The McMurdo Dry Valleys don’t look like they belong in Antarctica. Largely devoid of snow, the landscape is mostly dirt and rock. When explorer Robert Falcon Scott trekked the area in 1903, he referred to it as “the valley of the dead.”
Beneath the water, weightlessness envelops the body and sounds are amplified. The hiss of the regulator chimes like a metronome, mixing with the natural soundscape produced by ocean creatures and processes: the crunch from fish as they nibble on coral reefs and the crash of the waves above.
Tiny fragments of DNA permeate the air, soil, and water around us. This environmental DNA (eDNA) unlocks a non-invasive way to monitor biodiversity and detect species that might otherwise go unnoticed.
For over a decade, the SRJC-BML Internship Program has offered Santa Rosa Junior College students hands-on research opportunities at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, connecting the JC students with UC Davis graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff mentors across a range of scientific fields.
Katrina Anderson is a fifth-year college student at the Santa Rosa Junior College working towards a master’s degree in zoology and environmental science. Last summer, she worked with Lily McIntire, a graduate student at San Diego State University, through the SRJC-BML Internship Program.
Sophia Chin's goal is to interweave natural science and visual art as a way to encourage climate activism. As an intern at Bodega Marine Lab, Sophia created animations and videos highlighting the work and research at the lab and surrounding reserve.
