Research fellow: Marguerite Kinsella
Hometown: Basking Ridge, NJ
School: University of Rhode Island
Major: Marine biology; minor, Wildlife Conservation Biology
Mentors: Lindsay Green, Carol Thornber, Stephen Licht
Project: Monitoring harmful algal blooms in Narragansett Bay via ecological and aerial technology approaches and determining the impacts of climate change on the physiology of bloom-forming macroalgae

The last summer of her undergraduate years, rising senior Marguerite Kinsella is busy in the lab and out in the field, working on several related projects with harmful macroalgal blooms.

In her role as a RI EPSCoR Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF), Kinsella is studying Gracilaria and Ulva species, tracking how nutrients affect their growth rate. She does this, she says, by trying to mimic the impact of fertilizer pollution, looking at the different effects between artificial and natural rain.

“SURF definitely has been rewarding, knowing how to think like a scientist.”

Kinsella also has been assisting with an ongoing survey of macroalgal blooms in Greenwich Bay, processing and identifying species to yield a better understanding of the diversity that exists and whether any new species enter the mix.

“This has really exposed me to more information and new skills,” says Kinsella. “It’s exactly what I wanted to do. I’m learning to identify new species based on molecular work, so I know what species I’m looking at. Before, I didn’t know anything about microscopic work. Now I can do more techniques — DNA sequencing, pipetting — and I’ve learned a lot about scientific statistics and software.”

The skills and professional development prompted her to apply for the fellowship, Kinsella says, and she wants to put both her major and minor fields of study to use, exploring the impact of invasive algae on both organisms and the ecosystem.

She also appreciates the bigger picture and the importance of the work she is doing. Ulva, in particular, she says, is a primary producer of harmful macroalgal blooms, which can grow to be expansive and cause fish kills.

“SURF definitely has been rewarding, knowing how to think like a scientist,” Kinsella says. “Lindsay (Green) has been a huge role model and the work is definitely interesting — it points to what I want to do and where I want to go.”

Kinsella says she hopes to secure a job post graduation in Florida, where toxic algae blooms have been in the news lately: “I want to work not so much in research, but more with outreach and education as well as more government and EPA work. That’s ultimately my career goal.”

Story and photo by Amy Dunkle