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Volunteer Spotlight Archive

Marcella Turonis, Oregon Inlet

Standing on the catwalk of the Oregon Inlet bridge on NC Highway 12 and lowering her plankton net over 50 feet into the fast-moving waters below is the typical sampling day for Marcella Turonis. Marcella monitors the salty water that flows between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound below the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge at the northern most edge of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Marcella, a self-described "phyto-geek," is a marine science student at the College of the Albemarle (COA) and a Special Activities Instructor at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. It was back in 2005 that Dana Newton, her COA Oceanography professor, asked if anyone wanted to monitor phytoplankton. It sounded interesting, so Marcella volunteered and has stuck with it for the past two years, longer than the other students who started the program with her.

Each Monday, Marcella travels almost 20 miles in her "souped up" SUV to get to her sampling site. At the bridge she battles a strong current and blistery cold winds in the winter to collect her sample. Then on Tuesday she takes her sample into the COA science lab to be analyzed. It sometimes takes up to two and a half hours for her to count an entire slide.

It was during her normal sampling on November 6, 2006, that she noticed the water was turbid and that the sample had a yellow tint. She could see "stuff" in the bottle and remembers that it was "gross." What was it? It ended up being a toxin-producing, multi-species Pseudo-nitzschia bloom. Of course, she did not know that until the next day after looking at the sample under the scope. So when we asked her to collect shellfish, she made another trip out to the site, put on hip waders and braved the rocky shore and cold waters. "I love that I am able to participate in this program, especially after finding the toxic bloom in November. That made me realize how important it really is to keep tabs on what is in our water."

"I love looking at what is in the water I live by. It fascinates me. My friends used to think I was a dork, but when they heard about the toxic bloom they started to change their minds. People ask me all kinds of questions when I am on the bridge taking a sample. At first they think I am trying to catch minnows, but once I tell them I am fishing for much smaller critters they want to know more."

"I have taken samples to my son's school so the kids could see them and several of them told me they want to be marine biologists when they grow up. It is really cool to see the expressions on kids' faces when they look through a microscope and get to actually see all the microscopic 'sea monsters' they are swimming with. This program is very important to the safety of everyone in one way or another and it feels good to know that I am a part of it. I look forward to continuing to sample after I finish school. I just love being a part of this!" And all of us at the PMN enjoy having you as part of the network! We are glad that you have "always loved the ocean." Thanks, Marcella, for watching the waters of Oregon Inlet.

Doris Cohrs, Sapelo Island

You may know her as Doris Cohrs or as the "Phyto Goddess." She earned the title from her dedicated monitoring of Sapelo Island's Post Office Creek. Located along the southern Georgia coast, Sapelo Island is Georgia's fourth largest barrier island and home to the University of Georgia's Marine Institute. Doris is a member of the Friends of Sapelo (FOS), a non-profit volunteer organization that was created to support the research, education, and outreach mission of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR).

For the past three years, Doris has collected a weekly sample from Post Office Creek off a floating dock. But getting to the dock is no ordinary task. Every Wednesday, Doris takes the 8:30 am ferry over to Sapelo Island, a 20 minute trip (10 minutes shorter now thanks to the new ferry)! Once on the island, Doris hitches a ride to the science center where she performs her tow, but the ferry doesn't depart for the mainland until noon. So for the next two and a half hours Doris works to escape the wrath of the no-see-ums by "bugging" Brooke and the rest of the SINEER staff. Once back on the mainland, Doris heads deep into the woods to "Midge Manor" (her and Don's passive solar home) to have lunch with the neighborhood raccoons. Then it's upstairs to the "lab" to analyze and count the sample.

It's interesting to go along with Doris to collect a sample since everyone at the dock knows Doris and is expecting to see her each Wednesday. DNR Mate of the Katie Underwood, Mark, put it best when asked to describe Doris. "Perfect, Beautiful, Sweet, Kind..." was his response. Whether it's sunny or cloudy, hot or cold, calm or rough waters, buggy or bug-free, Doris makes the trip to Sapelo Island each week with a smile and a witty comment when she returns to submit her data (even after counting hundreds, sometimes thousands of Amphiprora)! And now the "Phyto Goddess" has earned a new nickname, from a prison pen pal she's been writing and teaching plankton to for the past three years. He calls her "Looks at Water."

Doris, thanks from NOAA and PMN for looking at the water of Sapelo Island.
This article has been edited, for the complete article, see this issue of the Plankton News.

Allene Barans, Porter-Gaud School

Allene Barans was a 9th grade biology teacher at Porter-Gaud School in Charleston, SC. Allene and her students volunteered for SEPMN on a regular basis since September 2001. Since then, Allene has guided hundreds of students through the world of phytoplankton. She has recently announced her retirement and SEPMN awarded her with an enlarged, framed scanning-electron image of a phytoplankter for her 5-year dedication to monitoring.

Allene has been teaching high school and college students since the mid-1960s. She was a teaching assistant and instructor at Ohio State University, The College of William and Mary in Virginia, and Trident Technical College in Charleston, SC. She began teaching high school in the late 1980s at Bishop England High School in Charleston, SC and moved to Porter-Gaud School in 1999. She is an active member of various professional organizations such as the National Science Teachers Association, National Association of Biology Teachers, National Marine Educators Association, SC Assoc. of Biology Teachers, and the South Carolina Science Council.

When asked what her passions are, she stated that they are work-related and include: "to make the study of biology appealing to students (by introducing unusual, hand-on experiences) and to foster in young people a love of and respect for the natural world." Finally, there is life after retirement. Allene has big plans for the future; she does not plan on leaving education entirely. She expects to maintain contact with science education and young people through volunteer work and substitute teaching. She is planning on going back to school herself to take all those classes that she didn't have time for in the past: ornithology, invertebrates, and lower plants. She also has plans to travel in the U.S. and Europe, spend time on her property in N.Y. with husband Charles and the rest of her family. We wish her all the very best! Thanks Allene for your dedication and hard work.