{"id":14745,"date":"2017-06-26T08:02:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T12:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=14745"},"modified":"2017-06-26T08:02:20","modified_gmt":"2017-06-26T12:02:20","slug":"surfs-up-2017-ri-undergrads-in-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2017\/06\/26\/surfs-up-2017-ri-undergrads-in-research\/","title":{"rendered":"SURF’s up 2017: RI undergrads in research"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beauvais_Alicia\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know enough about seaweed and there\u2019s still so much to learn. I think that\u2019s what makes phycology so intriguing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Research fellow:<\/strong> Alicia Beauvais<\/span>
\nHometown:<\/strong> North Attleboro, Mass.<\/span>
\nSchool:<\/strong> Roger Williams University<\/a><\/span>
\nMajors:<\/strong> Marine Biology and Environmental Science<\/span><\/p>\n

Alicia Beauvais arrived on the Roger Williams campus geared toward marine biology, with the intention of working with fisheries. Along the way, she added a second major, Environmental Science.<\/span><\/p>\n

But last fall, a class in phycology \u2014\u00a0the study of algae \u2014\u00a0opened up a new area of interest for the rising senior. And now, a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship<\/a> with Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR is allowing her to explore the field full-time, for 10 weeks, under the guidance of faculty mentor Professor Brian Wysor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what specifically drew me in,\u201d Beauvais says, pausing to consider what exactly it was about seaweed that caught her interest. \u201cWe don\u2019t know enough about seaweed and there\u2019s still so much to learn. I think that\u2019s what makes phycology so intriguing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of the Wysor lab\u2019s project is to shed light on the diversity of the red algae family, Rhodomelaceae, which has five genera, or sub-families, in Rhode Island waters and more than 20 species. Accurately identifying the species holds important implications in the context of climate change with shifts in biodiversity. The data collected will be used for a peer reviewed article and update the <\/span>Illustrated Key to the Seaweeds of New England<\/span><\/i>, Martine Villalard-Bohnsack (2003)<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The research also will contribute to a larger RI Seaweed Biodiversity Project<\/a> that was funded by a 2013 Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council<\/a> (STAC) grant. The STAC grants serve as the state\u2019s match to the National Science Foundation<\/a> EPSCoR<\/a> grant in Rhode Island. Ultimately, this work will help to scientists understand responses at the organismal level to changes in marine communities in response to elevated sea surface temperatures associated with global climate change or other human-induced stressors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beauvais explains: \u201cWe\u2019re looking at the family of red algae and trying to gain a better understanding of the Rhode Island populations, and whether the richness of this species has changed <\/span>as a consequence of invasions due to climate change, other human-assisted transport, or because of migrations out of the area, possibly related to climate change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

About half-way through the fellowship, Beauvais currently is working her way through a collection of seaweed and using the microscope to identify them down to the species. The chance to work full time on the \u00a0project through the RI ESPSCoR fellowship, which pays a $4,500 stipend plus up to $500 for research supplies, has provided an in-depth learning opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I took Phycology, I had four other classes at the time,\u201d Beauvais says. \u201cSURF gives me the chance to focus full time. I\u2019m still working to classify species, which is challenging as the diagnostic features of a species are not always apparent. \u00a0But it\u2019s getting easier to observe the differences with more experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As she looks ahead to her plans after graduation, Beauvais says she eventually wants to attend graduate school and continue studying seaweed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d she adds, smiling, \u201cI\u2019m open to anything in phycology.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe don\u2019t know enough about seaweed and there\u2019s still so much to learn. I think that\u2019s what makes phycology so intriguing.\u201d Research fellow: Alicia Beauvais Hometown: North Attleboro, Mass. School: Roger Williams University Majors: Marine Biology and Environmental Science Alicia Beauvais arrived on the Roger Williams campus geared toward marine biology, with the intention of […]<\/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":[21,51,1],"tags":[516,597,636,735,780],"class_list":["post-14745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-surfsup","category-uncategorized","tag-phycology","tag-roger-williams-university","tag-seaweed","tag-undergraduate-research","tag-women-in-stem"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14745","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=14745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}