Wetterhahn symposium keynote speaker exudes scientific passion and enthusiasm

Keynote speaker for the annual Wetterhahn Undergraduate Science Symposium and Dartmouth alumnus Ginny Eckert ’90 spoke to student researchers and faculty last Thursday.  She discussed life as a marine biologist in a lecture titled “One in a Million: Marine Ecology in the Subarctic.”

The Wetterhahn symposium showcased research projects conducted by over 100 undergraduate students in topics ranging from biological sciences, chemistry and physics to education, computer science and engineering sciences. An equally diverse group of student researchers was comprised of Women in Science Project interns, Howard Hughes interns, Presidential Scholars and Beckman Scholars.

Eckert, an associate professor at the Juneau Center of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, embodies the passion and enthusiasm that these symposium student researchers are beginning to experience themselves. 

Assuring the student scientists that success does not depend on knowing what they want to do in life yet, Eckert spoke of her life growing up in New Jersey and explained that as a child she did not know what she wanted to be when she grew up.

“Perhaps going to the beach all the time is a prelude to my career as a marine biologist,” Eckert said.

To illustrate that creativity and courage are important for successful scientists, Eckert recounted her experience filling out the Dartmouth College paper application. Instead of writing about her summer activities, she instead glued sand onto the white space allotted.

Eckert learned that life is full of surprises during a graduate program at the University of Florida, where she unexpectedly decided to pursue marine biology rather than tropical biology, which she was originally interested in, due to a shortage of professors researching the tropics.

Thus Eckert began her life as a marine biologist. Her current research is primarily focused on invertebrate reproduction, and addresses critical questions in the field of marine ecology, fisheries management and the sustainability of living marine resources.

“Science. It is so exciting to get to see what you have never seen and to get to do what no one has ever done,” said Eckert.

In the lecture Eckert taught the audience about marine biology, a topic not often covered in undergraduate courses. She spoke of her research in the Subarctic, and detailed her research on Dungeness Crabs and their life cycles, which are exactly the same even in different places.  She also addressed the fascinating question of why blue female crabs produce over two million eggs while only one in a million survives to be an adult. This is the inspiration for the title of her talk.

“Here’s my best advice for you: do what you love and love what you do,” said Eckert.