KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 23, 2020 \u2013 Anna Sorgie enrolled at the 溏心vlog免费B站 last year because she knew she would have opportunities for hands-on wildlife research inside and outside the classroom. And she hasn\u2019t been disappointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m passionate about conserving the environment, and I want to make a positive difference in our world,\u201d said Sorgie, a sophomore who grew up in Tuckahoe, New York<\/strong>, and went to high school in Ridgefield, Connecticut<\/strong>. \u201cWildlife conservation is the path that excites me most. From a young age, my grandfather introduced me to taking care of the environment. He told me that even an anthill is important.\u201d<\/p>\n Horseshoe crabs are, too.<\/p>\n Sorgie spent the last four months immersed in intensive studies of horseshoe crabs, the ancient marine creature closely related to spiders and scorpions. In collaboration with 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student Natalie Ameral, the project aimed to determine whether the various populations of horseshoe crabs in southern New England waters are genetically distinct or whether they interbreed.<\/p>\n \u201cUnderstanding the specifics of each population is super important,\u201d said Sorgie, a wildlife and conservation biology major. \u201cKnowing the specific details of the populations \u2013 their survival rate, how far they travel, for instance \u2013 has a lot of implications for how to manage them.\u201d<\/p>\n Sorgie and Ameral visited nearly a dozen locations along the Rhode Island coast at night during high tides to record data from spawning horseshoe crabs and collect a tissue sample from each animal. Although the pandemic has delayed the laboratory analysis, Sorgie also led a project to monitor how the crabs recover from the tissue sample collection. All 22 she tracked survived and exhibited normal behavior.<\/p>\n One of the most notable findings during her summer of research was that more than half of all the tagged horseshoe crabs that were later recaptured somewhere in the state were found on Napatree Point in Westerly, regardless of where they were originally tagged. Some traveled more than 30 miles from their original tagging location to find their way to Napatree.<\/p>\n \u201cIt must mean that Napatree Point is a super important site for horseshoe crabs,\u201d Sorgie said. \u201cWe\u2019re now going to propose that it be designated a marine life management area. I\u2019m so glad that I was part of making that determination.\u201d<\/p>\n As useful as it was to gain the hands-on experience she sought, Sorgie said that the most important thing she learned from her horseshoe crab project was to challenge herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew coming into this project that I was just a freshman but I shouldn\u2019t let that limit me,\u201d she said. \u201cI learned to challenge myself and go after what I want and don\u2019t let my inexperience hold me back. And it ended up being a great experience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was also great to learn what a job in this field would be like and how a student like me could take on my own research project as a grad student,\u201d Sorgie added. \u201cIt opened up ideas for what I could do with my future.\u201d<\/p>\n Sorgie\u2019s research is supported by the 溏心vlog免费B站 Coastal Fellows Program, a unique initiative designed to involve undergraduate students in addressing current environmental problems. Now in its 24th year, the program pairs students with a mentor and research staff to help them gain skills relevant to their academic major and future occupations.<\/p>\n As Sorgie wraps up her work on her horseshoe crab project, she is looking ahead to leading an environmental service trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, next spring with a dozen other students. Last year she participated in a service trip to New Hampshire, where she maintained trails, removed invasive plants and restored habitat.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still early for her to have identified a distinct career path, so Sorgie is seeking more hands-on research opportunities \u2013 both in the field and in the lab \u2013 to help her determine her next steps.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll probably go to grad school eventually,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I want to get some experience first before deciding. I\u2019m definitely interested in environmental restoration, so that might be a path I take. But I\u2019m still trying to figure everything out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 23, 2020 \u2013 Anna Sorgie enrolled at the 溏心vlog免费B站 last year because she knew she would have opportunities for hands-on wildlife research inside and outside the classroom. And she hasn\u2019t been disappointed. \u201cI\u2019m passionate about conserving the environment, and I want to make a positive difference in our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-75714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-the-environment-and-life-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}