Sargassum, Phytoplankton, and Biogeochemistry at CSI

 

Hello, my name is Tara Hinton! I’m a sophomore here at the Outer Banks Field site, majoring in Environmental Studies (and possibly Folklore!) and minoring in G.I.S.

 I came to the Outer Banks field site with interdisciplinary interests and experience in fieldwork but decided to focus on scientific research and hone my data analysis skills this semester. I had the pleasure of interning at CSI in the Ecology and Biochemistry in Marine and Coastal Systems Lab (Lindsay is the P.I.!) under Claire Johnson, a graduate student in the lab. Lindsay’s lab uses biogeochemistry to study productivity and nutrient cycling in aquatic, and marine ecosystems. As a graduate student, Claire is interested in nitrogen fixation by sargassum and phytoplankton in the Gulf Stream.

A bit about my role as an intern:

As an intern in this lab, my work was split between experiments and data analysis. Clair gave me responsibility over a couple of years of phytoplankton data, which I searched for trends. Throughout the semester, I worked on ways to visualize this large dataset in Excel; which involved many ridiculously-colored Excel spreadsheets. Here are a couple of figures that I created to visualize data. HABs, harmful algal bloom-forming species, are phytoplankton that can become a nuisance or are toxic to marine life. I looked into the abundance of HABs in three years of data that Lindsay and Claire collected from the Gulf Stream.

But it wasn’t all Excel spreadsheets and data analysis! With Claire’s guidance (and patience!), I developed an experiment to test nutrient use in phytoplankton from sargassum-dominated areas of the Gulf Stream. Essentially, I tested phytoplankton growth responses to the additions of nutrients, like phosphate and nitrogen, in different salinities.  In relatively nutrient-poor areas of the Ocean, phytoplankton and sargassum play an important role in cycling nutrients, so it’s critical to understand how different communities respond to nutrients. Plus, with increasing anthropogenic nutrient inputs to aquatic environments, it’s important to understand how organisms at the bottom of the food chain react! 

 

Gulf Stream Trip

Lindsay’s lab routinely makes boat trips to the Gulf Stream, collecting phytoplankton and sargassum for experiments as they go. I was delighted when Lindsay and Claire invited me to go out on the boat for a Gulf Stream Cruise in mid-October! I was so excited to collect phytoplankton samples for my experiment and venture out to the Gulf Stream for the first time. 

Fieldwork almost always involves early mornings! Claire, Rebekah (our wonderful lab tech and OBXFS 21’er), and Emmy (our amazing photojournalist intern) left CSI far before the sun rose. After loading tens of empty buckets for water samples and sargassum onto a fishing boat, we set off of foggy Hatteras waters into the rougher swells of the ocean. And boy – seasickness is no joke! Fortunately, I felt better just in time to help out with data collection – and spot two sea turtles (sorry to disappoint – no pictures)!

Rebekah and I take LICOR and YSI measurements, while Claire records the data.
More data collection!

After collecting data, water samples, and sargassum, we headed in and hauled our buckets and buckets into the truck and back to the lab. The sun set over CSI, and we took a break to chat and eat dinner together. These are some of the best moments in lab work; I love getting to personally know the brilliant people working alongside and mentoring me. 

Filtering water samples in preparation for the next day’s experiments!

Analysis

After adding nutrients to my phytoplankton samples, Claire and I analyzed them for chlorophyll a content, and I analyzed my samples under the microscope. Although I’ve put all of my experiment supplies away, cleaned all of my beakers and vials, and closed up the microscope, I’m excited to continue analyzing the data that so many people helped me gather this semester.

A diatom, a type of phytoplankton, to the right.

Reflections

Thanks to the patience and knowledge of my mentor, I got a great taste of lab work in the ecology and biogeochemistry fields.  There’s so much to say about what I learned, but a couple of lessons stick out.

Experimental design is an involved process, but staying on your toes in lab work is just as difficult! It is so important to have a printed experimental protocol during lab work, so that experiments go smoothly and efficiently.

Research is difficult, and it is alright to mess up. Between pipetting incorrectly and learning to perform dilution calculations on the fly to Gulf Stream-induced sea sickness, I have certainly had my fair share of not-so-graceful moments. It’s important to learn from mistakes but to also be gentle with yourself. 

