My Skills

I have developed a diverse skill set through my experiences in lab, field, and virtual settings. To provide a brief look at what is detailed below, I have experience in microscopy, dissection and basic lab protocols, several field sample collection methods, programming in Python and using image analysis software, along with other skills I have honed for many years!

Lab Skills & Experience

Microscopy

Pinned ants for morphological measurements: precise positioning of the ants' legs and antennae for placement; with lots of patience (and broken ant legs), I now consider myself an expert in micro-coordination
Used microscopy to aide in dissection of small organisms, including the removal of otoliths from silversides as well as taking gill and mantle tissue from seed oysters
Chased copepods around a petri dish, sucking them up with a pipette to set up the next generation culture for an ongoing adaptation experiment
Owned my own microscope: observed fun mold on fruits; solved my roommate's bug problem by identifying a biscuit/drugstore beetle under the scope

Dissection

Much of my summer internship with the Smithsonian was spent dissecting adult striped bass. Nearly every major organ was collected to be analyzed for parasites and signs of disease. I also dissected juvenile striped bass and herring.
As part of my thesis research, I dissected seed oysters, taking gill and mantle tissue samples from which I extracted RNA for gene expression analysis.

Sample Preparation and Lab Protocols

Experienced with preparing samples for Carbon and Nitrogen stable isotope analysis and using a microbalance; used a mortar and pestle to grind up seal scat, then weighed out samples for analysis
Performed basic biology lab protocols, including DNA extractions, PCR, and anything that involves measuring constituents with a pipette or balance
Experienced in using machines including thermocyclers and centrifuges

Me catching copepods as part of a long term adaptation experiment in Morgan Kelly's lab. I really enjoyed watching them swim around and respond to my movements. Fun fact: copepods, due to their small size, experience their watery environment as if it were syrup! Shout out to my Intro to Oceanography professor for teaching me about Reynold's Numbers.

Field Skills & Experience

Specimen Collection

Familiar with using a gill net, seine net, trawl net, and dredge off the back of a boat
Performed intertidal transects and finding target organisms, namely snails
Used calipers to measure small creatures, like oysters and snails; used measuring tape to measure live, wriggling fish

In-Field Environmental Data

Used equipment used to collect environmental data: YSI multiparameter water quality meter, refractometer, secchi disk, GPS with radar, et cetera

Watercraft Operation

I have a Maryland Boater's license, and have been operating motorized watercraft since 2007.

Fellow intern, Nick, and I pulling in a gill net in a Chesapeake tributary. Our target fish were juvenile striped bass, pictured here as we got lucky and deployed the net in the way of a school. I'll admit I spoke soothingly as I un-gilled each fish, I like to think it calmed them down.

Technical Skills & Experience

Programming

Thanks to an Intro to Computing for Biologists course (see Final Project code), I have experience using Python and Bash to write programs. Throughout the course, I became familiar with data editing and analysis using the command line and writing scripts.

Software Experience

Used ImageJ to collect morphological measurements of copepods and to calculate the shapes of otoliths
Familiar with Microsoft and Google products

Experimental Design and Setup

Designed experimental setups with experience in rigging plumbing systems for a number of tanks

This is ImageJ! I took this picture in high school when I volunteered in SERC's Marine Ecology Lab under Denise Breitburg. I used this software to measure the shapes of silverside otoliths; back then, I thought they looked like the Dragon Stone from Dragon Tales.

Interpersonal Strengths

Leadership

I have experience leading small groups of people. For my thesis project, I work with two fellow undergraduate students that report to me for tasks. Together, we were able to design and set up an entire wet lab for the experiment, and they seek guidance from me as they plan their own projects. I have also served as Vice President of an honor society as well a committee chair (see my Achievements page).

Communication Across the Curriculum

As part of my Distinguished Communicator program at LSU, I enrolled in courses that emphasized communication in written, spoken, technological, and visual forms (see my Education & Honors page). Some examples:
- OCS 4000 Senior Capstone projects aimed to incorporate teamwork and peer feedback in presenting research. My team focused on potential solutions to anthropogenic causes of coastal hypoxia. We received great marks from judges and peers on both our Presentation and Poster. Individually, I also created this outreach Pamphlet.
- OCS 4012 "Biology of Marine Vertebrates" utilized Twitter as a platform for communicating scientific discovery to the public.
- EMS 3040 "Applied Environmental Management" encouraged strong presentation skills while arguing the effectiveness of a management system. I conducted my research on the potential for aquaponics to solve the food desert problem. See my Presentation and my Paper.
- HNRS 2021 "Film and Poetry", while not STEM-related, challenged me to explore beyond the face-value of words and images. I used words to give meaning to images, similar to how a researcher would make sense of data. Check out my Final Project.

Personal Development

During my summer at SERC, my fellow interns and I were encouraged to request assessment from coworkers and mentors on our personal strengths and weaknesses. Here are some highlights:
- Fellow interns described me as a "collaborative leader who creates a more productive workspace."
- I was appreciated as a team member who "listens to the needs of others and encourages positivity."
- I have also been acknowledged for my "motivation and determination to succeed despite difficult situations."

This is me and my fellow officers of Tri Beta. This was the year I was inducted as College Committee Chair.

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