Diving into marine science research

Outstanding undergraduate of NSME Kaitlin Macaranas earns biology degree

By California State University, Bakersfield

May 18^th, 2022

Biology student Kaitlin Macaranas has always been drawn to the vast unknown and wanted to do her part in uncovering some of the world’s mysteries. A curious child growing up on museum trips, Bill Nye the Science Guy and David Attenborough documentaries, two distinct yet similar realms called to her: outer space and the ocean.

“Both made me so excited but also made me feel so small,” she explained. “They are so visible and huge, yet with so much undiscovered and unknown.”

The choice between becoming an astronaut or a marine biologist was a tough one. She first decided to pursue the former but felt like something was missing when she was a physics major at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She missed the outdoors, and the “endless math” of the subject was weighing on her. An oceanography course and an ecology course helped Macaranas decide that studying marine biology was where she should be.

“I finally realized, while knee-deep wearing waders in Rice Lake Reservoir, Minnesota and carrying a plant dichotomous key for a UMD plant diversity lab, that I was in my element,” Macaranas recalled. “I was eager to identify every new organism I could, I was eager to dig up worms and other macroinvertebrates, I was eager to be outside in the natural environment.”

But there was one more piece of the puzzle that would fully put Macaranas on the right course: a return home to Bakersfield, where she transferred to California State University, Bakersfield. Though the move was at first for financial reasons, she said it was one of the best decisions she could have made.

This month, Macaranas graduates from CSUB’s School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering with not only her bachelor’s degree in biology but also with the titles of Outstanding Undergraduate of Biology and Outstanding Undergraduate of NSME.

“I am deeply honored and thankful to be named the Outstanding Undergraduate,” she said. “I struggle with the effects of imposter syndrome and can, at times, second guess myself and my professional abilities, but this has just helped reinforce the confidence I’ve developed throughout my time and experience at CSUB.”

Getting her hands dirty

Macaranas, 25, is the youngest of six children born to Filipino immigrants. In the 1980s, her parents moved to Delano, where she lived until she was around 5 or 6 years old. After moving to Bakersfield, she attended McAuliffe Elementary School and Tevis Junior High School before graduating from Bakersfield High School in 2014.

The love of science came in part from her oldest sister, Hanna, who would take Macaranas to museums, aquariums and observatories at a young age. As a chemist, Hanna was an example of what was possible for Macaranas in the world of science.

“We would always watch the science/nature documentaries together, which I think helped to establish my passion for the sciences early on,” Macaranas said. “She is also such a strong, confident scientist, and I’ve always wanted to make her proud.”

From BHS, Macaranas went to Minneapolis Community and Technical College and then UMD. Physics might have put her on the path toward becoming an astronaut, but it didn’t hold her interest like she thought it would. She changed majors while still at UMD, and eventually returned to Bakersfield in 2018 to finish her biology degree.

At CSUB, Macaranas was able to get her hands dirty with research in Dr. Rae McNeish’s Aquatic Ecology Lab as an undergraduate research student. Soon after starting, she quickly became an undergraduate project leader and has spent the last few years developing and managing a student-led project studying how atmosphere wet and dry conditions impact microplastic pollution in the environment. She’s done this research on campus in the Environmental Studies Area, where visitors might have seen the upright PVC poles she uses to collect samples.

“Kaitlin was one of the first students to join my research lab during my first year at CSUB, and while I am sad to see her leave CSUB and will always consider her to part of my research team, I am happy and excited for her new journey,” Dr. McNeish said at the NSME honors ceremony.

Dr. McNeish said Macaranas has been an exemplary student and a role model to her peers and that she has earned the respect of her mentors. She praised Macaranas’ dedication to her research and her perseverance to overcome challenges. Her research could often be physically demanding and done in “stinky conditions,” Dr. McNeish said, but Macaranas was undeterred.

“Dr. McNeish has been such an amazing advocate of mine since joining her lab,” Macaranas said. “She has been both supportive and impactful throughout my undergraduate career at CSUB. She continues to believe in me and support me in my current and future endeavors.”

Kaitlin Macaranas in the field conducting research on microplastic pollution.

