Microbiology and Mentoring: Meet Grad Student Mariangel Correa Orellana
Driven by her love for the ocean, she is studying how Hawaiian shrimp interact with microbes and water temperature.
Mariangel Correa Orellana recently traveled to Hawaii to conduct research.
Growing up by the ocean, Mariangel Correa Orellana dreamed of becoming a surfer. Now a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior program at The University of Texas at Austin, Correa Orellana is exploring watery wonders through a different set of goggles.
This year, Correa Orellana was granted the highly prestigious Gilliam Fellowship, offered by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Out of more than 800 applications, only 30 people were selected, and Correa Orellana is the first person to receive the award from UT Austin. The fellowship will support her with three years of funding and connect both her and her thesis advisor, Justin Havird, to professional development opportunities.
Diving into Science
Correa Orellana’s family fled Venezuela when she was 15 due to safety concerns, and the teen spoke little English when she arrived in the U.S. While she had taken English classes in Venezuela, Correa Orellana nonetheless struggled to adjust to a new country and understand people’s accents in the South. So she watched makeup gurus on YouTube and read books like the Hunger Games to help her improve. A passion for science fueled her dedication.
“Growing up near the Amazon rainforest and exploring national parks in Venezuela, I always knew that I loved biology,” Correa Orellana said. “I feel like science was the motivation for me to learn English because most research publications are in English.”
Back in middle school, Correa Orellana would put drops of water on slides to peer at microorganisms through a microscope. Today, she uses more sophisticated equipment, studying organisms in what are called anchialine pools – landlocked bodies of brackish water in Hawaii that connect to the nearby ocean through underground channels. She’s especially interested in the tiny Hawaiian red shrimp that live in these pools. These resilient shrimp are able to adapt to high temperatures and are a key component of the ecosystem as they feed on bacteria and prevent algae overgrowth.
“I’m interested in what microorganisms are living in anchialine ecosystems and their interactions with the shrimp,” Correa Orellana said.
Hawaiian red shrimp live in anchialine pools like this one.
Correa Orellana first got involved in research as an undergraduate at Western Carolina University. But it was only after she came to UT in 2022 for a summer research experience in Havird’s lab between her junior and senior year that she realized she wanted to attend graduate school.
“I didn’t know that you could get paid to study microorganisms until I had this experience here at UT,” Correa Orellana said.
That summer, Correa Orellana began studying the metabolic rate of Hawaiian red shrimp at different temperatures, a topic suggested by Havird. While collecting and analyzing data on physiological rates and temperature is complex, Correa Orellana was drawn to the challenge. She chose to continue the project for her Ph.D.
After returning to UT as a graduate student, she found that shrimp in some habitats are living at their critical thermal maximum, the temperature at which physiological failure occurs. With the planet’s temperatures rising, Correa Orellana’s research offers insight into how the anchialine ecosystems could be affected by these changes. Earlier this year, Correa Orellana and her team published a paper about how Hawaiian red shrimp might be “pre-adapted to warmer temperatures associated with climate change due to a history of volcanic activity.” But it’s still not clear where the upper limits are on their ability to adapt.
Mentoring Others
While the fellowship will offer Correa Orellana the opportunity to connect with a community of researchers from many backgrounds, she recalls struggling herself to find role models in science, especially growing up.
“It was really difficult to find someone like me in science, so it was my curiosity that drove me,” she explained. “I’m trying to put all the work and effort that I can to be a role model now.”
From serving as president of a local chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) to being a mentor through Científico Latino, a nonprofit that helps underrepresented minorities get into graduate school, Correa Orellana has had a far-ranging impact. She has worked with dozens of UT undergraduates including on a research project at UT’s beloved turtle pond.
“We’re using the turtle pond as a research opportunity for undergrads and studying what microorganisms are living in the turtles,” Correa Orellana said. “I taught over 20 undergrads to do field work and swab the turtles to get microorganisms.”
Correa Orellana taught undergraduates to collect microbes from turtles at the UT turtle pond.
Recently, Correa Orellana traveled to Hawaii to conduct an experiment for her dissertation and began thinking about working with another group of students. In between research and reconnecting with her childhood passion of surfing, she pondered giving back to the Hawaiian community.
“I’m hoping that I can go back next year and visit high schools to do more outreach,” Correa Orellana said.
Eventually, Correa Orellana hopes to continue her love for teaching and research as a faculty member at a research institution similar to UT. She envisions encouraging future generations of scientists to embrace the trial-and-error of the scientific process that has taught her so much along the way.
“There’s always an opportunity to do better,” she noted, “and to learn from your mistakes.”
