\u201cThis past year was really when I started my major classes,\u201d explains Frates, who hails from Acushnet, Mass. \u201cI learned a lot about the theories, but the SURF program allows me to expand on those a lot more than in the academic labs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frates and Beinart will be collecting microbe samples from coastal areas along Narragansett Bay, examining them in the lab for identification purposes. The work will get Frates familiarized with lab procedures and molecular analysis techniques like PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy lab is new, so I am excited to get it up and running and have someone working in it,\u201d notes Beinart. \u201cWe are actually going to explore the microbiology of Narragansett Bay, using a lot of the same techniques you would for the deep sea. Even with the microbiology in our backyard, you can see some organisms you think are extreme but are out there in the bay.\u201d<\/p>\n Beinart was hired this past September as an assistant professor at URI GSO this past September, specializing in deep-sea microbiology. Arriving from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, she is also experiencing the SURF program as a mentor for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, what seems unique about the SURF program is it brings in local students,\u201d she says. \u201cThat allows Erin and me to have a platform for future research together as she should be able to continue at my lab because she\u2019s staying at URI. That sets you up for a more long-term relationship on a research project.\u201d<\/p>\n For many former SURF students, the training with which Frates is engaging now gives more clarity about their career goals. It did for 2017 participant Samuel Costa, who now wants to pursue a PhD in the field of natural products research.<\/p>\n \u201cSURF gave me some valuable perspective in planning my career,\u201d explains the Coventry, RI native. \u201cI intend to go to graduate school in the next few years, though I may spend a year or two in research assistant positions to gain the money and experience I need.\u201d<\/p>\n At an orientation session earlier this month, coordinator and RI C-AIM researcher Jim Lemire said that this year\u2019s applicant pool was the most competitive he has experienced. He stressed to the 2018 SURF class, however, that learning about their own career desires is just as important as the training in scientific inquiry.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has their own story,\u201d he says. \u201cI have a colleague who dropped out of college and lived in his car before finding out that science was for him. It is good for students to see there is no one clear path to take.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n![\"Frates\"](\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/IMG_0569.jpg\")
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