Since first grade I've told my family
and my friends that I wanted to be a
marine biologist and now I'm living that
dream at UC Davis. My name is Tessa
Filipzcyk. I am a fourth year marine
and coastal science major and I'm out
here at Bodega Marine Lab taking classes
and doing some independent research.
Bodega Marine Lab is a really important
place and a really special place. We're
right on the California coast and that
is home to a lot of unique processes and
with incriminating climate change and
ocean acidification, we get to study
those processes in the lab right next to
the places that they're actually
happening. So there's a lot of really
groundbreaking research that goes on
right here in this lab. My independent
research has to do with clam harvesting
and how that affects the sediment in
seagrass beds. So out here in Bodega Bay
clam harvesting is a really big
recreational activity. Hundreds of people
come out here and take their buckets and
their shovels and dig up really big
holes to find clams. As those sediments
get mixed up and toppled by clam
harvesters, we're curious to see what
that does to the carbon profile and it
could be a good indicator about climate
change and ocean acidification. When
they're mixed up we can't really see
those clear patterns, so what I'm looking
at is how in disturbed and undisturbed
sites how those two carbon profiles
differ. Through my research I want to
sort of encourage environmental
stewardship and to let the public know
that what they're doing could be harmful
to the environment and maybe to mitigate
those stressors. I used to think that
just because I was an undergrad I
couldn't be at the same level as people
that research here, but now doing my own
project and coming in and out of the lab
whenever I want
to do my own research has been a really
cool step in my career and I also feel
like now I'm kind of a real scientist.
Everyone here is willing to help you and
everyone is willing to offer their
advice not just in science but in life
as well. I've never walked down the halls
here and not had someone ask me if I
needed help, if I needed guidance, if I
needed assistance or advice and I think
that type of collaboration is really
important in science and one of the main
principles that I think I would pass on
to any other young scientist
