University of Georgia ocean sciences major and former Semester@Skidaway student Dillon Doomstorm presented a poster highlighting his student research at the Georgia Water Resources Conference, held at UGA March 30-31.

Doomstorm’s presentation was titled “Learning how to grow phytoplankton with special needs: What soil extracts from coastal Georgia does Levanderina fissa prefer?” It was based on research he conducted at the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in fall 2022, when he worked with Skidaway scientist Sara Rivero-Calle.

Dillon Doomstorm in front of his poster.

“I wanted to work alongside someone who was very driven and was also looking to push me as an individual and scientist,” Doomstorm said. “Being able to do research with Dr. Rivero helped me to understand what all it takes to be a scientist, as well as glimpse into possible areas of interest for my master’s and future work.”

Since its inception in 1989, the biennial Georgia Water Resources Conference has provided an open forum for the discussion of water policies and management strategies within the state of Georgia. It is presented by the River Basin Center in the Odom School of Ecology. This year, the conference featured 10 panels, 130 talks, and nearly 50 posters. Almost 30 percent of the talks and 75 percent of the posters were presented by students.

“Dillon worked hard last semester learning how to plan and execute a research experiment with phytoplankton cultures,” Rivero-Calle said. “I am so glad that he got to experience the full process of doing science—from designing an experiment to analyzing the data, writing a manuscript and presenting his work as a poster in a professional conference—in a very short time period before he graduates in May.”

Rivero-Calle also said the rest of her lab group enjoyed mentoring Doomstorm and described it as empowering experience.