Over the past academic year, University of Rhode Island junior Erin Tully has thought about nothing but As, Cs, Gs, and Ts, the basic code of DNA sequencing.
Arriving between classes at her computer in Dr. Bethany Jenkins’ lab, the New Britain, Conn. native has been developing a database of diatom communities from water samples collected in Narragansett Bay through PCR (polymerase chain reaction), a common technique for marine biologists to measure the types and abundance of plankton species in the ocean.
“The sequencing program, R, merges the DNA codes so that if I see ATT, for example, I know that is a [diatom] Thalassosira,” explains Tully. “Merging is the big step, as from there I can assign the taxonomy of a species based on the code.”
Tully is one of Consortium’s “SURF+” undergraduates, providing her the opportunity to conduct ongoing marine research of ecological changes happening in Narragansett Bay. But why diatoms? They’re one of the most important plankton species in our world’s oceans, says Tully.
“One in every fifth breath you take is oxygen produced by a diatom,” she emphasizes. “Theirs is a whole world no one knows exists.”
During the summer, Tully was fully trained in water sample collection and preparation, traveling between day-long cruises on Narragansett Bay and the research lab, where she learned the many steps needed to prepare water samples for DNA analysis.
“After going out on the boat one or two times a week, I had to make sure every sample was labeled with the correct date and prepared for filtration,” Tully notes. “Then I cleaned up, the typical undergraduate thing to do.”
Through her research, Tully is comparing diatom communities at two current sampling sites, URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography and off Fox Island in North Kingstown, in order to better understand whether the abundance of these important species changes based on location, time of the year, or both.
“As scientists studying microscopic organisms, we get to see below the surface, quite literally,” says the URI junior of her passion for studying marine life. “I get to see the complex relationships that water produces.”
After presenting her work at the Consortium’s annual research symposium this past April, Tully took a sabbatical from URI after receiving a $19,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study ocean acidification impacts on crab species indigenous to Puget Sound in Washington State. This fall, she is studying at Cal State-Monterrey Bay through the National Student Exchange Program.
“Working on a ship and in the lab all the time, I love it,” stresses Tully. “I want to be able to communicate my passion for marine ecology to people and say, ‘this is important, let me talk to you about why you should care.’”