{"id":12313,"date":"2016-07-27T11:40:32","date_gmt":"2016-07-27T15:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=12313"},"modified":"2016-07-27T11:40:32","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T15:40:32","slug":"surfs-up-2016-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2016\/07\/27\/surfs-up-2016-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-17\/","title":{"rendered":"SURF’s up 2016: Rhode Island undergrads in research"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Anderson_Christopher\"<\/a>Research fellow:<\/strong> Christopher Anderson
\nHometown:<\/strong> Johnston, RI
\nSchool:<\/strong> Community College of Rhode Island<\/a>
\nMajor:<\/strong> Biotechnology
\nMentors:<\/strong> Marta Gomez-Chiarri (URI), Lindsay Green (URI), David Rowley (URI)
\nProject:<\/strong> Allelopathic effects of macroalgae on shellfish larvae in RI under current and projected sea surface temperatures<\/p>\n

This summer, Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR awarded 36 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows<\/a> (SURFs) an intensive, 10-week opportunity to conduct hands-on research, learn and refine lab and fieldwork techniques, and develop professional skills.<\/p>\n

For Chris Anderson, the experience has been as elemental as learning how to correctly use a microscope and as exciting as carrying out hands-on research for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing how the chemicals from Ulva rigida<\/em> and Ulva compressa<\/em> affect oyster larvae, which one might have a harmful impact,\u201d explains Anderson. \u201cWe\u2019re also actually seeing how the water affects the behavior of the oyster larvae, how fast they swim and how they interact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project outcome could hold far-reaching implications for Rhode Island\u2019s shellfish industry as macroalgal blooms increase worldwide, with projections of heightened frequency and severity due to climate change.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the water with U. rigida<\/em>, Anderson says, the oyster larvae behave calmly and relaxed, staying at the bottom, whereas the larvae in water with U. compressa<\/em> swim around and move more: \u201cWe\u2019re trying to figure out if there is a chemical component to that difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project outcome could hold far-reaching implications for Rhode Island\u2019s shellfish industry as macroalgal blooms increase worldwide, with projections of heightened frequency and severity due to climate change. The project also looks at the effect of warming sea surface temperature on the susceptibility of shellfish larvae to the chemicals given off by the Ulva<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Beyond the science, the project provides critical opportunities for professional development. The undergraduate researchers have to work independently with good organizational skills and embrace the unpredictable scheduling posed by lab and fieldwork. Anderson says he learned how to take care of the algae and maintain the shellfish larvae along with collecting seaweed and conducting field tests.<\/p>\n

The newfound skills and experience will be helpful for Anderson as he pursues his interest in the pharmaceutical field, with a focus on animals. He says, \u201cI like to see how things affect animals, how with this project the different types of algae affects the oyster larvae.\u201d<\/p>\n

Story and photo by Amy Dunkle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research fellow: Christopher Anderson Hometown: Johnston, RI School: Community College of Rhode Island Major: Biotechnology Mentors: Marta Gomez-Chiarri (URI), Lindsay Green (URI), David Rowley (URI) Project: Allelopathic effects of macroalgae on shellfish larvae in RI under current and projected sea surface temperatures This summer, Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR awarded 36 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURFs) […]<\/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":[138,177,363,501,651,717],"class_list":["post-12313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-surfsup","tag-ccri","tag-community-college-of-rhode-island","tag-macroalgae","tag-oysters","tag-shellfish-larvae","tag-ulva"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12313","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=12313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12313\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}