Marine Bacteria Encapsulation--Success!

After months of work and lots failures and successes, my encapsulation technique for marine bacteria finally worked! As mentioned in a previous post, I have been volunteering at the Bradley S. Moore Lab at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography since April 2018. After summer break, I began an independent project that I am still working on and will continue to explore throughout my senior year of college. In short, the lab's overall goal is to discover natural products from bacteria in the sea. Some of these bacteria reside in sponges, but their ability to grow in three-dimensional animals like the sponge makes it difficult to grow them on the flat surfaces or in liquid solutions we traditionally use to grow bacteria in lab.

Because we need to be able to grow bacteria to find and use the chemicals they produce for medicinal purposes, I have been working on a new technique for growing space-dependent bacteria in the laboratory. This technique includes encapsulating bacteria in micro-orbs made of a sugar and chitosan. Encapsulation can be compared to putting bacteria into a jelly-like substance and enclosing the "jelly" in a casing. In the past, I was successful in growing terrestrial bacteria with this technique, but ran into problems when I switched to growing marine bacteria.

Capsules under a microscope.

The issue with the capsules with marine bacteria and in seawater depended on a few things. First, I noticed the marine bacteria were dying once encapsulated. After a bit of thinking and trial-and-error, my mentor and I found that this was because the pH (or acidity) of the sugar I was using was too low. The pH of the ocean is about 8. The acidic nature of the sugar was killing the marine bacteria before they could even be encapsulated in chitosan. 

Second, marine bacteria are used to surviving in salty seawater, and the sugar did not contain salt. The osmotic imbalance of the cells and the sugar may have been popping the cells. We were able to adjust the balance of salt in the sugar mixture to match the balance of different salts commonly found in the ocean to make sure the bacteria were happy, healthy, and staying alive during encapsulation.

Known marine bacterial species, Shewanella japonica, is grown using encapsulation and popped on a plate for visual confirmation of the technique's validity.

Once we were able to make the proper pH and salt adjustments, marine bacteria were able to be encapsulated, grown, and cultured like the original terrestrial species! 

Now, I am experimenting with using the capsules to separate a mixture of many types of bacteria. Stay tuned for more updates to come!

                                                    -Em

Iceland Field Work at Swami's

Clouds reminiscent of snow-capped mountains act as the setting for Alternative Breaks students as they learn the field techniques they will be using to study climate change in the Arctic. 

In mid-February, UC San Diego's Alternative Break Sustainability team visited Swami's State Beach with Scripps professor, Dr. Carolyn Kurle, to practice field techniques for the group's upcoming expedition to Iceland in August 2019. Alternative Breaks strives to give undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct service-learning projects relative to their major in locations around the world. As written in previous blogs, I will be traveling to Hólar, Iceland this August to conduct climate change research in marine and terrestrial environments as a team member.

UC San Diego students conduct a survey of the intertidal zone--an ecosystem greatly affected by temperature change--at Swami's State Beach.

While in Iceland, the team will be participating in several research projects. The plan is to conduct surveys of marine intertidal zones and mountainous terrestrial habitats to determine which species live in which zones and at what elevations. This could be important in our exploration of the effects of climate change in the Arctic because temperature changes at different elevations can affect the elevations organisms can survive at. We'll be doing a lot of hiking and observing!

One student examines a small sea hare found in one of the tide pools.

With little less than a month before the start of the trip, we have prepared by attending weekly meetings where we learned about the culture, history, and traditions of Iceland. We are also planning an outreach portion of the trip for when we return to bring awareness to the climate-related findings we may discover.

A large rock covered in mussels are observed to learn how animals in the intertidal zone protect themselves from drying-out during low tide.

If you would like to support our expedition and receive more updates, please like our team's Facebook page: "UC San Diego Iceland Alternative Break 2019".

Thanks for tuning in! More updates from Iceland to come!

Sedna Sea Woman

This incredible image is courtesy of Waterproof Cruises & Expeditions and photographer and explorer Göran Ehlmé of Waterproof International. The small silver speckles in the water are herring fish scales!

About 7 months ago, I wrote a Facebook post that read:

"As I’ve recently begun to think more about my 'after college' plans, I’ve found myself intimidated and nervous about entering a career field that is mostly dominated by men. However, today I learned about the existence of Sedna Epic Expeditions, an all-female crew of ocean explorers dedicated to studying climate change and participating in cultural exchanges with communities in the Arctic. I cannot explain the excitement I feel right now, but I am overwhelmed with inspiration at the goals and accomplishments of this all-female team!"

