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Rothenberger ’02 feeds the monster
Biology graduate Megan Rothenberger ’02 has spent the past year on a research fellowship at North CarolinaStateUniversity’s Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology, working with pfiesteria piscicida, a single-cell organism that kills fish in coastal waters.
Pfiesteria, considered a level III biohazard (Ebola is a level V), is kept in a laboratory that no one may enter without a biohazard suit with respirator. One who does is Rothenberger, who removes the fish pfiesteria has killed and begun to eat overnight. In the afternoon, she returns to feed it more live fish.
According to Rothenberger, the organism first appeared in North Carolina’s NeuseRiver in 1990. Fish were found riddled with hole-like sores. Fishermen and others who work on the water showed similar sores, as well as neurological problems such as memory loss and difficulty concentrating.
Rothenberger works with center director JoAnn Burkholder, who believes that the organism feeds on nutrient runoff from such sources as the state’s hog industry. Burkholder’s work was featured on the Discovery Health channel in June, but has also drawn heavy political criticism.
Rothenberger, however, plans a less controversial career. She plans to get a doctorate and, some day, teach at a small college such as Lafayette.
“I came to Lafayette an apprehensive and indifferent teenager and left a more passionate, insightful, and confident individual, prepared to confront the challenges of graduate research and a career in biology,” says Rothenberger.
“I would never have made this metamorphosis without the constant support and encouragement of my professors at Lafayette.”