Summer Internships: Skylar Livengood '24

Name: Skylar Livengood
Class Year: 2024
Major: Biology and French
Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Internship Organization: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Job Title: Molecular Ecology Lab Intern
Location: Edgewater, MD

What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

This is my second summer interning at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), where I’m continuing my research from last summer in the molecular ecology lab under the mentorship of Dr. Melissa McCormick. I’ve been studying rapid evolution of the invasive wetland reed Phragmites australis in response to global change factors, with a goal of understanding how marshal ecosystems will respond to predicted future elevated CO2 and nitrogen conditions. My work here has been a part of a larger NSF funded project headed by professor Dr. Thomas Mozder at ��ճԹ�, called the C-Evo project, which aims to understand how carbon cycling in marshes changes as the genetic and phenotypic makeup of plant populations change in response to global change factors.

Hand holding two envelopes in a wetland. — This summer I’m doing research at two field sites: the Global Change Research Wetland (GCREW) and Parker’s Creek. This is Parker’s Creek, where Phragmites is being treated with elevated nitrogen in half of the plots. The yellow coin envelopes are for collecting leaf samples!

Why did you apply for this internship?

I’ve been doing research with Dr. Mozder at ��ճԹ� since my sophomore year, and through him I was connected with Dr. McCormick here at SERC. Last summer, I had an amazing experience doing research and learning more about ecology, genetics, and field work. At the end of the summer, I still had more to do for my project, and during my junior year I did research in Dr. Mozdzer’s lab to finish analyzing the data I collected during the summer. I maintained relationships with my mentors at SERC, and decided to apply to continue working on the project this summer.

Skylar taking a selfie in a lab — To determine plant genotypes, I’m running microsatellite assays on each sample using species-specific primers which target repetitive non-coding regions in the Phragmites genome. Here, I’m setting up a lab technique called gel electrophoresis, which allows me to visualize whether or not my microsatellite PCRs were successful. After this, I can send my samples to the Natural History Museum LAB to be sequenced!

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

I’ve absolutely loved getting to know the other interns here at SERC. I live in dorms here, and the conversations we have while cooking, eating, or just hanging out in the living room have honestly shaped where I want my future to go. The best part of this internship is definitely the connections I’ve made here, with people from all over the world. We’re all here because we care, in one way or another, about a liveable future for this Earth. Learning about each other's lives, passions, and future plans has made me feel so much more hopeful for a future in ecology and in the world.

Students in a wetland doing field research — I’ve also been helping do field work to measure phenotypic traits (such as growth rates, chlorophyll content, and light response curves). Here, a group of ��ճԹ� student researchers from Dr. Mozder’s lab are working on measurements in one of the chambers at our GCREW field site.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn't expect?

This summer, I’ve decided to reach out to other labs at SERC to learn more about their different projects. So far, I’ve been able to kayak to collect snails on the Chesapeake Bay, attend talks about the human impact of ecosystem conservation, and see a woodland flooding experiment up-close and personal. Being able to shadow in some other labs has widened my view of research, allowing me to experience research in different subfields of ecology and ultimately helping me to better visualize the path I hope to take in science.

Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.

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