Jonathan Chen

These past three weeks, I met a whole new world

July 10, 2020

These past three weeks, I met a whole new world which I had known nothing about before. Starting from about 485 million years ago to 444 million years ago, the Earth was covered with endless oceans, with land few and far between. This is known as the Ordovician age, where the mass majority of flora and fauna lived in these teeming marine environments. In just these past three weeks, I have not only learned about the various ages and time periods of Earth’s history, but I also learned more about the research techniques and skills that scientists use on the day to day basis.

At the start of the summer, I was hesitant to guess how my summer would go. COVID-19 had already forced countless internships and programs to shut down, so when I heard that SEYI accepted me into their Biodiversity program that had to accommodate for only 12 spaces, I was flooded with relief.

Now, I am working with two other interns on a research project investigating the origination of mollusc genera during the Ordovician age. Our current plan is to research the relations between Ordovician oxygen levels, sea level, and biovolume of new genera. Compared to solo projects, being a part of a team lets us build on each others’ ideas and cover each others’ weak points. In addition to developing our teamwork skills, we get to learn about the usage of R code in data analysis, and we get to experience the life of a true researcher. In just these three weeks of online meetings, my mind has been opened to a crazy number of the possibilities within science. Not only are there countless fields within each subject, but there are countless jobs and research opportunities within each field. I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, but now, I know for a fact that whatever my future holds, I could be assured that it will rest in science.