海角社区

Undergraduate student lab workers work in hard in faculty research labs across CC&E, contributing to the knowledge of coastal and environmental issues while reaping the benefits of participating in world class research.

BATON ROUGE - When Coastal Environmental Science, or CES, student Maile Braden first began working in Crystal Johnson鈥檚 Molecular Microbiology Lab, she was surprised to hear that, instead of washing lab dishes and straightening up, Johnson, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences, wanted her to work on a project for NASA.

鈥淚 was like, okay, I鈥檓 up for the challenge,鈥� Braden said.

The College of the Coast & Environment boasts more than 30 faculty research labs, performing everything from computer modeling to plankton research. This work is powered in no small part by teams of undergraduate and graduate lab workers, who reap the benefits of participating in world-class research while contributing to the knowledge of many coastal and environmental issues.

According to Giulio Mariotti, an associate professor in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences and CC&E鈥檚 Internships Coordinator, working in a lab as an undergraduate can provide a lot of benefits. 鈥淲orking in a lab gives you the opportunity to perform real-world research, thus exposing you to a variety of challenges that you normally don鈥檛 encounter during normal coursework. In addition to discipline specific skills, you will gain general skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, time management, data management, written and oral communication,鈥� he said.

Braden, a senior, has been working in Johnson鈥檚 lab for almost a year now, on the personal research project Johnson assigned to her鈥攄eveloping a protocol to extract RNA from norovirus, a highly contagious virus,  and then use it to detect the virus鈥檚 presence in raw oysters. This project is part of Johnson鈥檚 larger project of better understanding the conditions in which norovirus, as well as vibrios鈥攁 pathenogenic bacterium鈥攖hrive in oysters harvested around Louisiana.

Braden鈥檚 eventual goal is to work in public health, as an epidemiologist. However, out of all she鈥檚 gotten from her lab experience, she values most the connections she鈥檚 making with others. 鈥淢y favorite part of working in a lab is the people I get to work with. I love meeting like-minded people,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his lab is really special. We have a really great team.鈥�

"Maile loves research with her whole heart. Once she commits to a component of the norovirus and vibrio project, she gives it 100%, and she runs with it,鈥� said Johnson. 鈥淚n fact, she loves science so much, it makes her clench her fists and her jaw when you ask her about her project! I am ecstatic and proud to have Maile Braden represent my lab, the CES major, and 海角社区. I can't wait to see what else she contributes to the world of science and to the world in general."

Some undergraduate lab workers find new places for skills they鈥檝e already honed. Olivia LaRochelle, a junior CES 鈥� Biological Sciences double major, has been volunteering in Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Professor Mark Benfield鈥檚 Zooplankton Lab for the past semester, building a special underwater camera known as a Planktoscope. 鈥淚 like building things,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 able to tie in my robotics background.鈥�  The Planktoscope comes from an open source kit, and once assembled, will be used to take pictures of phytoplankton.

"I've enjoyed Dr. Benfield's lab for building my interdisciplinary skills as a developing scientist,鈥� Olivia said. "I'm looking forward to exploring opportunities that combine environmental science and the use of some small scale engineering."

鈥淯ndergraduate students in my lab bring new skills and experiences with them. It鈥檚 great to see them become invested in a project,鈥� Benfield said. 鈥淚n the case of the Planktoscope, Olivia has a lot more recent experience working on electronics than I do. She gets a chance to work on a new system and I get the help I need in constructing it.鈥�

Coastal Environmental Sciences students who are interested in gaining laboratory experience can reach out directly to faculty whose research they are interested in, said Mariotti. They should provide a short description of their interests. Students can also contact Mariotti for help, at gmariotti@lsu.edu.