VM: Hello everyone. My name is Viridis Miranda. I’m a science communication intern at EarthScope Consortium and I’ll be interviewing Alex Mehta. She’s also a science communication intern at EarthScope Consortium, and she’s also an undergraduate from the University of Georgia, and she’s studying Marine Sciences, specializing in polar marine science, and also in glacier dynamics. So, Alex, my first question is, how did you get into studying marine science? 

AM: So, it’s really been a lifelong interest, which I think is a super cliche answer, but you know, the first thing I remember wanting to be when I grew up was a dolphin trainer. So, I think it’s sort of maintained the same trajectory throughout my life. You know, I’ve always loved the ocean. Growing up, every time my family would be near it, I’d love the time there. And then, of course, once you actually get through high school and college, you realize this is something you can actually do as a career. I lived in Georgia throughout high school. So when I realized that the University of Georgia had a Marine Sciences degree–because not a lot of schools do–I thought, well, that settles it then. That’s what I’ll do. Of course, I didn’t know what specifically I wanted to do with it until I got to college. But yeah, the last 3 or 4 years have been just great for figuring out what it is about the field that I actually like, what interests me, and just sort of fostering that lifelong interest still.

VM: That’s pretty cool. Also, what part of marine sciences interests you the most?

AM: So, what interests me the most, and what I do my undergraduate research on is specifically polar marine science. Even more specifically, how climate change affects pretty much everything in specifically Arctic ecosystems. So, I started out last year by looking at a project where I wanted to see how sort of longitudinal climate driven changes increased temperatures, increased glacial melt, affected the ecology of certain fish populations off the coast of western Greenland. So seeing how potentially increased melt, how increased temperatures and all the subsequent factors affected where certain fish populations that are vital to the Greenland fishing industry were more likely to be. And for the last 6 months I shifted to doing a more geological/ geophysical approach to this. So seeing how that increased glacial melt affected circulation and sedimentation processes and basically what water masses are where, in that same bay–I was focusing on a specific bay on western Greenland. So seeing basically how the physics was changing in that fjord system in that bay. 

VM: Wow. It’s really interdisciplinary, your research project. I like how you impact the environment, and I like that your contribution is very important for public outreach as well. So, that given, how important is it to study glacier dynamics and what is the importance of communicating the science that you do to the public? Because it’s very important for people to know about your research in order for other people to get interested as well. 

AM: So on a very, very broad scale, everybody at this point has heard about climate change. That’s not so much–at least in the scientific community–it’s not so much a new issue anymore. But what I find the challenge, and also the importance to be, is connecting the super broad ideas of climate change that the general public has to more specific cases like this. Like when people think about climate change, they don’t think this specific fish population will move to a different location in this specific area in Greenland, right? Sort of bridging that gap, and understanding every step along the way that makes that happen, and subsequently the importance of that is where I find the importance is, and what I value most. And I think that kind of goes hand in hand with science communication. Climate science, climate-change related fields are probably the most reliant on science communication out of any other discipline of science because of how often polarizing it can be. No pun intended. You know, I think it’s only in the last few years that we’ve moved past the point of most people saying, “Oh, it’s a hoax. Oh, it’s not going to happen in our lifetime.” But realizing yes, it is going to happen in our lifetime. It’s already happening. And this is the science that backs that up. So just bridging the gaps between, you know, the research that gets put out and the general public’s super broad ideas and understanding how we can best bridge that gap. 

VM: I full on agree. It’s really important for people to know how important it is and the power that we have to change what is known to us, because sometimes many people don’t really know about what goes on in our climate, what goes on in our environment and really it’s so interesting. By the way, do you have any current undergraduate research projects that you’re looking forward to?

AM: At least for now, I’m continuing the project that I’ve been doing so far. I’m going to be spending a semester on the Georgia coast, at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography this fall, and I’m really, really looking forward to meeting really amazing researchers, and figuring out how to best move forward. Especially because this is my last year of undergraduate, my last year of my undergraduate degree, so figuring out where I want to go to grad school, where would my efforts best be put into. Sorry, that’s a super vague answer–point is I don’t know any more details than that. It’s all kind of up in the air right now.  

VM: No worries. When I was an undergrad, I had the same journey. So, it’s kind of a profound journey that you have toward–like what are your future plans? So, it’s perfectly fine if it’s up in the air. It’s perfectly fine if it’s still developing itself. As long as you feel passionate about what you study, you’ll get there. So, no need to worry.

AM: Honestly, that’s been a good comfort to me, because I realized that I’m so lucky that I know exactly what I want to do, and that I have such a passion for it. I know what my end goal will be so I only need to figure out how to get there instead of having to figure out what I want my end goal to be. So I feel very privileged in that sense.

VM: You have your North Star, so it’s only the trajectory. Yeah, it’s only the trajectory towards getting there is what you’re trying to figure out. But you’ll get there. I believe in you. You’ll get there. 

AM: Thank you! 

VM: So, what other hobbies do you have aside from studying polar marine science, which is, by the way, really interesting.

AM: So, I guess the first and foremost one is not very different at all. I’m really, really interested in polar history. The Arctic and the Antarctic, but the Arctic in particular is a very, very historically rich area. It’s an example of some of the best and the worst parts of humanity. You know, we have such brilliant examples of conservation practices and sustainable fishing practices throughout history by the indigenous peoples, but also we have more horrific examples of the effects of colonialism, specifically by the British Navy. And I like history. So all that together there, plus with my science interests, so I spend a lot of time reading and watching documentaries and all that. But outside of that, because I do have a life outside of that, I’m really big into music. I play a lot of instruments. And I do art.

