When Ariel Mercurio was five years old, her family planned a trip to Florida for her birthday. It was supposed to be her first time visiting the state, but unfortunately, the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster happened, and her family had to cancel the trip.

That experience led Mercurio to develop a lifelong interest in environmental policy and marine biology.

“That trip got canceled because we couldn't go to the beaches, and when my parents were showing me the news of the oil spill and all the animals that were impacted, it triggered something in my mind,” said Mercurio, a rising senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington majoring in marine biology with minors in pre-law and Spanish. “I realized, ‘This is not OK,’ and that humans are ruining the ecosystem. I wanted to do something about it, and from then on, I wanted to study marine biology.”

This summer, Mercurio worked with Delaware Sea Grant at the University of Delaware as a submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) intern under the guidance of Brittany Haywood, coastal ecology specialist. She traveled throughout the state looking at SAV in saltwater and freshwater habitats, and worked on four main projects.

The first was SAV restoration, visiting different spots and sites in Delaware. If the sites already had SAV, Mercurio and the research team took some back to the lab and collected SAV seeds to plant in future restoration work. They also looked for sites suitable for future SAV plantings, taking water quality measurements and checking whether any fish lived in those areas.

Mercurio also worked with Adrian Ring, another Delaware Sea Grant summer intern, on a project to raise awareness about SAV and educate students in Delaware middle school and high school classrooms.

The two interns developed a lesson plan and encouraged kids to plant SAV seeds in small tubs of water to see if they grow.

“As they grow, every week, the students would be able to measure them, take water quality samples and basically have living, growing SAV in their classroom,” said Mercurio. “Once it gets to a point where it's large enough, then hypothetically, they could partner with Brittany and Delaware Sea Grant and go out into the water and plant the seagrass they have been growing throughout the year.”

This would not only teach students science skills like sampling and measuring, but it would also raise awareness about SAV and its importance.

In addition, Mercurio worked with Haywood on the SAV Seekers program, which trains Delaware residents to identify and map where SAV is located.

Mercurio helped lead one of the SAV Seekers trainings for Delaware residents at Canon Lab on UD’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, where she taught participants how to identify SAV and trained and certified them to collect data.

Lastly, she wrote a white paper on SAV and shellfish aquaculture, two rising industries in Delaware, and how they interact with each other in neighboring states, identifying the benefits and risks of their coexistence.

Mercurio said it was great to gain experience both with research and policy work.

“There's a big gap between scientists and policymakers and I'm trying to help bridge that gap,” said Mercurio. “Having a background in science and learning about policy helped push me in that direction. We did a lot of research and thought about how we could implement policy at the state level. I learned a lot, and it solidified the fact that this is what I want to do in the long-term.”

She also learned that it helps to work on topics you enjoy with like-minded individuals, pointing to Haywood and all the other Delaware Sea Grant summer interns.

“They were amazing, and it was incredible to be surrounded by people working towards the same goal, but we were also having fun while doing it,” said Mercurio. “I learned that you could have fun while also working on the job. When you're having a good time and laughing, you can still get stuff done, and it'll probably be better work than if you didn't want to be there.”

This internship was supported through the Watersheds Grant Program run by the Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE), with funding support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration efforts in Delaware.