As a community college student (San Diego City College/Mesa College), I had an amazing opportunity to participate in a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduate Students program. Through that program is how I met Drew Talley (basically the coolest human alive) and got to work in his lab at the University of San Diego. This was my first opportunity to conduct research and I feel like this is what kickstarted my entire career as a community ecologist! To be honest, ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to be a biologist but had no idea I could actually do it. Drew taking me into his lab and mentoring me put me on a trajectory to achieving my goals and I have not slowed down!

So a little more on the project! Here we looked at the consumption of microplastics by three common and abundant wetland fishes with distinct feeding strategies, California killifish, flathead gray mullet, and longjawed mudsucker in Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Salt Marsh, California. Killifish feed by picking from the benthos and water column for small invertebrates, such as polychaetes, isopods and crustaceans, mullet feed on benthic detritus, and mudsuckers are opportunistic sit-and-wait predators that burrow into the mud and ambush invertebrates and small fishes… can you guess who ate microplastics??? well, if you want to find out, you have to read our publication!