CRYSTAL YOUNG-ERDOS

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in?

A: My undergrad degree is in Marine Science,

 with a focus on geological and physical processes.

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you?

A: A typical research day is a survey at Ft. Desoto Beach and Picnic Island Park (in Tampa), which is usually a nice walk along  the beach at high tide counting horseshoe crabs and cleaning up trash. At times we collect crabs to bring back to Galbraith. We might also be conducting research in the lab, where we have  been observing behavior and videotaping the crabs. We conduct behavioral experiments as well, such as classical conditioning and maze testing. 

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing?

A: If this wasn't my career, I would probably still be spending as much time in nature as possible, studying and observing the natural processes around me, but being very poor lol.

Q: Please sum up your research or thesis in one sentence.  

A: Our research is seeking to describe and understand the unique breeding behavior and population dynamics of Limulus polyphemus, and to protect and conserve their ecosystems within  the Tampa Bay Estuary. 

Q: Describe your research in one sentence: 

I study public understanding of ideologically-entangled science and ways to effectively communicate climate change and other environmental and scientific issues to diverse audiences.

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you?

When I was an undergraduate, I spent two summers working at Stroud Water Research Center in Pennsylvania. The first summer (between my first and second years of college) I worked in the Biogeochem lab, mostly taking readings from fancy instruments and running the autoclave (kiln to super-clean glassware with heat). My second summer I got a competitive internship at Stroud working to identify benthic macroinvertebrates (tiny, bottom-swelling stream larvae and insects). I spent the entire summer looking at tiny bugs through a microscope in a basement lab. What I learned that summer was that I might not enjoy spending my life looking through a microscope! Just to confirm this hunch, I spent the next summer doing the same thing, but with marine invertebrates at the Marine Science school of the University of Delaware. That sealed the deal - I decided at that point I wanted to be looking at the big picture, not studying the little stuff. Sometimes research experiences show you exactly what you want to do in life, and sometimes they show you exactly what you don't want to do. Both are extremely valuable!

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing?

If I had gone in an entirely different direction I would probably have tried to make it as a singer or a Broadway actor. A more plausible alternate storyline would have me working in an environmental NGO. I can sing and act, but I can't follow dance choreography to save my life!

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you? I began working with Dr. Simard the fall of my senior year on a project assessing the spatial relationship between dolphin calves and ambient noise levels in Boca Ciega Bay. This project introduced me to the fields of bioacoustics, animal communication, and how humans are impacting the underwater environment. I gained experience with acoustic analysis techniques and softwares, reading scientific papers, and communicating science with a broad audience. This experience was a great segway into my graduate school studies.

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research? I suggest that students who want to get involved in research start early. Don't be afraid to reach out to professors to express interest in starting a research project. Utilize your resources - speak to Dr. Kat Robinson about your goals and ideas and she will lead you in the right direction. Also, reach out to alumni! We are always happy to chat.

Q: What was your first success as a researcher? Your first failure? My first success as a researcher was finding the first underwater vocalization produced by a Hawaiian monk seal. I was scrolling through acoustic files and noticed a weird-sounding noise. As I analyzed more files, I continued finding strange gurgly, growling, whooping noises. Turns out, the sounds were produced by a monk seal! My first failure -- maybe not my first, but the most significant-- was when the monk seal decided to eat a part of my recording device. 

Q: Please sum up your research or thesis in one sentence.  My research aims to describe the underwater acoustic communication of Hawaiian monk seals and assess the impacts of man-made noise on their behavior to inform conservation efforts to better protect this endangered species. 

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you? I took a class with Dr. Szelistowski on tropical ecology spring into summer of my freshman year at Eckerd.  We went to Costa Rica for the month of June and assisted him with his research while doing other things. That experience taught me about the process of research, from menial field and lab work to answering the question you asked, it's a process. It gave me a first impression of how research projects actually worked in the real world.

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in? I have a BSc in Biology with a minor in Marine Science. 

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research?  Ask. Ask anyone and everyone. And be prepared to do the menial work to earn more important duties. Also, learning that you don't like something is just as valuable as learning what you do like. 

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you? It completely varies by contract. Some days I am living on a shrimp trawler capturing live sea turtles and sturgeon, some days I am trudging through marshes and on beaches monitoring bird behavior near construction zones.   

