Invasion of Privacy: Dr. Gerringer and the importance of student inclusion
Photo courtesy of Dr. Mackenzie Gerringer/Scientific Illustration by Emily McMahon
An impressive illustration by Geneseo alum, Emily McMahon, of Careproctus yanceyi. McMahon is both a talented artist and aspiring graduate student.
Dr. Mackenzie Gerringer in collaboration with six SUNY Geneseo alumni and scientists from the University of Montana and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa have recently discovered three new species of deep-sea fish. This group of scientists published their insightful research in the journal of Ichthyology & Herpetology, which is currently available to anyone interested. Staff at The Lamron sat down with Dr. Gerringer to not only understand the work accomplished by this outstanding team, but also her individual work as a marine biologist.
Dr. Gerringer, who is pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist through her work as a deep-sea biologist, explained that she is “very lucky to have a strong intersection between what [she] love[s] to do and what [she] get[s] paid to do.” She also emphasized to us how much she values and highlights students’ involvement in these research projects. Dr. Gerringer currently teaches BIOL 457, the marine biology lecture and lab course, bringing her research experience directly to the lab, which is especially important for those who may not be participating in directed studies for a variety of reasons. With Dr. Gerringer’s guidance, students learn to use the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Exploration Program to “design their own research projects and…carry them out throughout the course of the semester.”
While students in her lab can conduct their own research, Dr. Gerringer mentioned that four of the six students involved in the most recently published project were students that started in her lab when she came to Geneseo in 2019—which is also when the team started to work on this project. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process, but the team eagerly resumed their involvement once it was safe to do so in person.
Throughout the discussion, Dr. Gerringer continuously spotlighted the students who worked on the project and emphasized how exciting it was to work with them, seeing the wonderful contributions each student made. Dr. Gerringer discussed what many of the student contributors are doing post-undergraduate. She noted Brett Woodworth ‘22, who is in graduate school studying deep-sea biology; Jessica Palmeri ’21, who is now studying veterinary medicine; and Sarah Suplicz ’23, who is working through medical school. In addition to these magnificent alumni, Dr. Gerringer elaborated on some of Emily McMahon’s ‘23 work on the paper, specifically her taxonomic illustrations. As explained by Dr. Gerringer, McMahon is both a “talented biologist, [and] a very talented artist [who] has been drawing fishes for many years, and so she served as the taxonomic illustrator on the paper” in which her depictions “help highlight important features for these fishes.”
Dr. Gerringer’s enthusiastic explanation of McMahon’s illustrative work is a great example of the importance of a liberal arts education, echoed by Dr. Gerringer, who notes that students receiving such an education have “the ability to connect across different fields.” Seeking out a profession at a small liberal arts college, she was impressed by Geneseo’s educational opportunities and the support students receive from the faculty in pursuing their topics of interest.
During the interview, Dr. Gerringer stressed that it is critical to fund sciences, mentioning that funding a variety of research, such as this one “benefits society in direct and measurable ways.” Dr. Gerringer is particularly interested in the biodiversity and adaptations of organisms, and the human impacts on the deep sea. With respect to research opportunities, she explained how meaningful having student collaboration is, expressing the importance of “including students in these experiences, because I think that is something that we’re quite good at here at Geneseo, and that we have the chance to have students doing full, real impactful science in the lab.”
Throughout the interview, Dr. Gerringer made it clear to us how much she treasured being able to have students participate in these research ventures, whether that means creating their own research projects in the marine biology lab or co-authoring published papers with those same students. The value of a liberal arts model of education is further demonstrated by what students’ interdisciplinary interests and talents can bring to the table in a research setting. It was lovely to be able to learn more about Dr. Gerringer’s work and see how much students are truly valued!
Ultimately, Dr. Gerringer wants to stress how “beautiful and incredible” the deep sea is, containing an immense amount of biodiversity. The deep sea is not an empty, otherworldly, void space: “These habitats are very closely connected to the rest of the ocean, and our choices and our activities at the surface matter for what is the largest habitat on our planet.” And while the general public has agreed on how adorable the bumpy snailfish, Careproctus colliculi, is, as Dr. Gerringer said wonderfully, “I think [all deep sea life is] all beautiful and worthy of our love.”