Summer Fellows

Thanks to NSF Grant CAREER:2044871, Dr. Gold has funds for a multi-year fellowship bringing community college students to the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory. The goal of this fellowship was to demystify science and the academic process. In addition to our scientific work, we hiked the redwood forests, went tide pooling, and had lots of valuable lunches with scientific faculty and professionals.

Congratulations to the 2024 Gold Lab Fellows!

    • Kate Davies
    • Sarah Ixchel Reyes Luna
    • Ariela Parrish

 

Our main project involved studying sea sponges in the Bodega Marine Reserve. We tested the hypothesis that the addition of inorganic calcium carbonate could increase skeleton production in the sea sponge Leucilla nuttingi. The logic was that the additional calcium carbonate could buffer against the negative effects of acidic waters on sponge growth.

A big thank you to Chris Mulligan for helping run the program. And thank you to Kristen Brown, Princess Gilbert, Gen Sparks, Anya Brown, Adrien Segal, Tsim Schneider, and Alyssa Griffin for their time and advice.

 

Congratulations to the 2023 Gold Lab Fellows!

    • Kyleigh Guitierez
    • Erik Ortega

Our main project involved studying clam burrows in the Bodega Marine Reserve, testing the hypothesis that clam burrows are associated with increased shells. This came from our initial observations that some burrows seemed to have an abundance of tiny, juvenile clam shells in the sediment surrounding them. If true, it could provide clams a natural buffer from the acidic water that build up in their burrows. Check out the poster we put together summarizing our work:

A big thank you to Hannah Kempf, Liyu Mekonnen, and Chris Mulligan for helping run the program. And thank you to Princess Gilbert, PaĆ³la Benefo, Anya Brown, Lauren Ashlock, Alyssa Griffin, and Tessa Hill for their time and advice.

There will be a new set of fellows for summer 2024. Keep watch of this spot for details!