- For my STEP project I aided a graduate student in her research involving coral bleaching. For three weeks I stayed on an island in Hawaii devoted to research to help collect coral, set up, and then monitor a tank experiment.
- During this experience I learned that the connections you make with colleagues is incredibly important. While on the research Island I got to see first-hand how good relationships turned into really interesting research projects that benefit marine research. Overall, this helped me internalize that fact that creating good relationships with colleagues is much more important that I thought previously.
3. Firstly, the only reason I had the opportunity to go on this trip was because I volunteer at the lab whose graduate student is doing field work in Hawaii. I realized that just by having an acquaintanceship with the graduate student and others in the lab allowed me to have this very transformational experience. And I now am able to work with this lab to do my senior thesis and I value getting to do this in a setting that I am already somewhat familiar with.
Second, while in Hawaii I got to sit in on a few meetings held between the lab I was working for and other lab teams residing on the Island. It was incredibly interesting to see what these conversations look like and even sometimes how informal they can be. This helped me understand that having good open lines of communications with other teams is essential to completing a project.
Lastly, I repeatedly experienced on the Island that having good relationships with colleagues is important simply because it is always good to have someone to ask for help if you need it. There is so much equipment and so many different techniques that can be used in every area of research that there can be gaps in technical skills. And it is always helpful to know people that are more experienced in research than you are so that you can ask for advice especially when you are new to research.
- This transformation was valuable to my life because doing research is always something that I have been interested in. I very much valued getting to experience doing fieldwork to better familiarize myself with the research process. And I am grateful that now I understand that a big part of the research process is the connections you make with your colleagues.