This summer, Salem Sound Coastwatch was pleased to work with Endicott College intern, Ayushi Naik. A rising-junior environmental science student, Ayushi was involved in a wide variety of our field studies and scientific research.
Ayushi assisted with our WHOI Sea Grant study, which investigated the use of eelgrass seeds to restore local meadows. Ayushi tediously searched for and counted tiny eelgrass seeds the size of a grain of rice in sediment samples to determine the germination rates of seeds that were planted off Winter Island last fall. Ayushi also played a key role in tracking horseshoe crab spawning this spring, monitoring several beaches in Salem and Marblehead, recording water temperature and salinity, logging horseshoe crab sightings in SSCW’s community science survey, and analyzing results. Ayushi utilized her knowledge of marine invasive species in our monitoring program this summer, tracking the abundance of invasive species with volunteers and entering data in our long-term database.
In addition to contributing to marine habitat research, Ayushi also taught students in SSCW’s School to Sea program. She developed and led an eelgrass food web game, explored tidepools, and taught students about marine ecology on our summer boat trips. When not out in the field or with school groups, Ayushi was instrumental in reconstructing many of our outdated project StoryMaps. She utilized her GIS skills to construct new digital maps and redesign these websites to ensure they are available for future use.
Thank you for spending your summer with us, Ayushi!
