data gathered into Google Earth to track which sharks were swimming where to better understand the species’ trends.

“Generally, larger sharks tend to travel further from the coast and in a much wider range and the smaller sharks remain closer to shore with less range of movement,” Ernst says. “We also looked at knifing behavior, when the fin comes just above the water, to see if there were trends of number of knifes per hour over different seasons and different times of day.”

Through that initial experience, Ernst says, he learned that he enjoyed research and wanted to pursue more opportunities.

“I really like the process of discovery,” he says. “There are so many questions to be asked.”

The SURF program offered the chance to conduct research with an ongoing, open-ended project. On site in Greenwich Bay, he doesn’t hesitate to throw on waders or pull on a wetsuit to collect samples of sea lettuce at one of nine sites monitored by Thornber lab projects investigating the presence of macroalgal species and the factors that contribute to their growth.

“For example, allelopathy is the release of chemical compounds by Ulva that inhibit the growth of other species and can interfere with the growth of oysters,” Ernst explains. “We want to see if nutrients from runoff caused by climate change in weather patterns affect that process. It’s really interesting.”

In another project, at Napatree Point in Watch Hill, Ernst is helping identify macroalgal species and calculate abundance and biodiversity to gain a better understanding of the environment as a whole.  

“Seaweed is not as glamorous as sharks,” he laughs, “but, I love this. I can’t believe I get paid to do what I do. SURF has totally surpassed any of my expectations.”

At the end of the fellowship, on Friday, July, 28, Ernst and the other 23 RI EPSCoR SURFs will present their research findings at the 10th Annual RI SURF Conference hosted by URI and co-sponsored by Rhode Island INBRE and RI EPSCoR.

As for where he might head after graduation, Ernst says he continues to contemplate his plan, whether that means pursuing research or possibly going into the Navy or Coast Guard as an officer: “I like to explore and figure things out. All I know is I’m not a desk person. I definitely like hands-on work.”

Story and photos by Amy Dunkle