Second-year PhD student Alyse Larkin recently participated in the “Invite a Scientist” program, which is organized by the North Carolina Science Festival. Alyse visited Mrs. Kathleen Marshall’s 6th grade science classes at Havelock Middle School where she spoke to the students about her research, how she became a scientist, and what she was like in middle school.
Together, Alyse and the students worked on three activities that covered how phytoplankton influence the ocean food web, how to identify phytoplankton, and how phytoplankton, such as Prochlorococcus, are influenced by ocean temperature.
Overall, the students seemed excited and interested in Alyse’s research. One of the best questions of the day came from a girl who asked Alyse, “Can kids be scientists too?” The answer, of course, is yes!
