{"id":12343,"date":"2016-07-28T18:06:21","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T22:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=12343"},"modified":"2016-07-28T18:06:21","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T22:06:21","slug":"surfs-up-2016-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2016\/07\/28\/surfs-up-2016-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-23\/","title":{"rendered":"SURF’s up 2016: Rhode Island undergrads in research"},"content":{"rendered":"

“It\u2019s a privilege for me to have gotten into this program.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Hecker_Jeremy\"<\/a>Research fellow:<\/strong> Jeremy Hecker
\nHometown:<\/strong> Warwick, RI
\nSchool:<\/strong> Community College of Rhode Island<\/a>
\nFellowship:<\/strong> at University of Rhode Island<\/a>
\nMajor:<\/strong> Associates degree, Science
\nMentors:<\/strong> Dawn Cardace, Abigail Johnson
\nProject:<\/strong> Impacts of increased CO2 on carbon mineralization at microbe-mineral interfaces<\/p>\n

On paper, the acronym RI NSF EPSCoR is a long-winded mouthful \u2014 Rhode Island National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.<\/p>\n

If the program, which fully immerses undergraduates in hands-on research, were a person, it would be Jeremy Hecker.<\/p>\n

\"scan\"<\/a>
Scan this code to download the 9th Annual RI SURF Conference guide. Or, follow this link to send the guide to your phone or tablet \u2014> https:\/\/guidebook.com\/g\/surfri2016\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A biology professor told Hecker about RI EPSCoR\u2019s 10-week Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship<\/a> (SURF); a chance to gain research experience and explore his intended career path. Hecker applied to the program, was awarded a fellowship, and has spent his summer studying ocean sediment core samples to understand how increased carbon dioxide, CO2,<\/sub> in the environment may affect deep sea microbes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot is known about increased CO2 <\/sub>affecting surface water,\u201d Hecker explains. \u201cWe want to see if that process of oceanacidification is circulating down and affecting deep water.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he adds, the fellowship has involved more than conducting experiments, characterizing the environment the microbes live in at 3,800 meters below the ocean\u2019s surface, and honing his skills and techniques: \u201cI\u2019ve also learned a lot through the process, the whole aspect of research, where it starts as a proposal to presenting what you\u2019ve found. I\u2019ve learned how to look at things objectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next spring, after three years of tackling his general education requirements at CCRI, Hecker will graduate with his associate\u2019s degree in science. Then, he plans to transfer into University of Rhode Island in the fall as a junior and pursue his bachelor\u2019s in geosciences, studying the earth\u2019s systems and its changing environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been part-time school, full-time work,\u201d says Hecker, a hardware store manager who is putting himself through school, explaining his educational journey. \u201cI don\u2019t know if the SURF experience has helped narrow down anything \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s all very interesting. But at least, I know what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he prepares for the 9th<\/sup> Annual RI SURF Conference<\/a> Friday, July 29, when he and more than 150 other undergraduates from across the Ocean State will present their summer research findings, Hecker is aiming for perfection. He says attending the RI EPSCoR workshop earlier this month with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science boosted his confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited to present,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s really important for me. It\u2019s a privilege for me to have gotten into this program.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

“It\u2019s a privilege for me to have gotten into this program.\u201d Research fellow: Jeremy Hecker Hometown: Warwick, RI School: Community College of Rhode Island Fellowship: at University of Rhode Island Major: Associates degree, Science Mentors: Dawn Cardace, Abigail Johnson Project: Impacts of increased CO2 on carbon mineralization at microbe-mineral interfaces On paper, the acronym RI […]<\/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":[135,570,741],"class_list":["post-12343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-surfsup","tag-carbon-mineralization","tag-rhode-island-nsf-epscor","tag-university-of-rhode-island"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12343","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=12343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12343\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}