By: Amanda DeLiberto
After much anticipation and excitement in the months leading up to my Wrigley Institute REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program, (and plenty of repacking and packing to make sure I had everything I could possibly need but still fit the airline standards), the morning of my flight came. I was nervous and excited, with no idea what USC had in store for me aside from lots of hard work. In the weeks leading up to first week, I had spoken with my mentor Dr. Doug Capone, and graduate student, Michael Morando, to go over my project – N2 fixation associated with the invasive Sargassum horneri, make plans for my time at WIES, and with some literature to read to catch up on my topic.
As I boarded my plane on June 14th, my emotions were everywhere from excited to nervous and everything in between, especially since it would be my first time on the West Coast after living in the northeast my entire life. I spent the six hour flight wondering what to expect and imagining how the summer would pan out. Upon landing and arriving at USC, I was in love with the beautiful campus that was huge in comparison to my small university. I got settled in my room as the rest of the REU interns started arriving. I was impressed by their backgrounds and the range of topics they’d be studying this summer, from a great hunt for tardigrades to photochemistry of iron.
REU cohort of Summer 2015
The next morning we jumped into the program as we began the REU orientation, led by coordinators Diane Kim and Karla Heidelberg. They briefed us on the program and Institute, and as a group we went over some tactics on meeting with our mentors and how to tackle the obstacles that we might face this summer. Following lunch they let us loose, where everyone went for a tour of the campus while I went to meet with my mentor for the first time, a bit anxious but feeling more prepared after going through the orientation. We went over my project in further detail and scheduled another meeting and some lab time for the next day.
The next day, three students left for Catalina Island where they’d meet with their mentors and spend the week SCUBA diving, while the rest of us dove into a week of meetings, lab training, learning techniques, and spending hours scouring through manuscripts on our topics. We started getting into the crucial details and ins and outs of our projects, developing a plan for the next seven weeks of our summer research.
On the SPOT cruise, passing through the Port of LA
However, the week wasn’t just spent in the lab or at a desk. On Wednesday we had the great opportunity of going on the R/V Yellowfin for a SPOT research cruise. We learned about SPOT, which is the Sand Pedro Ocean Time-series, which sails out once a month with a conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) meter to measure these parameters in the nearby ocean. We got to observe and even assist in the sample collections and processing, while learning about different oceanographic equipment and techniques.
We even somehow found time to enjoy our time exploring LA, which was especially exciting for the out-of-staters like me. We tried out a variety of cuisines, from traditional Mexican, to Thai and even some delicious Ethiopian food at El Mercado. We made a trip to Downtown LA where we caught a movie, explored the Natural History Museum, took a trip to Santa Monica for a beach day, and one of us even found the time to walk over to Hollywood. All in all it was a whirlwind of a week, filled with lots of learning, delicious food, and new experiences that brought us close as an REU cohort. We all learned a lot during the first week, and we embarked on the Miss Christi boat, equipped with not only our luggage, but tons of new skills that we’ll put to use during our summer of intense and exciting research on the beautiful Catalina Island.
REUs at the Natural History Museum of LA
Amanda comes to the WIES REU program from the University of New Haven, Class of 2016. Her major is Marine Biology and Biology, with a Chemistry minor.
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