Everything happens for a reason.
One morning last year, Briarcliff High School now-senior Saanjh Patel opened her email in Science Research class and learned that her mentor of 18 months had decided to drop her due to lack of time. After scrambling to find a new mentor, Saanjh ultimately had the experience of a lifetime interning for two weeks on a research boat in Cape May, NJ.
With a new and inspiring mentor, Saanjh chose to study how the environment affects migration patterns of bottlenose dolphins.
“I looked at things like water temperature and depth, as well as climate change, to see the migrations and distribution patterns of the dolphins in Cape May,” she said. “I noticed a different correlation between specific environmental factors and where dolphins were spotted.”
Saanjh, who is in her third year of the Science Research Course, reflected on the challenge of finding a new mentor and research topic.
“My previous mentor was too busy pursuing a PhD, so that left me with very little time to find a new mentor, because I had a strict deadline,” she said. “This was completely out of the blue, but I understood where she was coming from. I had to start on square one and be flexible. I ended up sending 50 emails and switching to a different subject.”
Luckily, Annmarie O’Brien, who was Saanjh’s teacher during all three years, helped her.
“Ms. O’Brien was so sweet and encouraging during that time and helped me set up a bunch of meetings and phone calls with potential mentors,” she said.
The original subject was also about dolphins, as the ocean was an inspiration for Saanjh.
“My family and I spent many vacations at the ocean, in places such as Cape Cod and Virginia Beach, and I started becoming more interested in marine life and pollution in eighth grade,” she said. “I was interested specifically in bottlenose dolphins because I thought it was interesting to see the multiple variables that impact them.”
Saanjh read numerous articles and learned that a lot of research tracked these dolphins based on environmental DNA in the water, such as skin cells or feces.
“My strategy was observational,” she said.
Since her new mentor worked on a research boat in Cape May, Saanjh interned there for two weeks during the summer of 2023.
“My family and I went on vacation there and I spent two weeks on the boat, collecting data,” she said. “The boat went on trips three times per day, morning, lunchtime and evening, and I went on almost every single trip. I didn’t want to go anywhere else; it was such an amazing experience. When I wasn’t taking pictures of dolphins or observing behavior, I hung out in the back of the boat and just looked at the ocean. My family visited me one day, which was fun.”
Saanjh took photos of the dolphins’ dorsal fins, as part of her research.
“Dorsal fins are unique to each dolphin, like fingerprints are to humans,” she said. “I used a program called finFindR to compare photographs of previous sightings from a database of photographs of dolphins that goes as far back as 10 years. I noticed that during the two-week period that I made observations, a lot of the dolphins tended to be in areas of water that were warmer, and we inferred that the warmer water makes the dolphins more likely to find prey.”
While on the boat, in addition to collecting data, Saanjh also gave presentations on other marine animals.
“There were other interns on the boat, and they also gave presentations, so we learned from each other,” she said.
Saanjh’s ultimate goal is to not only learn about the dolphins’ migration patterns, but to see how climate change can impact them. She would then look at conservation strategies and policies that could potentially save them and other animals.
“I want to major in sustainability when I go to college and I want to possibly connect economics or law and come up with policies to help protect animals,” she said.
Saanjh is grateful for her new mentor, Melissa Laurino.
“She is the sweetest person ever, she helped me fit in,” she said. “Almost all of the other interns on the boat were either in their last year of college or in grad school, and I was one of two high school interns. She also helped me with data collection and showed me different parts of the boat, how to use different tools and how to notice different dolphin behavior. The thing that makes her so special, is that when it comes to identifying dolphins, she can tell them by their names because we see them so often. I may go back to Cape May in the summer.”
Saanjh is also grateful for her parents and teacher.
“My parents were very supportive and encouraging, especially when I lost my mentor, and Ms. O’Brien was also very helpful,” she said.
Saanjh recommends the Science Research class, as it is a unique experience where students can acquire new skills.
“I got a lot of experience with presenting research and with communications,” she said. “I learned how to make a PowerPoint presentation, and I got better at public speaking. I was nervous the first year, but I got better. The course also helps you connect with professionals in the field.”
Saanjh is also grateful for her experience, even though initially it did not go as planned.
“If this whole experience happened again, I think I would be totally fine with it, because I got paired with a really amazing mentor,” she said.
