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bmcterla in l{odiakEy JULIE HERRMANN

Mirror Writer

An email to Kelly Hegel'sadviser about a marinemicrobiolory class in Kodiakis what brought Hegel allthe way across the countryfrom home to study biolu-minescence, or glow-in-the-dark bacteria.

Hegel just graduatedfrclm Pittsburgh, Pennsylva-nia's La Roche College withan undergraduate degree inbiolory,

She decided to come toKodiak for this class becauseshe loves to travel and hopedit would help her figure outwhat to do with her future.

"I figured marine micro-biolog' was right up myalley," Hegel said.

The class was part of theUniversity of Alaska Fair-banks' Summer Sessions,short six-week intensiveclasses taught during thesummer. This one took placein Kodiak, an ideal placeto study marine biolog;t

Kelly Hegel presents herbacteria on Wednesday.

Julie Herrmann photo

project on bioluminescent

according to Professor BrianHirnelbloorn at the KodiakSeafood and Marine ScieneeCenter.

Hegel came to Kodiak andjumped in headfirst.

She's participated inthe weekly Audubon hikes,enjoyed the Crab Festival,viewed bears, and attemptedto go whale watching.

She's been to Alaskabefore, visiting Lake illarkNational Park, and \ryasstunned.

"I really fell in love withthe experience, the atsn**sphere, the people, theviews," said Hegel, who gr'#wup in Colorado but has Xivedin Pittsburgh for 10 years. "Iused to think Colorado w;tsone of the prettiest plaecsever until I came to Alaska."

In class, Hegel studiedglowing bacteria, which *anbe found on many differentfish, shellfish and inverte-brates.

At the Touch Center at

F $ee HEGEL' Page 3

Hegel Thursday, JullY 3, 2fi14, KoDtAK nAILY MlRFtcn- 3

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th* Alaska Fisheries Sci-ence Center, Hegel collectddbacteria from the variousanirnals and then testedthe bacteria for biolumines-cence)"

All of the swabs werenegative at the beginnitg,but Hegel was able to growsome bioluminescence overa few days.

The strongest was from asnail called a Vibrio tubiashiiand from the water flushedout of the touch tank andhack into the ocean.

Hegel did several testsin addition to tests for bio-luminescence. Hegel andHimelbloom tested water inSt. Herman Harbor for E.coli and fecal matter. Theyalsei created Winograd-sky columns, tubes filledwith sediment and waterfrom beaches for observingehanges over time in thegrowth of different bacteriaand algae.

Himelbloom hopes thatthe class, Applied MarineMicrobiolory Laboratory,will continue in future yearswith a few more people. Inthis section, the inauguralclass, Hegel was the lonestudent.

"One-on-one is not bad,

but I'd like to see a groupof students and then theycould team up and come upwith their o*n group proj-ect," Hirnelbloom said.

Hegel is still not exactlysure where she'll go withher experience.

"Environmental sustain-

ability is a really strong pas-sion of mine," Hegel said."The marine environmenthas also been one of my pas-sions, so if I can combine ttretwo, that'd be gre at."

Contact Julie Herrmann atj herrma n n @kod ia kdailym irror.com.