{"id":8094,"date":"2015-07-16T07:53:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T11:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=8094"},"modified":"2015-07-16T07:53:30","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T11:53:30","slug":"surfs-up-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2015\/07\/16\/surfs-up-rhode-island-undergrads-in-research-12\/","title":{"rendered":"SURF&#8217;s up 2015: Rhode Island undergrads in research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-8084 size-full\" title=\"Ivy Burns builds mesocosms in the Thornber lab.\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/DSC_00601.jpg\" alt=\"Ivy Burns\" width=\"426\" height=\"640\" \/>Research fellow: <\/strong>Ivy Burns<br \/>\n<strong>Hometown:<\/strong> Jamestown, RI<br \/>\n<strong>Major: <\/strong>Biological Sciences, with plant science focus<br \/>\n<strong>School: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/ww2.uri.edu\/\">University of Rhode Island<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Mentors: <\/strong>Carol Thornber, Lindsay Green<br \/>\n<strong>Project: <\/strong>Tracking harmful algal blooms in Narragansett Bay via ecological and aerial technology approaches<\/p>\n<p>Conducting research as an undergraduate in the Thornber lab, Ivy Burns has gained the opportunity not only to contribute to a larger project, but also the freedom to chase her own scientific pursuits while building critical skills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though I\u2019m more interested in terrestrial plants from an academic standpoint, algae is the perfect model,\u201d said the rising senior, who is spending her <a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/surf\/\">Summer Undergraduate Research Experience<\/a> (SURF) in the lab of Carol Thornber, associate professor and RI NSF EPSCoR principal investigator. \u201cI really enjoy the research. I\u2019m learning all the basics of experimental design \u2014 anything that I will need to work in any lab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Burns is assisting postdoctoral researcher Lindsay Green with her work, which, one day this week, involved building mesocosms, or little environments, that will help determine whether <em>Ulva<\/em> seaweed produces a chemical that inhibits the growth of other seaweed and, if so, how.<\/p>\n<p>Having worked in the Thornber lab last summer, too, Burns\u00a0seized the chance to conduct independent research once she discovered that one species of <em>Ulva<\/em> had holes in it and another did not. In particular, she said, she is investigating the difference in the amount of holes produced under different conditions,\u00a0and what role the holes may play.<\/p>\n<p>Both species are responsible for harmful algal blooms. Burns said the presence of <em>Ulva<\/em> and the trouble it can cause for the environment as well as for fishermen make it an important species to study. According to Green, <em>Ulva<\/em> is especially opportunistic, growing between 22 to 30 percent per day, which means doubling bloom size every two days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a really important species to know about,\u201d said Burns. \u201cAnything we can learn about the differences, what makes it grow, will be helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Set to graduate in the spring, Burns anticipates she will pursue a master\u2019s degree and possibly work in a lab or seek out an opportunity that involves both research and connecting with the public: \u201cI really love science communication, getting people to understand science.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><em>Story and photo by Amy Dunkle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research fellow: Ivy Burns Hometown: Jamestown, RI Major: Biological Sciences, with plant science focus School: University of Rhode Island Mentors: Carol Thornber, Lindsay Green Project: Tracking harmful algal blooms in Narragansett Bay via ecological and aerial technology approaches Conducting research as an undergraduate in the Thornber lab, Ivy Burns has gained the opportunity not only [&hellip;]<\/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":[582,699,729,735,741,777],"class_list":["post-8094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-surfsup","category-uncategorized","tag-ri-nsf-epscor","tag-surfri2015","tag-undergraduate-education","tag-undergraduate-research","tag-university-of-rhode-island","tag-women-in-science"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8094","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=8094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}