Q: Please sum up your research or thesis in one sentence. Monitoring and preventing negative interactions of endangered species and construction projects. 

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in?

My undergraduate degree is a Diploma in Acting from The Juilliard School Drama Division. 

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you?

A typical research day for me depends on what capacity I'm working on an artistic work. I have worked professionally as both an actor and a director, and each of those jobs involves different responsibilities. But, they do share one component, which is the investigation of the given circumstances of the text. If a play is set in a specific historical period, I need to know as much as I can about the culture and customs of that period. If a play is set around a specific environment, like an ER, I need to understand how an ER works. 

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing? 

If this wasn't my career, I'd be a historian of some sort. Part of the reason I got into theatre in the first place was it allowed me to explore multiple worlds and professions. I'm too curious about too many things.

Q: Please sum up your research or thesis in one sentence.  

My research is in contemporary theatrical styles and movements, and their practical application to the process of making theatre.

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in?  

Mathematics - I wanted to stand out on medical school applications.

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you?   

A group of mathematics and biology faculty at my undergraduate institution (East Tennessee State University) received a grant to sponsor a few students in undergraduate research throughout all four years of their studies. I was lucky enough to be starting as a freshman math major when the grant started and was selected to participate. Our first and second years were spent learning about the intersection of mathematics and biology and shadowing the faculty in their own research. During my third and fourth years I got more involved in a few projects with one faculty member, leading to my senior thesis. I got to present at several conferences and even attend an international conference in The Netherlands. All of this experience made me realize that I enjoyed research in mathematical biology too much to go to medical school, which was my original plan. I decided to go to graduate school instead.

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research? 

Ask professors about what they do! We love to talk about our own work. More specifically, ask for papers you could read to learn more about their research area. Also, remember that your professors don’t expect you to know all of the relevant background information before you start a project. Part (actually a majority) of research is reading, learning, and getting caught up on the current state of the problem you are interested in.      

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing?

I would have gone to medical school to become a pathologist/medical examiner (doctors who do autopsies). 

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in?

I started out my undergraduate career as a biology major at the University of Richmond wanting to be a marine biologist. After two years (and the research experiences I outlined) I decided: A) I didn't like Richmond and B) I wanted an Environmental Studies degree, which Richmond did not have. I transferred to the University of Delaware. At UD, the geography and environmental sciences degrees are linked (or they were in the early 2000s). My undergraduate degree is officially in Geography, but it was really environmental studies - more emphasis on the social sciences than on the life/physical sciences.

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research?

I think it's important to get varied research experiences so you can have an understanding of what research really is and what it looks like on a day-to-day basis. I know that I had all kinds of ideas about what research looked like before I did any, but it was completely different once I was in the lab. I didn't even know that social science research like I do now existed until I was in graduate school. So, I recommend trying as many types of research that interest you as possible! And even if opportunities aren't posted in the kinds of things you want to do, go talk to professors. Ask them about their work and their research experiences. Ask them what the day to day is like, but also what the best and worst days are like. Even if you can't work "in the lab" with them, you will have a good idea if their work is something that really interests you.

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you?

This is exactly the question you should ask profs who do work you think you might enjoy! A typical research day for me is spent in front of a computer screen. I do most of my data collection through online surveys, and I spend a great deal of my time coming up with survey and experimental designs, putting together the surveys, and analyzing the data through SPSS or NVIVO (for open-ended response or interview coding). I also am constantly reading up on the new insights and updates in my field. Environmental communication and public understanding of science are both rapidly evolving fields of study with novel ideas and findings published daily! It can be hard to keep up. I have two co-authors and co-investigators who work at different universities, so even prior to COVID-19, most research days involved Zoom or Skype calls to chat with my co-authors and bounce ideas off of one another, assign tasks, and edit our papers. Oh, and writing! My research days involve a great deal of writing or editing papers for publication. I do get to interview people sometimes. Those days are my favorite.

Q: What was your first success as a researcher? Your first failure?