I remember sitting in my cubicle at my summer internship, in tears after reading about Sedna for the first time. Some of you may know that as a young female studying science, I am always aware of the historical and present-day gender discrepancies in my field of study. To find a group of women I could look up to and imagine myself being in the future was inspiring, empowering, and completely life-changing.

I wanted to be like the women I was reading about so badly. I made a life plan: graduate from UC San Diego in 2020, get my Master's in Biological Oceanography from Scripps, Moss Landing, or Woods Hole, work for NOAA, get my SCUBA license, and then maybe I would be accomplished enough to join this group of amazing women in their mission.

I began emailing some of the women directly, telling them how inspiring their involvement in the all-female expedition was. 

As I was reading each of their bios, I noticed that one of the women--Cynthia Matzke--was an alumna at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a teacher at UC San Diego's Sally Ride Science Academy. 

I almost cried again when she responded to my email, agreeing to meet with me upon return from the Sedna expedition she was on that summer.

We connected, and she began mentoring me. In December, Cynthia informed me that Sedna was looking for more women to join the team for a November 2019 expedition to Norway, where they would be participating in leadership workshops, snorkeling with and filming Orca and Humpback whales feeding on herring, interacting with Saami women and girls, and conducting some scientific research in the process.

Winter snorkeling with Orcas and Humpbacks above the Arctic Circle in Norway. Video compliments of The 2014-2018 Sedna Epic Expedition's partner Waterproof Cruises & Expeditions.

I cried again when Cynthia encouraged me to apply. Joining Sedna was a life dream, not one I thought was tangible as an undergraduate student. To get the opportunity to simply apply was a huge deal to me.

A few months later, I am extremely honored and proud to announce that I am officially a Sedna Sea Woman and will be joining my role models on the Norway expedition this November!

As the youngest member of the Norway team, I have been gifted the amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live with and learn from university professors, underwater videographers, scientists, explorers, artists, divers, and more as we explore Norwegian fjords together. We will be in frigid water with 50 ton whales, studying their feeding patterns and capturing video of their fragile beauty. Best of all, we will be building connections among ourselves and hopefully with Saami women, girls, and children as we unite to tackle issues regarding climate change together.

I not only feel honored, but also empowered to be a member of this team. I am grateful that I have been given this opportunity at such a young age, and I am eager to take in every bit of knowledge I can and run with it!

If you are interested in supporting the expedition and the SeaWomen of Sedna, I will be conveying more information to you in the coming months!

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me, offered me advice, and provided me with the opportunities to learn and serve that have gotten me to this point.

Until next time,
Em




Check out the Sedna Facebook Page for more information!

Iceland Research-- Prep and Field Work

Hello again! It's been a while since my last post, but I've been so busy with a lot of really awesome opportunities and classes at UC San Diego that I've had to wait until I had a free moment to post again! I wanted to give a quick update on the expedition I will be participating in to Hólar, Iceland in August. As you may recall from the last post, I have the opportunity to conduct climate change research with a group of UC San Diego students, UC San Digeo Associate Professor Dr. Carolyn Kurle, and several others on this 10-day expedition. Our group started meeting weekly at the beginning of this quarter, and we have been working on setting goals for the trip and getting to know each other's identities and work habits. Soon we will be meeting with Dr. Kurle to learn the intertidal zone field research techniques we will be using on the expedition!


Most of what I have gathered about the research we will be conducting is that it involves terrestrial ecology, which means that we will be spending a lot of time outdoors surveying land and doing environmental work. With the proper funding, we may even have the opportunity to take a zodiac, or small inflatable boat, into the water for more organic matter collection. Part of the terrestrial segment will consist of long hikes through Iceland to survey the vegetation lines present. By comparing where vegetation existed in the past and where it is when we survey it, it could suggest the rate of climate change and how it affects the growth of plants in specific terrestrial ecosystems. If plants start dying at lower elevations due to increase in temperatures, habitats and animals will shift to higher elevations, which can cause problems with ecosystem balance.


Our group will begin fundraising soon. We are thinking of creating apparel (dad hats, woo!) to raise money for the cost of our flights, housing, food, and scientific materials. In addition, I have been applying for lots of financial support to fund my participation in this project; I have applied to 11 grants and 20-25 scholarships in the last 2.5 months (fingers crossed)! I am the group's unofficial blogger, so stay-tuned for more updates on the progress of our team!


Go science!

-Emily