Student Blogs & Vignettes
Lauren Bulik
Lauren Bulik, USF CMS doctoral student
About my research
I am a PhD student in Steve Murawski鈥檚 lab where I will be collaborating with the Tampa Bay Surveillance Project and investigating themes of fisheries and human influence. Anthropogenic effects on marine environments have been an interest of mine since I was a student at Clemson University, researching associations between marine debris and invertebrates/vertebrates. With Dr. Murawski, I will be operating on a much finer scale, investigating how contaminants move through Tampa Bay and its resident marine life. In addition to the biological aspects of my research, I aim to incorporate ecosystem modeling and physical oceanography.
Why USF CMS?
After undergraduate, I took two gap years in which I worked in marine research, education, and tourism around the world. I used this time to refine what I wanted out of graduate school, and my career in the industry. One thing that drew me to USF was the interdisciplinary approach of the College of Marine Science. After working in one of the only marine science labs at Clemson, I am excited to have the support and resources from all the diverse labs USF houses, along with nearby collaborators. Ultimately though, I chose USF to work under the expertise of Dr. Murawski, whose research interests and values in the science community aligned closely with my own. Living in St. Petersburg was a bonus 鈥� although I had never been here before, I cannot imagine a better place to unwind than with runs along the seawall and beach weekends.