Person kneeling on muddy tidal flat, installing planting stakes under blue sky

My Summer Sediments

An SRJC-BML Internship Story

by Susan Escoto
October 23, 2026

My name is Susan Escoto and I am going into my third year as a biology student at the Santa Rosa Junior College. I have aspirations to transfer to UC Davis in the fall of 2028 to continue working towards a bachelor's degree in microbiology. From there I will apply to graduate school where I will study the human gut microbiome. I had the wonderful opportunity during the summer of 2026 to intern at the Bodega Marine Lab working with 3rd year PhD candidate Elisabeth Sellinger as my mentor and my co-mentee Kaye Burfoot in the Ocean Climate/Hill lab. I came in with the goal of getting good hands on lab experience as well as learning more about what it's like to be a graduate student. Elisabeth really came through in providing me with this experience.

Shallow clear water with long green seagrass blades over a sandy bottom

Elisabeth studies seagrass sediments and their contributions to blue carbon. At the start of the internship, she presented us with a project that would help her research. Our task was to analyze sediment samples that she had previously collected from Elkhorn Slough, Ca. Using thermogravimetric analysis to measure loss on ignition through a stepwise series of temperatures ranging from 350 C to 550 C. She gave us the freedom to tailor the project to what interested us most, whether it be comparing mass loss from different depths or looking at the differences across different sites. We chose to do a mix of both but really focusing on looking for patterns in organic carbon content across the sites. In addition to the experimental set up, we were given the task of an independent research project to learn more about the organic compounds that are present in these sediments and the rate at which these compounds degrade thermally. I learned a lot from this project due to the fact that I didn’t know much about blue carbon coming into this internship. I have a new found appreciation for mud and the work that is being done by Elisabeth and the Ocean Climate lab. I also had the opportunity to do one day of fieldwork with Elisabeth at another site in Tomales bay where she was measuring sediment accumulation rates. It was another new experience for me, walking through the mudflats was challenging, but once I got the hang of it I really enjoyed it.

White sample cups with beige powder on blue tray beside Mettler Toledo scale and papers

As I move on in my education, I will carry my experience gained through my internship with me. I have learned a lot about navigating my way through the path to grad school, some really cool new science, and gained essential lab skills that will add to my experience for future lab jobs.