My first success as a researcher came before I considered myself one. I was in my master's program (also at UD) and I was doing a research project for a class on Environmental Values in the U.S.. For the project I interviewed a bunch of undergraduates from different majors to see what they knew about climate change. I was replicating my professor's study (which was much fancier and much larger) from the early 1990s and had hypothesized that college students in 2011 would have a much better understanding of climate change than random members of the public in 1994. What I found, though, was that the college students made the same mistakes as people in the 90s did! It was such a surprising finding that my professor (who was also my master's degree advisor) told me I needed to expand the project into a full blown research study, bypass my master's, and get a Ph.D. with this project as my dissertation. In a week I went from being a second year master's student looking for a thesis topic to a second year Ph.D. student with a dissertation proposal!

My first failure was at the end of the very same study. I sent out presentation proposals to conferences and was accepted to one. I also sent out a paper to a peer-reviewed journal on the same data. The night before my very first conference presentation I received my very first journal rejection. I was all alone in Puerto Rico (I didn't know a single soul at the conference) and cried in my hotel room while obsessing about how my presentation would go. I think I even called my mom. I was sure I would be viciously attacked during the presentations for all of the tiny flaws the reviewers pointed to in the corresponding paper. In the end, the presentation was a smashing success. I've had many papers accepted and many papers rejected since then and I've learned to have thick skin, but I still vividly remember that first failure.

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in? 

My undergraduate degree was in Marketing and International Business.

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research? 

I would recommend that students become familiarized with the Ford Scholar program and discuss their research interests with faculty who teach subjects that cover the topics. Professors are usually open to involve students in their research efforts, but often it takes students to initiate the partnership and let their Professor and Mentor know about their interest in conducting undergraduate research. I have recently published an academic article with my Ford Scholar so the relationship can result in a publication.

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you? 

A typical research work day starts with a lot of reading and reviewing of the relevant literature. Then, there is sometime involved in writing. As a methodologist, I spend quite a bit of time cleaning the data, conducting statistical analyses and interpreting the results of the statistical tests. Besides the methodology section, I also write the results section of the paper. 

If a paper requires a revision by an Academic Journal, some time is spent not only adjusting the paper to address the reviewers’ comments and suggestions, but also drafting an answer to the reviewers highlighting the changes made.

Q: What was your first success as a researcher? Your first failure? 

As a doctoral student, I surveyed executives of multinational companies about their hiring practices and requirements for candidates when filling International Business positions.  The study led to three peer-reviewed publications and I learned a lot about the academic publishing world. My first failure was my first journal rejection. However, I learned from the experience and modified the article to submit it to another journal that was a better fit for it.

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing? 

 I would be working in Market Research (as I did in my past professional life).

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research?

Connect with faculty that work in the field of research you are interested in and learn about the Ford Scholar program at Eckerd College.  It is a great program that will provide you with unique opportunities and will improve your research skills. 

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in? 

Music education.

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research? 

Show interest in learning about your professors' work and research. Hint: people generally like to talk about themselves. As you get engaged learning about what they do in their research, and that often opens doors as to how you might get involved—or how you might jump-start your own project.

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you? 

This answer is all over the map. A good chunk of my research time is spent buried in digitized primary-source materials—working to organize and make sense of heaps of historical content from magazines, newspapers, and other period publications. There's also a lot of time in secondary sources to get historical context and theory. And then there's the writing. Writing, writing, writing.

Q: What was your first success as a researcher? Your first failure? 

My first real success was as a musicology master's student when I managed to arrange a trip to New York and Kentucky to interview folk revivalists and living relatives of old folk musicians. It led to my first conference paper and first peer-reviewed publication. My first failure was not receiving a major funding grant for that aforementioned trip. I had to change my initial plans and timeline considerably because of funding constraints.

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing? 

I'd probably be in marketing. I spent some time working at a digital marketing and analytics agency when finishing grad school. I really enjoyed thinking about how messaging, aesthetics, and user experience can play into a people's attitudes and decision-making.

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in?

I have a bachelors of science in marine biology, with a minor in oceanography (which is what in Canada what we call Marine Science). 

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you?

My first research experience was as a fisheries oceanography technician in the aftermath of the Atlantic cod collapse of 1991, one of the most cataclysmic fisheries disasters in history.  Living and working at "ground zero" of all this, I can't even begin to tell you what it taught me about how science and policy and society interact with each other.  The project was also highly interdisciplinary within the natural sciences, and I learned to appreciate the inextricable web of interactions between geology, physics, chemistry and biology that takes place in the natural world. For me, this broad-scale approach resonated with the childhood curiosity that motivated me to get into research in the first place.

