John D. Isaacs Marine Undergraduate Research
Contact for Isaacs Program:
Shauna Oh,
Assistant Director
California Sea Grant
College Program
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
E.: shaunaoh@ucsd.edu
T.: (858) 534-4440
Relevant Links:
- California Sea Grant Educational Opportunities
- John D. Isaacs Marine Undergraduate Research Assistant Program
Tools:
Revised:
July 21, 2008
Isaacs Assistant Clarrisa Reyes in an algae laboratory. Photo: Christina S. Johnson
July 21, 2008
Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334
LA JOLLA – To look at a beaker full of algae the color of antifreeze, one would hardly imagine a link to human medicine. But as a John D. Isaacs Marine Undergraduate Research Assistant, Clarissa Reyes is studying just that link this summer.
“We are trying to elicit compounds for medicine,” Reyes explains, holding a beaker half full of the emerald potion. The lab in which she is standing is full of other similar green-liquid filled beakers. Some are on little shake tables; others are being aerated; many sit on shelves beside other beakers or algae culture plates.
Reyes, an undergraduate biology major at UC San Diego, was one of five undergraduates awarded $2,500 grants from California Sea Grant in 2008 to work with current Sea Grant investigators on summer research projects.
In her case, Reyes is looking at how different “elicitor” compounds affect algae growth rates and the pharmaceutically relevant metabolites they produce. It is part of an ongoing effort by Lena and William Gerwick at the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to survey the biomedical potential of blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, one of the oldest organisms on Earth.
The John D. Isaacs program, named in honor of the marine biologist, was initiated in 2006 to encourage undergraduate research, while providing current California Sea Grant researchers with extra help.
California Sea Grant Assistant Director Shauna Oh, who administers the Isaccs program, says "The undergraduate assistantship provides opportunities for students to see how the theories presented in the classroom connect to people, real issues and real research and to see if this is something they want to pursue as a career."
Cameron Coates, a researcher in the Gerwick laboratory overseeing Reyes’ summer project, explains his role as a mentor: “We gear her work to her level but also push her to a point she has not been before. She is in a lab that cares about her development.”
“I am really happy with the goals of this lab,” Reyes says.
The other recipients of the 2008 John D. Isaacs Marine Undergraduate Research Assistantship are:
Isaacs Assistant Tiana Egloff at a bird reserve in Honduras. Photo: Kara Wilson
Claire Baek, a chemical engineering major at Stanford University, working with environmental engineering professor Ali Boehm on understanding the role of submarine groundwater pollution on coastal water quality.
Andy Drake, a chemistry major San Diego State University, working with chemistry professor Carl Carrano on the role of iron-binding compounds (siderophores) in the formation of harmful algal blooms.
Tiana Egloff, a biology major at UC Santa Barbara, working with research biologist Jennifer Caselle on understanding the ecology of California sheephead.
Michelle Hook, an environmental biology major at UC Davis, working with UC San Diego professor Brad Moore on characterizing enzymes in marine bacteria of relevance to biosynthesizing antibiotics.
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