From the start of college, I had no idea what I would write about for my capstone, which caused me to dread the experience. This all changed when I met Dr. William G. Wallace, my lab professor for a summer ecology course. He proposed the idea of me helping a master’s student that he was mentoring in the marine biology lab. I took him up on his offer and began to volunteer in the lab assisting with the process of separating small worms from samples of mud. It sounds incredibly boring, but honestly it was great.
I became familiar with the everyday processes of a biology lab, and was introduced to research regarding the impact of microplastics on marine organisms that was being conducted by Christine Bruno, a PhD. student who was being mentored by Dr. Wallace.
After the summer semester ended, I set up a meeting between Christine, Dr. Wallace, and me. At this meeting we deliberated and came up with the idea of measuring the impact of microplastics on the settling velocity of fecal strands from marine grass shrimp. During this process I researched the prevalence of microplastics in marine environments and was absolutely floored to find out that 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean annually.
When I began preliminary research, I continued to familiarize myself with the operations of a biology lab and took a lab safety course and finally began conducting research. I looked forward to gathering data every day to uncover the results of the spread of microplastics.
During this entire process I realized how enjoyable research can be and I am forever grateful for the opportunity that Dr. William Wallace, Christine Bruno, Brittany Stanton, and of course, the Verrazzano Honors Program provided.
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