Environmental Science MS
ENSCI Student Serves as Lead Researcher alongside Dr. Alison Haupt
Brooke Fulkerson recently completed her Professional Science Master's (PSM) internship in the Coastal Ecology Lab alongside Dr. Alison Haupt. As an intern, she served as a lead researcher on a coastal urbanization and kelp biomass research project.
We touched base with Brooke to learn more about her internship project and overall graduate experience. Check out her interview below for more details.
What did your PSM project entail?
I evaluated the relationship between changes in coastal urbanization and kelp forest biomass across 2000 km of California coastline over a span of 30 years. I also examined the changes in kelp biomass over time along with changes in measured impacts of urbanization. This included combining urbanization and watershed data with oceanic conditions to determine what variables have the most impact on kelp forest health.
How does your internship project contribute to your career goals?
This project helped me improve my data analysis and GIS skills by combining a ton of different types of data to be modeled together. Being able to troubleshoot problems and link different pieces of data together are key to being a successful scientist.
What is your favorite part about being a graduate student at CSUMB?
All the hands on learning, we get to spend a lot of time applying our skills in the field in real world scenarios. Also being a part of a small cohort where we really get to know each other and help each other learn is awesome.
What are your plans after graduate school?
I hope to have my research published from this internship experience. I also aspire to obtain a job in any environmental science capacity.
Congratulations on completing your internship project, Brooke! We look forward to seeing your research publication :)