Research is as much about being playful and creative as it is about logic and expertise. This is a great attitude to have when trouble-shooting and designing experiments! Though I’m not sure if my future will hold more Gulf Stream cruises and phytoplankton experiments, I am so grateful for the experiences, expertise, time, and resources that my wonderful mentor, Claire, and my professor, Lindsay, have extended to me. 

 

Fall in the Air

It’s October, the days are chillier now (50s or 60s – imagine!), and there’s that fall smell in the air. With fall, our cohort has changed too – become a little closer, played a couple more card games, caught a couple more sunsets, and rushed to Front Porch to get a couple more coffees. We’ve switched out our bare feet and sandals for shoes (most of the time!) and our bathing suits for sweaters. Pumpkin bread has finally made its appearance at the Wanchese Farmer’s Market and during weekend thrifting trips, we dredge up warmer clothes to fight off CSI’s vicious winds. With fall have come new lessons and adventures, and I’ll share a couple here.

Lesson #1:   Understanding place

On Friday, we took a field trip that provided a look at the economies and ecotourism in surrounding towns, helping us to understand this coastal place. It was a busy day! First, we visited Duck, a town north of Kitty Hawk, which has a year-round population of just over 700 that skyrockets to 20,000 around July. Our group got the chance to meet with Matthew Price, the local developer of The Waterfront Shops in Duck, to discuss sustainable development along the coast.

Next, we moved further North to Corolla and the northern beach communities, economies based on natural resources. Once filled with hunting lodges and wealthy hunt clubs, today these areas are valued family vacation and recreation destinations. Tours around the Corolla and Carova beaches gave us insight into the difficulty of local decision-making when most stakeholders aren’t local. Our cohort also trekked up the 220 steps leading to the top of Currituck Lighthouse. The view was worth it!

The Pine Island Audubon Society was our last stop of the day, and Anya, who’s interning there this semester, gave us a quick tour of the property and its management as the sun set over the marsh. As we packed into the van to head back, I began to consider the range of perspectives we had experienced and felt puzzle pieces coming together in my mind. The stakes we all hold in the coast are high, and in these dynamic natural spaces, our interests interact in very nuanced ways.

Lesson #2:

Fall on Roanoke Island wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Island Farm’s Pumpkin Patch! Just a mile down the road from the Guest House, the Island Farm is a living history site and working farm that interprets what life for Roanoke Islanders was like in the early 1800s. Through this site, visitors can see how people made Roanoke Island home.  During certain Saturdays in October, the Island Farm hosts a fall celebration, where visitors can pick out pumpkins grown on the farm. We arrived promptly at 11 am on Saturday the 15th, and the farm was already buzzing with vendors and families. At the entrance, a giant Island Farm-grown pumpkin greeted us – it ended up weighing around 1,200 pounds! We soon selected our own unique array of pumpkins with impressive color ranges from mint green to fiery orange.

By 1:00 pm, we had all tried our hands at blacksmithing, crafted beeswax candles, and been defeated by Josh and Leanna in a high-stakes group tug-of-war game. There couldn’t be a better way to understand the historicity of the land we’re making home this semester. As we make this place home, it’s important to understand how people before us made this island home.

A lively pumpkin-carving party soon ensued on Saturday night. We have quite a few artists in the group!

Anna and Josh show off their chandlery skills
Group picture at the Island Farm

 

Lesson #3:

OBX falls bring sunsets of stronger colors – bright reds, oranges, and pinks.  After pumpkin picking on the island farm, we caught a chilly sunset at Jockey’s Ridge, the massive sand dunes overlooking the Sound sunset. More lessons from fall: Jockey’s ridge gets dark quickly after sunset and quickly turns from familiar rolling hills to an alien landscape. Beautiful – and scary!

Lesson #4: Soft-serve ice cream is always good, no matter the time or season! Last weekend, our cohort took a rather chilly impromptu night trip to our favorite ice cream place, Frosties, in downtown Manteo. They have good ice cream (try the cereal milk flavor, if you have the chance), and the inside walls are covered in ice cream puns!

As the leaves begin to turn red, the navigationally challenged among us (that’s me!) are proud to say that we no longer need Google Maps to find our way home.