Sarah Mikulak, a senior from Connecticut, is majoring in marine and freshwater biology. When invited to join an oyster restoration project, she applied for and received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for 2004. “The best part of the project was that I got to play in the mud,” she asserts, although sorting out her subjects and conveying them to the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory was laborious. However, by the end of the summer she knew that she could conduct a research project by herself. In the future, Sarah wants to use her knowledge and experience to conserve and restore marine ecosystems.
Sarah was mentored in her project by Professor Raymond Grizzle, research associate professor in Zoology. Grizzle specializes in invertebrate Zoology and works principally in coastal waters. This was the first SURF project he has mentored in his five years at UNH. He helped Sarah get started and was a constant resource for her. “I am really proud of her and the work she has done,” he says, and is himself pleased with the new ideas and information about oyster predation that he gained through his mentorship.
Sarah’s project was a spin-off of research on oyster reef restoration techniques conducted the previous year by Jennifer Greene, a senior laboratory technician at the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory. Jennifer supported Sarah’s work in many ways—from ordering supplies, to driving the boat, to teaching her new skills she will use beyond college. Jennifer felt the most interesting part of the project was retrieving collection buckets and learning more about oyster reef predators in Great Bay.
Read Sarah Mikulak’s research article, A Story About Critters that Dine On New Hampshire Oysters >>
