Student Profile – Lindsay Brin
lindsay.brin@gmail.com
Graduate student Lindsay Brin is working with Jeremy Rich, Assistant Professor in Brown’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Anne Giblin, Senior Scientist at the MBL Ecosystems Center. She is studying the effect of changing environmental factors on nitrogen cycling in coastal and estuarine ecosystems. In particular, she is investigating how temperature and organic matter availability affect the balance of nitrogen that is removed from or recycled within coastal ecosystems.
Hometown: Montvale, NU
Undergraduate School: Swarthmore College
Graduate School: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology/MBL
What made you choose the Brown/MBL program?
I am excited to be a part of this program because it is a great partnership of opportunities and resources. Through this program, I am able to receive a graduate education from an academically exceptional university, which comes through in the intellectual enthusiasm of the faculty and the other students. I also have access to a wealth of scientific resources available at both Brown and MBL, and the opportunity to work with excellent scientists.
What are you studying?
I study nitrogen cycling in estuarine and coastal ecosystems. In particular, I am interested in how environmental changes, anthropogenic or otherwise, affect the balance of nitrogen that is removed or recycled within an ecosystem. Broadly, I’m interested in the reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment – how we affect the world around us, and how that affects us. I work within an ecological framework, relating my research to a broader perspective, and studying subjects that are relevant to policy and coastal land management. At the same time, I work at a much smaller scale, using biogeochemical tools that allow me to figure out how an ecosystem works by looking at the pieces that make it up.
What do you hope to do after completing your graduate work?
I would like to stay involved with scientific research, and teaching at the undergraduate level, particularly in a field-based program. I also hope to be gainfully employed.
