Duke Marine Lab
I had many expectations when I came down to the Duke Marine Lab. The main reason I came down here was for the academics. I wanted to know if marine biology was something I wanted to pursue after graduation. I also was looking to gain experience in the lab. I knew this place offered many field trips and opportunities to expand my knowledge in the marine field.
Another expectation of mine was to get a feel for how graduate schools run. Megan McConnell was here last year and she talked a lot about how the classes here have a graduate level feel. So far they have been. Classes here are very independent, as are the labs. It’s a lot of finding out why something is on your own. We do a lot of canoing out to a neighboring island to collect crabs and snails for experiments.
I also wanted to meet people who were interested in the same things as I was. Knowing I was going to be living on the beach wasn’t that bad either!
So far, the lab has lived up to my expectations. The work really hasn't picked up yet, not compared to what I would be doing at Allegheny. I do a lot of independent projects, some smaller than others. My biggest one is over at NOAA tagging sea turtles to track their surface intervals. It's kind of like a mini comp. It'll be good to have experience presenting my data before I have to do it next year. Going out in the field for that has been my favorite experience so far, even though I have to get up at 5:30 am.
The lifestyle down here is a lot different than I thought it would be. More than ½ the students (which is only 7 people) are from Duke University. Because of this I thought people would be really driven and working long hours. While there are some people like that, people for the most part are very laid back here. It’s a very different feeling. People don’t really wear shoes or change out of their swimsuit. But I like it. It really does feel like I’m going to school on a beach.
I’m leaving for Panama in 2 weeks to do some research. A bunch of us are going as well as my closest friends here. That I think will be the highlight of my semester abroad!
