WISP

As a kid growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s in rural Wisconsin, I gave little thought to my environment. When the environment became a “public cause,” many in my community thought of environmentalists as the enemy; activists putting forth propaganda geared toward siphoning money away from hard-working farmers and blue-collar workers to conduct indulgent and meaningless science.

When I was an undergraduate studying sociology at the University of Wisconsin in the ‘80s I had an idealist’s vision of how the world should be and I was excited to continue my education so that I could “fix” the problems. However, the reality was that I had a student loan to repay so I made the choice to get work and pay it back first.

I live in Arlington, MA with my partner Lucy and our 6-year old son, Luc. It is our delight to witness Luc’s love of learning and contagious excitement about the world around him. My wish for him is that he never feels limited as to whatever he wishes to pursue in life.

Personal Interests

In the 15 years since I was in college, I have witnessed exciting progress and the rapid decline of our natural world. I felt a responsibility to participate in raising public awareness, but lacked the confidence to do so. I am not a terribly skilled communicator and I had failed miserably in my attempts to convey to family and friends the need to change the way we live in the world, and I am by no means an activist. My only real skill is writing and so I decided to take a more active role in addressing public skepticism about the state of the environment. In writing about environmental issues and the science taking place in the language of non-scientists, I could perhaps make a difference. However, I had very little science background, and so the first step was to return to school and learn.

It is difficult to shake the thought that I lost 15 years of my life in meaningless jobs simply because I didn’t know my options. Women in the ‘80s weren’t encouraged to pursue careers in science and math. It is for these reasons that I came to realize the importance of involving scientists in local education. By participating as a WISP fellow, I am able to give some part of my own experience to kids and ultimately promote the dreams that I have only recently discovered for myself.

Research Interests

It was at the University of Massachusetts Boston where I felt comfortable enough in my middle age to take on the role of student and where I got excited about the possibility of being a scientist myself. I began talking with professors in the Environmental Earth and Ocean Sciences (EEOS) department about the possibilities open to me and began taking master’s level courses. I eventually began working with Juanita Urban-Rich in her Plankton lab. It was with Dr. Urban-Rich that my interest in zooplankton developed and I began to study the effects of bacteria and solar ultraviolet radiation on fluorescing dissolved organic material (FDOM) exuded by a specific faction of zooplankton. My field work took place where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Working on the R/V Pelican out of Chauvin Louisiana was my happiest time as a student. The implication of the fate of zooplankton FDOM is not yet known, however, the information we get from this study may be of use in developing a method of tracing zooplankton in the water column. This is of value since zooplankton are an important diet of many sea organisms. Additionally, the results may provide insight into the role of zooplankton in carbon cycling within the world’s oceans.