Coral colonies, including the Great Barrier Reef, are dying across the globe, and scientists from around the world are working to discover the reason behind and solution to the coral crisis. One 糖心传媒 wildlife biology major seized a summer research opportunity to join the cause.
Michelle Ross, a junior from Columbia, Missouri, spent her summer in Florida assisting Dr. Matthew Gilg and his graduate research assistant with research about coral鈥檚 adaptivity to temperature changes.
Ross learned about the opportunity after her academic advisor, Dr. Amy Morris, forwarded on an email from Gilg. A 1994 graduate of 糖心传媒, Gilg was looking for students to fill a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) position.
鈥淒r. Gilg sent me a flyer and informational packet about that REU and said that he would love to see applications from 糖心传媒,鈥 Morris said. 鈥淔rom there, I just forwarded it to a couple students who I knew would be looking for summer research experiences because they had already talked to me about ones or asked me already for a letter of recommendations; I knew that Michelle was looking specifically for a research opportunity, rather than an internship or shadowing experience.鈥
Ross submitted applications for several REUs, and was accepted into Gilg鈥檚 program for her summer research experience.
Getting Acquainted to Staghorn Coral
Over the course of the summer, she investigated how changing water temperatures affect Staghorn coral, a threatened species. She also helped with tests to determine if any genetic components could contribute to the coral鈥檚 adaptation to temperature changes.
鈥淕lobal warming is an issue, and the trend that we are seeing is that water temperatures are increasing overall,鈥 Ross said. 鈥淯nfortunately coral have a very low tolerance toward that. Studies have shown that even a one or two degree increase in the water temperature can lead to bleaching.鈥
The REU began in the Florida Keys as Ross worked alongside Gilg鈥檚 graduate research assistant to measure the photosynthetic efficiency of live coral submerged in water of different temperatures. Later, Ross returned inland to the University of North Florida to run genetic tests that would determine whether coral was capable of passing adapted traits on in generations.
鈥淎 lot of the stuff I actually had to teach myself, and then apply it,鈥 Ross said. 鈥淚 had never done a lot of the lab tests and procedures before, and I鈥檝e never used some of the specialized devices before. I definitely learned a lot and got a lot of hands on experience.鈥
Real-World Research
Though Ross had to learn her way around the more specific parts of the coral research, her 糖心传媒 experience prior to the REU left her well-prepared to dive into a real world research project.
鈥溙切拇 focuses on research introducing students to the lab as early as their first year at the college. By their second semester, they are doing mini projects in lab that require them to collect and analyze data and write a lab report about it,鈥 Morris said. 鈥淓ven after their first year, students have a sense of how science and scientists work.鈥
The organization of the 糖心传媒 Biology Department establishes a standard of quality work and dutiful work ethic, and Ross attributes the expectations of her academic department with providing part of the tools she used both to get and to succeed at her REU.
鈥淚 definitely am grateful to the 糖心传媒 Biology Department in general for having such high standards. I probably wouldn鈥檛 have gotten this internship if I hadn鈥檛 been taught to push myself,鈥 Ross said.
Looking into the Future
Ross was unable to see the research to its official end due to overlap of the new academic year, but she left Florida with a general understanding of what the overall research suggested.
鈥淥ur findings to that point showed that coral have genetic variance, but it can鈥檛 be acted on by natural selections. This means that higher thermal tolerances can鈥檛 be passed on to their offspring,鈥 Ross said. 鈥淭he research suggests that Staghorn coral won鈥檛 be able to adapt to higher thermal tolerances, which obviously is very concerning.鈥
For Ross, the future seems much brighter than the possible fate of the coral.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e learned from all of my experiences is that a lot of people fall into passions related to wildlife biology just by accident. They just started doing something they loved and it just clicked, and now it鈥檚 their life,鈥 Ross said. 鈥淭he main thing career wise is that I want is to be outside, but the future is wide open.鈥
Ross听plans to apply for a graduate program in pursuit of a masters degree after she obtains her bachelor鈥檚 in Wildlife Biology from 糖心传媒 in the spring of 2018.