University of Puget Sound
Tacoma, Washington
Chasing Elusive Ice Worms
Ever heard of ice worms? Neither had I before last spring. But over this past summer, I turned them into an exciting, challenging, and rewarding independent adventure. I was one of a number of students selected to receive a sizable grant to pursue a topic of summer research at the university, mine being an annelid worm (segmented, like an earthworm) that makes its home in the glaciers of the Olympic and Cascade mountains here in Washington. (What? Worms that live in ice?? I’ll get to that in a minute.)
As a biology major, I took the option of enrolling in Biology Colloquium, a quarter-credit course designed to introduce and connect research-minded students to the research endeavors of the department’s faculty. While most of the professors’ topics were interesting and provided excellent opportunities, none of them really sparked my internal curiosity. So in response, I hit the books, the internet, and the journals in the library. If none of the research already being done at the university really fit me, I was going to find something that would!
After much thought and meditation, I set my mind on combining two of my greatest passions: playing with little critters and exploring the mountains of Washington. It took four days of literary research into high altitude life before I stumbled upon the infamous and elusive ice worm. I soon learned its amazing habits: it not only survives at freezing temperatures but requires them for survival, it burrows through solid ice during nightly migrations to the surface, and only exists along the thin belt of coastal mountains running from northern Oregon to southern Alaska. More important, however, was the fact that relatively little was known about these creatures, leaving lots of room for meaningful undergraduate research.
I was a little worried that I would offend the biology faculty by disregarding their projects and starting my own independent work, but I was given nothing but overwhelming support from the professors, especially from my soon-to-be research advisor, Peter Wimberger. In fact, the relationship I established with Peter over the summer was the most rewarding aspect of the experience, even more than the research itself. This shattered my previous perceptions (from high school) about student-faculty interactions being defined by formal rules and behavior.
With help and advice from Peter, I decided to undertake a genetic study of ice worm populations from around the Olympic mountains and compare them to populations found throughout the rest of the range. The results will allow us to infer how the geologic past of the Pacific Northwest (namely the widespread glaciations that occurred during past ice ages and subsequent warming periods) has played a role in the structure of the ice worm population and will give us a better understanding of the area’s geologic history in general.
Although the end product of this research will be great, the means to get there have been just as good. The bulk of my fieldwork was done in the heart of the Olympic mountains, one of the most beautiful areas in the country. And my lab work has involved incredible techniques such as DNA extraction, amplification, and sequencing. We actually have all the technology required for these analyses in the labs on campus!
But the work won’t stop here on campus. As a result of this independent project, I have been offered a position at Rutgers University to do graduate work with the only other person currently studying ice worms and glacial biology. In this and in many other ways, my research, which was supported and completely funded by the university, has blossomed into the most rewarding experience of my college career and will last as my most important achievement here at UPS.
Original URL: http://www.ups.edu/x8938.xml
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