Scientific Diving Success Story: Suzie Marlow

University of Hawaii has an offsite affiliate known as Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. I applied to work as a volunteer under Dr. Aeby, an assistant researcher under the National Science Foundation Lab. I spent my first few days on Coconut Island (a remote island off Oahu) reading material given by Dr. Aeby then started shadowing fellow interns. It was a lot of reading, but the sunshine helped. These background readings permitted me to constructively participate in her research, so I was assigned two separate projects. The first was a lab intensive dissection that focused on parasite ecology among local and introduced fish populations. I assisted a fellow intern until my skill level became adequate to conduct the dissections on my own. I directly contributed to Dr. Aeby’s data by completing dissections and full gut scans for various species of fish and parasites. The most rewarding aspect of this project was learning about the unique ecology of parasites and speculating what the running results could infer about communities throughout the entire Hawaiian archipelago.

University of Hawaii has an offsite affiliate known as Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. I applied to work as a volunteer under Dr. Aeby, an assistant researcher under the National Science Foundation Lab. I spent my first few days on Coconut Island (a remote island off Oahu) reading material given by Dr. Aeby then started shadowing fellow interns. It was a lot of reading, but the sunshine helped. These background readings permitted me to constructively participate in her research, so I was assigned two separate projects. The first was a lab intensive dissection that focused on parasite ecology among local and introduced fish populations. I assisted a fellow intern until my skill level became adequate to conduct the dissections on my own. I directly contributed to Dr. Aeby’s data by completing dissections and full gut scans for various species of fish and parasites. The most rewarding aspect of this project was learning about the unique ecology of parasites and speculating what the running results could infer about communities throughout the entire Hawaiian archipelago.

Dr. Greta Aeby, Suzie Marlow, and friend, Chris.

The second project involved water time - and I loved every minute. I worked under Chris, a fellow undergraduate student. While assisting Dr. Aeby, Chris found an anomaly among Montipora capitata, aka rice coral. She took her own initiative and set out to map the potential disease and set up simple experiments to assess whether the anomaly was in fact a negative impact on the animals’ fitness. Chris recruited my science diving experience. We lay transects to approximate coral cover and affected coral by employing the point intercept technique. All observations were accompanied with photographs. I was given the opportunity to document incidents of the potential disease and reef life.

Montipora capitata, Oahu, Hawaii

While my 2-month stay was relatively short I volunteered my time and energy as much as possible. The rest of the researchers on the island knew of my willingness to learn and utilized my spare time to assist in additional projects.

My class time in Advanced Science Diving adequately prepared me to for this once in a life time opportunity. I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I landed in Oahu. While I was extremely nervous I thought about all the diving/snorkel time I would get. The repetitive drills that I practiced way too early for any college kids’ liking granted me confidence in the water. Dr. Aeby was very impressed with my underwater science skills and immediately involved my proficiency with Chris’s project. I accumulated about 40+ hours snorkeling; participating in additional projects such as a sea sponge urchin survey, an educational program, and reconnaissance for marine life anomalies.

My time in Hawaii was an unparalleled experience – I learned about more than just marine life. I would be happy to answer any questions about my experience and can only hope I can do it again.

Green sea turtle, Oahu, Hawaii