Hannah McGoran
They often say all good things come to an end, but luckily, in Pedro’s words: “This is not the end, but a beginning!”
August 10, 2020
They often say all good things come to an end, but luckily, in Pedro’s words: “This is not the end, but a beginning!” Today, we presented our research over Zoom, which was quite different than previous interns who presented in person. I really appreciated how many people were excited to hear about the research we had been doing. Culminating up to this day since my first blog post, I have had many weeks filled with fun activities, thought-provoking research, and teamwork.
Through this summer intern program, I have had many “firsts”: programming, conducting scientific research, analyzing large data sets, and presenting research to university faculty. These experiences have been eye-opening and will be very useful as I explore college and career paths!
A fair chunk of our time has been spent in Zoom breakout rooms with my amazing research teammates: Aruna and Angelica. Using “R Methods” (pun credits to Aruna), we analyzed origination probability as a function of body size within the Brachiopoda phylum during the Ordovician. I attempted to draw a Strophomenata brachiopod below.
In the beginning, we kept getting null results and were bummed because we had been hoping to see significant results. But, these results forced us to think out of the box and think of new ways to approach our analyses. Pedro was great at encouraging us to interpret our null results, emphasizing that they are just as important as statistically significant results. In the process, Pedro and Josh helped us understand that Strophomenata body volume must be carefully calculated in a way that accounts for the class’s distinct morphology. This and similar events showed me that you often have to take a step back and think critically about the raw data.
Throughout the summer, I have loved working with Aruna and Angelica. Our group dynamic has really shown us that you can build friendships, even over Zoom. Below on the left is a picture of our group being productive, and on the right is a picture of us (mostly me) goofing around during one particular afternoon hangouts call. We have also decided that we will meet up in-person sometime when the pandemic becomes less severe :)
Another highlight of each week was Friday morning when we would discuss a science paper and the book, Why Size Matters. Like I said in my previous blog post, hearing from the actual authors of the papers─Dr. Jon Payne and Dr. Noel Heim─revealed a whole different side of the paper. Words on paper came to life as they described all of the work that went into putting the paper together. From slime molds to blue whales to the Lilliputians in Gulliver’s Travels in Why Size Matters, I was captivated by each and every example that illustrated the multi-faceted complexity of body size.
It’s so much fun being around high schoolers who share similar interests in science, and even better when every mentor has such contagious excitement! Through the education program Dr. Saltzman organized, I was able to learn from so many enthusiastic scientists. I am sure they could all talk about one small part of their research for hours. Everyone we got to learn from were such great people, and very entertaining too! I have to admit that I used to think scientists were always quite serious, but this program has given me the chance to interact with the most fun people ever! After all, Michael spontaneously photoshopped Pedro riding on a Komodo dragon after requests during our Wednesday activity (an iconic picture indeed).
I am beyond grateful to have had this opportunity to delve into the history of life and learn alongside the amazing other 11 interns that helped make this summer unforgettable! In the meantime, Aruna, Angelica, and I hope to continue tweaking our poster for the AGU conference in December. While the summer may be over, I am excited to expand on the skills and knowledge I have gained in the future! Thank you to every single person who contributed to making this program possible, I cannot thank you all enough!
If you made it this far into my blog post, thank you for reading and I hope you can see how much fun I had!
I gasped at the sight of a small mosquito eater flying in my house, only to be reminded of what I just learned from the internship about a 2.5 feet wide dragonfly-like insect
July 10, 2020
I gasped at the sight of a small mosquito eater flying in my house, only to be reminded of what I just learned from the internship about a 2.5 feet wide dragonfly-like insect (aka griffinfly) that lived 300 million years ago. Thank goodness humans weren’t around back then! I have never learned so much in two weeks of time, let alone in an entirely online format! We have listened to talks, worked on activities in Zoom break-out rooms, read research papers, had group discussions, and began learning the basics of R programming.
I have loved listening to Pedro, Sandra, and Josh teach us about topics from the role of oxygen in insect evolution to the Ordovician extinction. We read papers related to either body size evolution or the Ordovician, including one by Professor Payne, after which he explained eye-opening behind-the-scenes information. Reading these papers on my own was a challenge, but through interactive discussions during the presentation sessions, I learned that they are so full of fascinating discoveries and much less intimidating than they initially seem.
Despite not being able to measure organisms in a physical lab, I am appreciative that Pedro had us work in groups on a virtual body-size lab. With my Zoom tab open to the side, all I could see was my face right up close to the camera, squinting to get brachiopod measurements with my ruler to the nearest millimeter. This activity gave me more insight on the processes paleobiologists use to gather data for their research. I rate our first week 100/5 brachiopods (per Josh’s rating scale)!!
Our second week was quite different from the first, and an entirely new experience for me! Having no prior coding experience, I wondered how challenging it was going to be to learn R. But, with Pedro’s instruction and patience, as well as Michael’s help, I have found coding with R to be a very fastidious, yet rewarding process.
I amusingly recall our first R activity, when Angelica, Raymond, and I were randomly sorted into a break-out room. There was only one problem: it just so happened that none of us had much, if any, coding experience. We quickly found ourselves stuck, but had a fun time trying to troubleshoot each one of our problems over Zoom. My inexperience usually leads me to end up with more error messages than actual code, but each day brings better understanding of this new language! By the fourth day, I was able to generate some basic plots based on pre-existing data.
In the midst of a civil uprising, I have learned more about privilege in science and our society, as well as the impact that working together has, no matter a person’s background. After viewing the online Paleobiology Database, it became evident that most of the recorded species were in the Northern Hemisphere. Initially, I assumed there was a scientific explanation for the observation. But, Pedro and Josh were quick to highlight that this observation was a result of lack of funding and resources needed to pursue science in other countries. This made me realize we are so privileged in America to have the means to dive so deeply into science. As recent events have highlighted, many systems in our country still operate on privilege, so it is really neat that programs such as this provide means for everyone to have a chance to pursue science.
Just from reading the papers, I have observed that science is a collective effort, one that transcends differences amongst individuals. We have read short papers that reference the work of over 100 scientists from different countries, walks of life, and backgrounds. I can see that scientists in different countries come together with open minds to drive paleobiology forward.
Just from reading the papers, I have observed that science is a collective effort, one that transcends differences amongst individuals. We have read short papers that reference the work of over 100 scientists from different countries, walks of life, and backgrounds. I can see that scientists in different countries come together with open minds to drive paleobiology forward.