Nutrition Sciences Major Prepares for Hands-On Summer Research Experience

Hello, hello. Is this thing on?

Greetings and salutations everyone, and welcome to my blog! Before I dive into anything too deep, I would like to thank my mentors, Dr. Jean-Paul Simjouw and Dr. Christian Conroy of the Marine Biology Department, for supporting me throughout the duration of my research project over the summer. Without their guidance, I don’t know where I’d be.

On that note, let’s talk about where I am. My project, “The Estimated Concentration of Microplastics in Human Due to the Consumption of Branzino (Dicentrarchus labrax) & Black Sea Bass (Centropristis striata),” is what I’ll be working on over the next couple of months. Despite the complex title, the goal of this project is rather simple: to find a correlation between diet and the probability of microplastics being present within the body based on one’s diet, in order to create the argument that by harming the environment we, in turn, are harming ourselves.

Obviously, this harm is not intentional. Microplastic research – especially involving the possibility of these microparticles in human tissues – is a rather new, yet expanding field that allows for these connections to be made. One of the things that really brought me into this realm of research was (oddly enough): spite.

‘Never settle for less’

One of the key things I immediately learned about the medical field was that it didn’t always matter how good your grades were or if you made the Dean’s List. No, it was about who you were and what you spent your time doing. Being a part of Honors Societies, the Honors Program, PMEP (Pre-Medical Experience Pathway), SHA (Student Health Association), and even having a part-time job off-campus, many would argue that I am doing very well. Yet, when I look at these things, I don’t see myself that way. I see my accomplishments, yes, but who am I through these things? What am I defined as? How do I push that?

It’s almost 8 p.m. as I sit in Claire’s Corner Copia in New Haven. I’ve taken refuge in the back of the restaurant eating a vegan Caesar salad, and I’m scrolling through the SURF mentor list trying to find something, anything, that could relate to my major. There’s Dr. Alvin Tran, of course, who focuses on eating disorders and public health, but as someone who’s looked into that so many times, the idea fell flat. Of course, there were others: biology, cancer research, forensic sciences – almost every general branch of research could be found on the list and none of them satiated me. I munched on a crouton. Why? Why were none of them good enough? Why...I paused, reaching the bottom of the list.

Jean-Paul Simjouw, Marine Biology.

My brain started moving faster than my hands could write an email. Why make a connection within a field where nutritional sciences already exist when I could find a new one where no one would expect it? Within a few short clicks, a couple raging backspaces, a comma here and there, and some elbow grease, the email was sent, and here I am.

If there’s one piece of advice I will give to anyone reading this blog entry, there are two parts:

1. Never settle for less, especially if you know you can do more.
2. You always have time to say no, but only one chance to say yes.

‘Eye-opening to see the amazing things everyone is doing’

There is one thing to keep in mind about both of these pieces of advice. If things don’t work out, you’ll end up back where you started. Try again. Should you not succeed, try, try again until you do. Find the connections people around you haven’t caught quite onto yet. They’re yours, but not forever. College is a constant game of give, take, and yield – the last one especially. If you see something and don’t take that leap, someone will take it from you. The opportunities of the world are presented to those capable of expressing them and running with them, so if you do nothing with it, it will go to someone else.

So, for once in my life, I decided that someone else would be me.

Over the past couple of days, I have had the remarkable privilege to meet one of the most unique sets of students, mentors, and faculty alike who have decided to take the same leap as I have – at one point or another – to only maintain their faith in the time between the jump and the landing, the void. Of course, this sounds all rather fancy and whatnot, but after getting to meet some of the other SURFers and getting to know what they’re looking for in their research, it’s really eye-opening to see the amazing things everyone is doing. Several people are looking into cancer research, another is looking at how comics are portrayed in the media overtime, others are poking into eating disorders in college students, and surprisingly enough, someone is also studying plastics! Like how cool is that! Truly mind blowing.

In summary, I’m very excited about what’s to come, and I hope the rest of you are as well.

Stay tuned!

Beatrice Glaviano ’26 is a nutritional sciences major with a pre-med concentration. She is a member of the University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program.