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research?

Do your homework and find the researchers who are doing work you are genuinely interested in.  Then learn about those researchers, and the work that they do, and apply like you mean it.  For many of us, we have far more applications than we can accept, and we are looking for students who will be highly invested in our work.  Don't be discouraged, I often only accept people after they have applied to me over two or even three semesters. GPA is not everything, but it definitely counts.  Curiosity and lateral thinking skills are some of the most important qualities to have as a researcher.  A healthy dose of tenacity goes a long way too.  

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you?

It was the summer between my junior and senior year.  I had done some wonderful internships in the previous summers, but this was my first true biological research internship. I helped to identify the ciliated protozoa in a marine column off the coast of Rhode Island.  It helped understand the true work of planning an experiment, making accurate solutions, working with hazardous chemicals, and enjoying the beauty of the microscopic world. It was an opportunity to work directly with my undergraduate mentor and it was that ultimate spark that let me see my future.

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research?

To get involved in research, you merely have to self-advocate. Ask!  Even in our time of pandemic, which is admittedly harder, there are often still ways to be involved. Start by asking your professors, and if the answer is "no" for one reason or another, ask if you can turn that "no" into a "not, yet"; then follow up on a later specified date. For example--suppose you get, "I'm sorry, I can't take anyone in my lab right now because of social distancing"--feel free to be bold and ask, "when should I check in again to see if this has changed?"  Or perhaps ask, "are their remote aspects of the project that I can help with?  I don't mind looking things up and creating a useful information database."  If a professor doesn't know you yet, they might want to see how serious you are about your desire to be involved.

Also, Eckerd is not the only place to find research internships and opportunities. Start searching the web for "undergraduate summer research opportunities".  You will get the most information if you search the common abbreviations: REU, SURE, SURF. 

Q: Please sum up your research or thesis in one sentence.

In the Flaherty lab we seek to find compounds that ameliorate neurodegenerative pathology. We currently do this by testing compounds in a C. elegans-human beta amyloid model of Alzheimer's disease.

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in?

I have a BA in Biology and French from a liberal arts college. 

 Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research? 

Seize opportunity. Don't wait for the 'perfect' internship on the exact topic about which you are most passionate. There are transferable skills to be gained from any research internship experience. Plus, you will expand your network and possibly discover a new area of interest. 

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you?

A research day can include going out on the water to collect samples, but for every one of those days, there are many more days spent processing samples in the lab, exploring patterns through data analysis, or writing manuscripts to share the findings.    

Q: Describe your research in one sentence: 

I employ experimental, observational and molecular approaches to study the ecology and diversity of 'things' that drift in the ocean. 

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in?

My undergraduate degree is in International Relations and Diplomacy. 

 Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you?

With regard to my first success as a researcher, I would say that it was receiving the US Student Fulbright Grant along with a Critical Language Enhancement Award to study in mainland China. 

Q: What was your first success as a researcher? Your first failure?

Interestingly, my first failure as a researcher was not getting the Fulbright. This shows that students should always try for these opportunities multiple times: a different year, selection committee, and/or application can make all the difference. 

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing?

If I weren't a professor, I would be a travel writer with a focus on China.

Q: Describe your research in one sentence: 

My research in one sentence: I use interpretive methods to examine how ethnic minorities in China respond to the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to remain in power.

Q: What advice do you have for students looking to get involved in research?

Go talk to your professors! Find out what they're working on and ask how you can be involved. Don't be discouraged if the work you're given in the beginning doesn't seem very exciting. Make sure they explain to you how you're contributing to the generation of new knowledge - that's exciting! 

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you?

Every day is a little different depending on where the project is in the research process. Some days I may be reading research in my area, analyzing data, or revising a manuscript based on reviewer comments. I'm mostly writing these days since my data analysis is complete on these projects. Give me a quiet space with natural lighting and a good cup of coffee, and I'm good to go.

Q: If this wasn't your career, what would you be doing?

Toughest question yet. I feel driven to learn, create and build connections. That being said, perhaps I would be learning, creating, and building connections as a winemaker in New Zealand. Cheers!

