My Summer Internship at the Bodega Marine Lab
An SRJC-BML Internship Story
I had the privilege to participate in a summer internship at the Bodega Marine Lab and I absolutely loved it. I heard about the internship while taking classes at the Santa Rosa Junior College and decided to apply. Over the summer I learned many new skills and gained experience working in a lab. I was supervised by a graduate student during my time and I learned so much from them as well. My project, which I got to design myself, was measuring how much oxygen urchins from different tidal zones consume. I collected urchins from tide pools at a few different locations and used respirometry chambers to measure their respiration rates. I then used computer software to analyze the data and presented my experiment at the end of the summer.
What have been some of the highlights and biggest learning experiences from your internship?
The biggest highlight for me personally was seeing my data and getting to interpret it. I had spent the majority of the summer collecting data on this experiment that I helped design, so there was some anxiety about having made a mistake or that the findings would be inconclusive. I was so thrilled when I saw my figures that the findings were significant and mirrored my hypothesis! Getting to see your own scientific process coalesce into tangible results was incredibly satisfying.
How do you think your experience at BML will help prepare you for the future?
Working in a lab for the first time was an invaluable experience for anyone wishing to pursue a career in science. It taught me so much about what it’s like to design and run an experiment and introduced me to many inspiring people. My graduate gave me some great advice about jobs in science, working efficiently, and how to plan for further education after graduating.
About the Program:
The SRJC-BML Internship Program provides summer research opportunities for Santa Rosa Junior College students at the Bodega Marine Laboratory.