Summer Research on the Coast: Scholarship Supports Undergrad Emily Meyers at Bodega Marine Laboratory
In the early summer months, undergraduate Emily Meyers would rise before the sun, sometimes around 3 or 4 a.m. Keeping time by the ocean tides, she’d cart her research materials to eelgrass beds near the Bodega Marine Laboratory. After donning waders, she’d collect blades of eelgrass from experimental plots, searching for the invertebrates that call these beds home, the gammarids, isopods, caprellids and other organisms. The task was a race against the clock, as the tide crept in with the daylight.
“Depending on if I had help or if it was just me, it could take two to three hours,” said Meyers, a senior evolution, ecology and biodiversity major. “There’s a lot of diversity. You see something new every time you go out there.”
Over the past summer, Meyers lived in on-site housing just down the road from the Bodega Marine Laboratory. Her sabbatical was made possible through the Bodega Marine Lab Undergraduate Research Scholarship, funded by a philanthropic gift to the College of Biological Sciences from Vicki Moore and Scott Chan. Thanks to the support, Meyers was able to conduct research for her senior thesis at one of UC Davis’ most unique research facilities.