Gaining confidence

Macaranas’ research interests have taken her off campus too. Through the CSUB Geopaths Program, she participated in research onboard a ship. The program, a collaboration between CSUB, UC San Diego and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, lets students work together to collect deep-sea sediment cores and plankton. After enjoying the experience so much, Macaranas found a way to continue marine science research as part of the Shannon Point Marine Center’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in Anacortes, Washington.

In Washington, Macaranas worked alongside Dr. Brian Bingham, the director of marine and coastal science at Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, and Dr. Sylvia Yang, the research coordinator at Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Their project looked at a growing invasion of the European green crab, a highly destructive crab and threat to the eelgrass meadows and biodiversity, and their ecological impacts on the benthic macroinvertebrate communities across the reserve.

Macaranas spent the entirety of the eight-week experience in the lab processing sediment cores and picking through them for macroinvertebrates with a dissecting microscope and identifying them with a key.

“To some this may sound boring and tedious,” she said. “But I enjoyed every moment of it and was so excited for what cool or new macroinvertebrate I would discover next.”

The experience ended up having a major impact on Macaranas: Not only did she decide to pursue her master’s in environmental science through WWU’s marine and estuarine science program with Dr. Bingham, it’s also how she heard about the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

The highly competitive fellowship awards graduate students in the sciences with three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $34,000 and an education allowance of $12,000 to the school the students attend for their research.

Macaranas was one of 2,193 awardees for the fellowship, which typically admits about 15% of its applicants.

“Honestly, I was in absolute disbelief and shock after reading the award letter,” Macaranas said. “Just knowing I was competing against over about 13,000 applicants, with many from Ivy Leagues, was also pretty intimidating. The fact I was chosen for this program regardless has been encouraging, to say the least.”

She will use the funding to support her future graduate research, which will focus on Clymnella torquata, an invasive marine worm, and its ecological impacts on the federally protected eelgrass meadows at Padilla Bay. She will also continue the work with macroinvertebrates that she started with the undergraduate research program.

“Through my REU project, I found invasive, juvenile C. torquata present in the sediment samples I processed, and while C. torquata has invaded numerous coastal sites in Washington, this was the first time it has ever been found in Padilla Bay!” Macaranas said. “This discovery was alarming because these invasive marine worms can compromise both the sediment and eelgrass stability and can result in the sinking and suffocation of native shellfish and shellfish aquaculture.”

Imposter syndrome has made Macaranas feel like she just got “lucky” with her achievements and often left her wondering if she belonged in the scientific community. Like the Outstanding Undergraduate of NSME honor she received earlier this month, getting a spot in the NSF fellowship has made her feel sure of herself and her place in science.

“I still struggle a bit with it to this day,” Macaranas said. “But the programs I’ve participated in and the achievements I’ve made have certainly helped me become more confident in myself as a scientist and helped to minimize these negative feelings of inadequacy.”

What’s next

As graduation approaches, Macaranas feels her time at CSUB has prepared her well for graduate school and her future research project. Though she’s excited to take the next step in her education, Macaranas admits that the transition comes with some mixed emotions.

“I feel a little bit sad, I feel relieved, I feel happy, I feel nervous, I feel excited, I feel grateful,” she said. “My undergraduate journey has been long, and there were times where I thought ‘When am I going to graduate, or am I even going to graduate at all?’ And now, it’s finally here. I made it!”

When she crosses that stage at graduation, Macaranas will feel the love and support of her parents, siblings and her partner, David, whom she met in Minnesota. She acknowledged all that has gone into her academic success and is particularly grateful to her mom and dad.

“My parents have been cheering me on every step of the way,” she said. “They both have sacrificed a lot to provide a better life for all of us by moving from the Philippines to the United States. Making them proud has been one of my main motivators throughout my life.”

As she prepares to embark on the next chapter of her education, Macaranas already has plans for what comes after that: a doctorate in environmental and marine sciences and, hopefully, her dream job working as an environmental scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Macaranas said her years at CSUB have been “so fulfilling and encouraging and challenging” and that she wouldn’t have made it without the support of her family, friends and the faculty and staff of the biology department.

“Though my undergraduate journey took longer than I had hoped, I wouldn’t change anything about it,” she said. “Every past experience I had brought me to where I am today.”

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Footnotes

Story by Kelly Ardis, communications specialist, School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering (NSME); Ceremony photos by Juan Rodriguez, photographer/videographer, others provided by Kaitlin Macaranas