Q: Describe your research in one sentence: 

I research how social and institutional pressures affect organizational decisions, such as promoting women to the upper echelons.

Q: What was your first success as a researcher? Your first failure?

My first year in my PhD program I had a peer-reviewed paper accepted to our discipline's premier conference. I felt incredibly validated that I was on the right track. My first failure came when that same paper was rejected from one of our top journals. I had to learn how to receive criticism on work that I devoted a significant amount of time and energy to -- it felt personal. But then I revised the manuscript and realized it was improved from those comments. It later found a home at a different journal.

Comparative Psychology Lab

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you?

A: I was a research intern at the Environmental Protection Agency.  I assisted with a project that tested the effects of certain chemicals on the visual system of rats.  It provided me with great hands on experiences including implanting electrodes in rat brains. It also helped me realize I did not want to work in a rat lab!  

Q: What is your undergraduate degree in? 

A: Psychology (minor in German) 

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research?

A: Be proactive.  Talk to your professors about their projects and if you can help.  Once you are on a project - be reliable!  

Q: Please sum up your research or thesis in one sentence

A: My research focuses animal behavior and cognition and how our knowledge of animal behavior and cognition can contribute to conservation efforts. 

Erin Frick is excited to join the Eckerd’s faculty in the new Animal Studies discipline starting the 2019-2020 academic year. The courses she teaches include Introduction to Animal Studies, Animal Behavior, Practicum in Animal Studies, Statistics for Animal Studies, and Animal Studies Capstone. Erin’s research interests are in areas of animal behavior, animal welfare and conservation, and biopsychology of learning in animal models. She has experience conducting research with wild animals and animals housed in managed-care facilities, including: bottlenose dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, sea otters, Asian small-clawed otters, hippopotamus, polar bears, sea lions, Pacific walrus, sea turtles, zebrafish, and rats. Across all teaching and research endeavors, Erin is committed and enthusiastic about creating opportunities for undergraduate students at Eckerd College to conduct learn and to research; providing instruction, supervision, and mentorship to students as they learn the research process from start to finish and apply concepts learned in the classroom to laboratory and field-work settings. When she isn’t teaching or conducting research, she enjoys being by the beach, paddleboarding, and hanging out with her dog, Luey! 

Q: What was your first undergraduate research experience? How did that prepare you? 

A: My first undergraduate research experience occurred when I was studying abroad on the University of Wisconsin College Year in India Program. As part of the requirements of the program, I had to conduct an independent research project over the year that I was living and studying in Banaras, India. I chose to study traditional midwives in the Varanasi area. My research took me into the gynecological clinic at Banaras Hindu University and to the homes of traditional midwives in the area. It also resulted in my first exposure to feminist writings on female sexual and reproductive bodies. I had no idea what I was doing, and received zero training in ethnographic methods, or how to conduct research ethically. I think it is safe to say that this experience is directly related to my subsequent research projects. Although I am better informed and more thoughtful about the ethics of research, I am still willing to go off and just learn about things on my own, and I am still interested in the intersection of religion and female bodies. 

Q: What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research? 

A: The number one most important factor in whether you should or can become a research scholar is curiosity. Training and preparation are quite important, but they are secondary to a certain independence of mind that motivates you to just go and find stuff out on your own. If you like to do that, you will probably do well as a research scholar. 

Q: What does a typical research day look like for you?  

A: I have no typical research day because I use a variety of methodologies. I am first and foremost a textual scholar, which means that a research day can involve translation of texts, analysis of texts, or delving into secondary scholarship on a topic. This looks like me sitting at my desk, and possibly popping up now and again to water the plants or sweep the floor because I am antsy. More recently, I have reinvented myself as an ethnographer. As an ethnographer, my research day can include conducting interviews over zoom, traveling to sites to conduct formal interviews, or simply hanging about with my research subjects. In fact, a lot of my research abroad consists in hanging about, getting to know places and people, observing the rhythms and moods of communities, and waiting for important conversations to happen. Importantly, my textual scholarship has always been linked to an ethnographic methodology. A lot of my textual work is informed by conversations I have had in South Asia with religious actors, or aspects of Buddhist cultures I have observed.