SAN DIEGO — The scientific world hasn't always focused on diversity, but you may hear about it much more recently, especially at UC San Diego where undergrad students with many different backgrounds spent their summer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
This is all possible thanks to the Jane Teranes Scripps Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (JT-SURF) where undergraduates from all over the U.S. do real-world research at the prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.
“The purpose of my project is to use environmental DNA,” Yeishmary Soto Muñiz spent her summer collecting samples of water off the coast to see if she could use environmental DNA to detect marine life. “
EDNA is non-invasive, it’s cost-effective," Soto Muñiz explained, “So far we have detected whales, some of the species we detected were blue and grey whales and a bunch of dolphins.”
She comes to UC San Diego from the University of Puerto Rico and is often the only Puerto Rican in these settings. “Sometimes it’s scary but I also embrace my background. I carry it with me everywhere I go and the first thing I say is ‘Yeah I come from Puerto Rico and my native language is Spanish so if my English is funky, excuse me.’”
We heard her loud and clear, a young and bright woman bringing diversity to a field that some would say desperately needs it.
“I feel like diversity and cultural backgrounds are super important in these settings which are often dominated by white or male people,” Soto Muñiz said.
“They might be undergraduates, but I like to think of them as young scientists,” explains Assistant Teaching Professor and Coordinator of JT Surf, Dovi Kacev, PhD.
“We have students from different gender backgrounds, socio-economic backgrounds and they all get together and function as a community,” said Kacev, who is carrying on the legacy of Jane Teranes.
“I would like to think if Jane were here today, she would have a feeling of immense pride knowing her efforts are what allowed our undergrad programs here at Scripps to grow,” Kacev said.
Teranes sadly passed away at the young age of 52. She made it her priority as a professor and mentor to give opportunities to students from all backgrounds, leading several programs at Scripps. “The work all these students have done would not have happened without her,” Kacev says.
These young scientists now have the chance to present their research to some of the world's greatest minds.
Micah Pratt shows us his research, “I simulated a landslide and I used a camera to track the displacement” while his biggest fans watched. His grandmother alongside his parents were beaming with pride.
Pratt spent his summer studying landslides, “We’re going to see how the hill slope and grain properties affect landslide stresses and energy. If we could find out if it’s similar to earthquakes that would be pretty big.”
Whether it’s in the water, the air or on land. we will likely all benefit from their discoveries.
“Having diverse scientists gives us diverse perspectives on the work that we all do,” Kacev said. “What’s going on in the world and not being stuck in a single lens.”
The next step for many of the JT Surf students? Grad school.
Find out about the program here: https://scripps.ucsd.edu/undergrad/surf.
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