Community Action Award Recipient: Marika Krupitsky
My name is Marika Krupitsky and I am a rising senior studying Biology. I have always been interested in Biology, but lately my mental track has taken a turn for conservation, which is how I found myself looking for an internship in conservation research. I first went for the ‘cold e-mail’ method of internship hunting. That is, I scoured the internet for profiles of studies that I was interested in contributing my time to. At the same time that I was doing this, I had also just returned from studying abroad, and was pretty much dead set on the idea of researching conservation in Australian reefs. One of the researchers that I reached out to answered me, only to tell me that she had switched focuses and was no longer studying the species of invertebrate that I had originally asked her about. She had switched to something I actually happened to prefer studying even more!
My supervisor studies artificial reefs and the effect that they have on biodiversity of marine life. To sort one of her samples this week, I used a microscope to pick through a piece of substrate the size of my thumbnail taken from one of her reef sites. I discovered over 18 different species of worms, algae, barnacles, and more that had been growing before the collection. The lab that I am working with studies a variety of subjects, and as a result I am lucky enough to have a breadth of research opportunities lined up for me this summer, as I can join PhD students on their field work as needed. Researchers are nowhere without their volunteers (or so I have been told), and I am excited to offer my assistance in these projects. It’s been a wild and exciting first week for me here in New South Wales.
I have already felt the urge to label my assigned work a failed attempt at least two times, but I came up with two mottos for myself: “You can’t rush good science” and “Don’t be a quitter (in the first week)”. For two days of this week, I served as a field work assistant to a PhD student; we searched for samples of clams in the cold and rainy waters of St. George’s Basin. In a poorly fitting wetsuit that I borrowed from the dive locker room, I had to dig through sediment and search for half-buried clams. It was the student’s first time out on field work, and neither of us had any real idea of what to look for. With my arms beginning to freeze and my lips numb and blue, I removed my snorkel to ask, “How much longer are we doing this for?” “As long as it takes,” he answered. Continuing to duck-dive and dig, I realized—if this were my PhD, I would also be putting 110% into the work. You can’t do research without samples! My office is full of really hard workers, and their energy encourages me to put more effort into my own projects. I feel inspired to be my smartest and most enthusiastic self here, and I’m excited to see where the research takes me. I am so, so thankful to have the opportunity to be here, and I thank everyone that supported my journey to this project.
