Hi Wildcats! My name is Elizabeth (Lizzy) Martin and I will be a senior this coming year on the nordic ski team. I am from Freeport, Maine and I am an Environmental Science major with a minor in Marine Biology. This summer I am working for Professor Steve Jones who has an Environmental Microbiology lab here on campus, as well as a lab out at Jackson Estuarine Laboratory on Adams Point in Durham. I received the Doyle Fellowship for Marine Extension through New Hampshire Sea Grant and UNH Extension, and I'm using this fellowship to study marine bacteria.
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RESEARCH
This summer I am helping Steve Jones with his oyster sampling and monitoring for Vibrio bacteria, as well as doing a re-submergence study to observe the Vibrio parahaemolyticus that grow when the oysters are exposed to warmer air temperatures. I am also looking at other Vibrio bacteria that could pose human health risks to see if they are abundant in Great Bay.
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Jackson Estuarine Laboratory docks seen from Adams Point.Â
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The primary bacterial species that we are monitoring, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, is a naturally occurring bacteria that has some pathogenic strains that can cause food poisoning in humans. In order to monitor levels of V. parahaemolyticus in Great Bay, we sample once a month starting in early spring and continuing through the fall. We collect oyster, sediment, plankton and water samples from two sampling locations; Oyster River and Nannie Island. The rest of the week is then spent processing these samples and testing for the Vibrio bacteria which we identify using Polymerase Chain Reaction, also known as PCR.
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The PCR being run using samples from our June surveillance.Â
For the re-submergence study, we are partnering with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and speaking with a number of oyster farmers on Great Bay to understand what their pre-harvest techniques are. These techniques include sorting, culling and harvesting the oysters.  We are interested in how long these practices cause the oysters to be out of the water, as V. parahaemolyticus grows faster in warmer temperatures. We are then going to measure how long it takes for the bacterial concentrations to return to what they were before the oysters were taken out of the water, and advise the farmers on best practice techniques based on our results.
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  FIELD AND LAB WORK
My favorite part about working in the Jones Lab is that there is so much variety to every day. I particularly enjoy the sampling days when we go out for 2-4 hours on the boat and buzz around the bay collecting samples. I have always loved spending time on the water and enjoy being able to pursue my passion for the environment in such a fun way.Â
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Shucking oysters is also on the list of things that we do. It is not quite as fun as sample collection in my opinion, but I do enjoy it (to a certain extent). One can never be sure when this skill may come in handy!
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Sometimes it is good to slow down and have a break from the excitement of data collection and oyster shucking. This is when it is nice to do lab work. Performing serial dilutions, streaking plates and filtering water has been added to my repertoire, and I have found it to be quite meditative at times as it requires a lot of repetition.Â
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Me using a multi-channel pipet to prepare our samples for PCR.
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TRAINING
Living in Durham during the summer is quite different than living here during the school year, however one of the nice things about staying on campus is that it makes training easily accessible. I am still able to lift twice a week in the Field House and know all the good roads to rollerski on in the area. There are also great running trails around campus, my favorite of which leads to a trestle over the Lamprey River that is fun to jump off of! It is challenging on longer workdays, however, trying to fit in a two-hour workout after 5 p.m., and I often times don't end up eating dinner until after 8 p.m.
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The view from the top of Gunstock Mountain which is only an hour away and has great hiking/trail running!
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SUMMER THINGS
It is strange being on campus without the usual endless amount of activities and people, however I do not have a lot of free time between work and training. I did discover an ice cream place in Hampton called the Beach Plum, which serves ridiculously huge servings of ice cream! I have also done some exploring of Adams Point, which has very scenic trails along Great Bay, and is a nice place for a picnic.Â
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This is a kiddie size cone at the Beach Plum!
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 HIGHLIGHTS AND TAKEAWAYSÂ
Overall this summer has been a great learning experience! I am so thankful to be able to take part in some of the research happening at UNH, especially on Great Bay. From an environmental science perspective, working in the Vibrio Center has been very eye opening as it is much more microbiology than I am used to, but I am really enjoying learning some new skills. I also love meeting with the oyster farmers to ask them about their work. As scientists, it is not often that our research aligns with farmers and industries desires when profit is in their best interest. One of the reasons this research is so rewarding is because everyone involved in the process is working towards the same goal, and that is to keep this industry alive while providing oysters that pose no threat to human health.Â
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