VM: Yeah. The best of both worlds, art and science. I like it. I really do like it. So, most importantly, how did you find out about the EarthScope Career Intern paths, and what inspired you specifically for the science communication intern position, and what is your passion behind it? Like what interests you the most about being a science communication intern? I know I asked you three questions in one.

AM: So, to start out, logistically how I found it is that I was actually looking for a specifically science communication internship. So it wasn’t EarthScope first, and then science communication, it was science communication first, and then EarthScope was one of the first that I ended up finding. Because I really wanted to focus on some of the hard skills, like research skills that I had worked on last year, and then adding that to more soft, social/educational skills. This sort of answers the next part of the question. So I’ve worked as a tutor for five-ish years now. And I mostly do science and math with my students. And for the last year or so, I’ve been thinking, “okay, I have to find a way to combine these two things,” because I’m passionate about climate education. So what’s the best way I can get experience in educating but also maintaining that hard science, and I figured something like this was the absolute best way to do that. And as far as–I think the third part was what I most like about science communication? Correct me if I’m wrong!–is really just getting the chance to help people learn. I love teaching. Especially about science, and just being able to sort of foster the same excitement about the world around you that I had when I was growing up. To be able to help that grow in a child or even another adult, I think is one of the best experiences in the world. So yeah, that’s what I like most about it!

VM: It is. I also love teaching and seeing the way a child sees it inspires you even to do a lot better and to hone your skills, to learn your skills a lot better in order to explain a very difficult concept in layman’s terms. That is the best skill that you can achieve here in science communication. Well, at least for me, that’s what I’m learning to do, right?

AM: Absolutely. This is a bit of an anecdote, but last year I was teaching chemistry at the same time I was taking organic chemistry. And I know high school chemistry, organic chemistry are very different, but I was realizing as I was teaching that, “oh, that’s what that actually means. Oh, this is what I can do in my own work.” Everything makes sense now. So I firmly believe that nobody stops learning until, you know, their very last day on Earth. So we have a responsibility to teach, but also to keep learning ourselves and I think it kind of goes hand in hand. 

VM: I always have had this theme of mine throughout, you know, my undergrad and being a grad student, and it’s like we never stop learning. And when you are able to teach, a teacher is born. I had a professor of mine that told me that once, and it’s very true. So what advice would you give to undergraduates and for high school students that would like to study geoscience or any STEM related field?

AM: So being not too closely related to geoscience, I have to speak a bit more broadly. But I would say, first of all for undergrads, especially if it’s your first or second year in college, talk to everyone, apply to everything. No door is closed. I think I realized personally a bit too late in my undergraduate career that a lot of internships and really scary opportunities are actually targeted towards first and second years. And then by that time I’d already sort of missed the boat on that. But just apply to everything, even if you think it’s a long shot. Talk to everybody. Talk to every professor you’ve ever had. And of course, you’ll not get along 100% with everybody, but just meet as many people as you can, and just take the most you can out of what college has to offer, or even what high school has to offer. I mean, there’s a surprising amount that you can do still in high school. And I’m not saying, you know, you have to get crazy test scores. I mean, just do things that you love, and figure out what you love as soon as you can, because then you get to keep doing it for as long as you want. And that’s a gift.

VM: I full on agree. I’m a very peculiar student, right? Because I did have A’s and B’s in my core classes, but in the classes that complement my bachelor’s degree, you know, I struggled a bit with it. However, as a master’s student, I went into the geophysics side, which is very heavy on math and very heavy in physics, which, by the way, were both of the subjects as an undergrad that I most struggled in. It’s very peculiar, right? But since I do enjoy it, and I do love it, I practice. I always ask my advisors, and I always talk to everybody. Networking is such an important skill to have, specifically when you are an early career scientist or when you’re a grad student, undergrad, and a high school student. There is no door closed and you only need one “yes” in order for one door to open the next one, and the next one. So I do agree with your advice.

AM: Actually, that reminded me of something that I’ll add on quickly. I would also say, don’t be afraid to take opportunities that are slightly different than what you would think you’d want. For example, I think this must have been two years ago now, maybe last year, I worked in a bird flu lab for eight, nine months, which is totally different from anything I do now. But I got some great and kind of crazy hands-on experience. I mean, I didn’t ever think I’d work with avian influenza, and live chickens and ducks, but I did. You know, I just accepted it and I did it. And that gave me such amazing hands-on skills and more general lab practices that you can apply to everywhere else. So, yeah, take every opportunity you can, even if it’s not what you think you’ll like, because you’ll learn something from it no matter what.

VM: Oh, that’s pretty neat, and I think it gives you a pretty neat perspective on things like research, and doing things that are very different to your field. I remember before going into geology, I did an animal biotechnology internship as a high school student, and that really nurtured my mind as a researcher, as in how to do research, how to plan your research and critical thinking. So even though it’s very far from what you study, or what you specialize in, or what you want to specialize in, like anything is very good for you in order to nurture your mind, broaden your mind, and maybe in the future you could collaborate and do an interdisciplinary research with the people in the bird flu lab. So I always say to undergraduate students, apply to everything.

AM: Exactly. I totally agree. 

VM: So Alex, thank you very much for this lovely interview. I wish you the very best in your endeavors. Never get discouraged and your journey will be great as an undergrad towards a grad student. And I hope you really have fun at the EarthScope Consortium, being a science communication intern. 

AM: Thanks!

VM: Of course.