Recent college graduate Irene “Queenie” Turner is the new research technician in the Water Quality Monitoring Program at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS). While the job is new, it’s a dream that was years in the making, thanks in part to the CCS’ Education Department.
When Turner was a student at Eastham Elementary, and later at Nauset Middle School, CCS Education Director Jesse Mechling visited her class to deliver his program on water quality.
The lessons in water quality begin with an in-class component where students learn how to use scientific instruments. The students then go on field trips to collect water samples and take measurements. Analysis in the lab follows.
For Turner, those field trips left a lasting impression. As a young student, she remembers going out on a field trip, collecting water samples, and measuring salinity, pH, and turbidity.
“It really inspired me to pursue science, especially ocean science. Having those opportunities to actually do it allowed my interest to flourish. It’s such a cool thing to be able to do,” she said.
Education is a key component of the Center’s mission, and Mechling regularly visits Cape schools to introduce students to marine science. The program currently teaches students in the Nauset and Provincetown school systems, as well as the Lighthouse Charter School in Harwich.
“The idea behind the program is to provide a vehicle to get students into the field to do science, and to spark an appreciation for the amazing marine ecosystem that surrounds Cape Cod, everything from plankton to whales. Such an appreciation will inspire them to be good stewards of the environment,” explained Mechling.
After graduating last spring from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a BS in Fisheries and Marine Science (and a concentration in Marine Biology), Turner was hired as an Aquatic Ecology Intern for the Cape Cod National Seashore. There, she monitored the water quality in kettle ponds and on the Herring River Restoration Project. When the government shut down last month, she found herself with time on her hands, and inquired about volunteering at CCS. As luck would have it, there was an opening for a full-time staff member in the Water Quality Monitoring Program.
Now under the direction of Amy Costa, PhD, Director of the Water Quality Monitoring Program, Turner works with volunteers to collect samples, and analyzes them in the lab at CCS’ Hiebert Marine Laboratory.
With the help of staff, volunteers, and partners, water samples are collected from 120 stations across Cape Cod Bay, Nantucket Sound, and local embayments. The lab also processes samples from other organizations, such as the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, whose volunteers collect samples from 50 ponds across the Cape.
“I’ve probably taught four thousand young students. It’s nice to think that the program had an impact on Queenie, and on where she ended up,” said Mechling.
“I grew up here and I’ve dreamed of working at the Center for Coastal Studies since I was a little kid. It seems unreal,” said Turner.