Research fellow: Stephanie Peramas
Hometown: Richmond, VA
School: University of Rhode Island
Major: Animal Science
Mentor: Steven Irvine
Project: Temperature effects on marine invertebrate physiology

Before starting her 2016 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) with Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR, Stephanie Peramas had not worked professionally in a lab,

But, the URI junior more than made up for any lack of experience with her enthusiasm and passion for her field of study.

“I am such a science geek,” Peramas says, laughing, taking a break from her research in the Irvine lab, in the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences. “I love biology. It’s like you’re uncovering the secrets of the world.

She heard from friends about the SURF program, and their positive experiences inspired her to apply for a fellowship. Lab research had been something she thought about pursuing, but she didn’t know if she might prefer working in a lab or out in the field.

“SURF has exposed me to the wide scope of research in so many different ways — through fieldwork, lab work, quantitative data, qualitative analyses. I feel like I’m learning a lot in a short period of time.”

The RI EPSCoR SURF program offers undergraduates the chance to explore life as a scientist through a 10-week, hands-on, intensive research experience conducted under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Once accepted to the program, students earn a stipend and equipment support. They also participate in professional development activities and present their research findings at the end of the summer, during the annual RI SURF Conference hosted by URI.

“I knew what I was interested in, but I didn’t know where I wanted to go,” explains Peramas. “There aren’t a lot of research opportunities for undergrads.”

A class during the spring semester gave Peramas a taste of what genetic research might be like and inspired interest in her current project. It was enough to encourage her to dive in and apply for the SURF program. She is now spending the summer looking at the effects of global warming on sea squirts, investigating how factors as increased temperatures and acidity levels impact the development of embryos.

Sea squirts, which look like small, colored blobs, and often spend their life attached to docks or rocks, belong to the group known as tunicates. They are studied because of their genetic relationship to other invertebrate and vertebrate animals.

“SURF has exposed me to the wide scope of research in so many different ways — through fieldwork, lab work, quantitative data, qualitative analyses,” Peramas says. “I feel like I’m learning a lot in a short period of time.”

Story and photo by Amy Dunkle