{"id":12156,"date":"2016-07-12T15:23:37","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T19:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=12156"},"modified":"2016-07-12T15:23:37","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T19:23:37","slug":"surfs-up-2016-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2016\/07\/12\/surfs-up-2016-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-9\/","title":{"rendered":"SURF’s up 2016: Rhode Island undergrads in research"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cJust about everyday, I\u2019m learning a lot about techniques and how to improve my skills. I\u2019m learning a lot about devices and doing research on what works best.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Flynn_Charlie\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Research fellow:<\/strong> Charles Flynn
\nHometown:<\/strong> Millis, MA
\nSchool:<\/strong> Roger Williams University<\/a>
\nMajor:<\/strong> Electrical Engineering; minor, Chemistry
\nMentor:<\/strong> Clifford Murphy
\nProject:<\/strong> Metallporphyrin-based chemosensors for the marine aqueous detection of thiocyanate ions by electrochemistry and spectrophotometry<\/p>\n

Heading into his senior year, Charlie Flynn is spending his last summer as an undergraduate helping create a handheld device that can be used to detect whether cyanide fishing has occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the tropics, it\u2019s popular for people to do cyanide fishing to collect reef fish,\u201d explains Flynn, taking a break from his Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) work in the lab of Assistant Professor Cliff Murphy. \u201cThe fish can\u2019t be bred in captivity, and the easiest way to collect them is to poison them with cyanide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chemical knocks out or stuns the fish long enough so they can be caught and then brought to fisheries to sell to aquaria, Flynn says. The practice, however, is illegal. The chemical kills the reefs and destroys the surrounding ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Utilizing a chemical sensor, the handheld device could detect in seawater the presence of thiocyanate, a\u00a0toxin produced when the fish metabolize\u00a0cyanide. The ability to detect thiocyanate in seawater also could help detect potential leeching of chemicals from antifouling paints and coatings used in marine settings.<\/p>\n

Flynn says he originally intended to study biology in college, but switched first to biomedical engineering and then found his way to electrical engineering. An organic chemistry class fueled his passion for chemistry and he picked up his minor along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard about this project, I thought it really related to the three areas I\u2019m interested in \u2014 biology, chemistry, and engineering,\u201d Flynn says. \u201cSo far, I\u2019m loving it. It\u2019s a lot better than my other job, working in a supermarket.\u201d<\/p>\n

More importantly, though, Flynn adds, the research experience is developing his abilities in the lab: \u201cJust about everyday, I\u2019m learning a lot about techniques and how to improve my skills. I\u2019m learning a lot about devices and doing research on what works best.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a stipend and equipment funds from RI NSF EPSCoR and a summer free from the academic load, Flynn says he can focus full time on the research without having to juggle homework or a job.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to his graduation plans, Flynn says he hopes to work in research for private industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, if I can help out the environment,\u201d he adds, \u201cthat would be an added benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cJust about everyday, I\u2019m learning a lot about techniques and how to improve my skills. I\u2019m learning a lot about devices and doing research on what works best.\u201d Research fellow: Charles Flynn Hometown: Millis, MA School: Roger Williams University Major: Electrical Engineering; minor, Chemistry Mentor: Clifford Murphy Project: Metallporphyrin-based chemosensors for the marine aqueous detection […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21,51],"tags":[150,189,243,549,570,597],"class_list":["post-12156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-surfsup","tag-chemistry","tag-cyanide-fishing","tag-electrical-engineering","tag-reef-fish","tag-rhode-island-nsf-epscor","tag-roger-williams-university"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}