Meet a Scientist: Dr. Rebecca Hochstein
By Sienna Schaeffer
Edited by: Katherine Hill
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Meet a Scientist, a new column dedicated to providing insight on the life of real scientists and answer important questions such as how does one become a professional scientist? What does it mean to work as a scientist? Along the way we will also be exploring research being done right here at the U!
Our story begins with worms. They’re everywhere: in the soil beneath our feet, in the sand at the beach, on the sidewalk after it rains. Sometimes they’re even living inside of us. There’s a huge variety of worms, from the familiar nightcrawlers you use to fish to C. elegans, a see-through hermaphroditic nematode that is, according to some scientists, the world’s best model organism.
Dr. Rebecca Hochstein, the subject of our first ever Meet a Scientist column, studies a tiny marine worm with an enormous potential as a tool to clean up after oil spills. This unlikely hero is called Capitella teleta.
Dr. Hochstein is originally from Plymouth, Minnesota. She completed her undergraduate degree at St. Olaf College. After graduating she worked for Lucigen, a biotech company in Madison Wisconsin.
After some time working at Lucigen, Dr. Hochstein decided she wanted to go back to school. “Lucigen was a great job and it made me realize that I loved molecular biology and microbiology… but in the end I was doing grunt work for people with PhDs and I’m like… ‘I want to be the one in charge of projects and giving out the grunt work, so I guess I should go get a PhD.’”
She got that PhD at Montana State, where she developed new methods of identifying viruses in Yellowstone hot springs. She even identified her very own virus: Acidianus Tailed Spindle Virus. If that sounds like a mouthful to you, don’t worry, she agrees. “I think you used to be able to get a little more creative with it (the name) but usually it’s based on the features of the virus or what it does.”
After completing her PhD work, Dr. Hochstein returned to Minnesota. “Like all good Minnesotans I wanted to come home,” she joked. “I actually moved home before I had a job.” Her job search eventually led her to a postdoctoral research position at the U of M with Dr. Valery Forbes and Dr. Mike Sadowsky, and to our friend C. teleta.
While the name may sound unfamiliar, it is very likely that you have actually touched one of these wonder worms. Anyone who’s played in the shallows at the beach or built a doomed sandcastle between the tide marks has probably come into contact with these little fellows without knowing it.
“The interesting thing about the worm is that it comes up after organic pollution events… the most noticeable is oil spills,” Dr. Hochstein told me. These seemingly insignificant invertebrates first came into the scientific spotlight after the grounding of the Florida on the western coast of Cape Cod in 1969. Marine researchers closely observed how the wildlife recovered after this disaster, and found that C. teleta was present in astounding numbers: 200,000 worms/square meter (Sanders, 1980).
As impressive as these numbers are, researchers had only just begun to understand what makes these worms special. “…As they studied them they found that… the worms were breaking down the components of oil and using it as a food source,” Dr. Hochstein explained. “They also pump oxygen into the environment… so they’re making it habitable again.” The ability to not only tolerate oil (and a variety of other organic contaminants) but also remove it from the environment and oxygenate their environment makes C. teleta a valuable potential tool for cleaning up after pollution events.
Previous research on C. teleta has focused on the general function of the worms, but Dr. Hochstein’s research is taking her a bit deeper — into the community of microorganisms that make their home inside the worms, also known as the worms’ microbiome. These diverse communities are a bit of a hot topic in microbiology right now. Every animal with a gut has a microbiome, including yourself.
Like most other scientists currently investigating microbiomes, Dr. Hochstein is using DNA sequencing to find which species of bacteria are present inside the worms. By comparing the species composition in the microbiomes of worms raised in an oil-free environment with that of worms raised in a contaminated environment, Dr. Hochstein hopes to identify bacteria that may be necessary for the breakdown of oil.
“From there I can sequence the whole bacterial metagenomes to see what genes might be important… and try to culture the organisms.” She hopes that by developing a better understanding of how the worms (and their bacteria) break down the oil will allow the development of more effective cleaning and restoration methods following oil spills and other instances of organic pollution.
If the descriptions above set your heart aflame and you are right now ready to apply to grad school and embark on a career in science, Dr. Hochstein has some advice. First, she suggests that you consider taking a gap year. “Don’t go straight into it. It helps your chances. They’ll see that you’re a couple years older and you have other science experience or even just life experiences… Generally having a job will get you a sweet letter of recommendation from your boss.”
If you’ve got some time yet to be an undergrad, Dr. Hochstein recommends that you make friends with your professors. “Go to their office hours, even if you don’t have homework questions. Just… ask them about stuff and make friends with them, because those are good relationships to establish.”
Letters of recommendation are very important, but they’re only one component of applying to graduate school. Extracurriculars and personal experiences will be an important part of applications, in addition to enriching your life. Research experience in particular is extremely valuable for those hoping to go to graduate school. Dr. Hochstein recommends that students check out the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program through the National Science Foundation, which provides funding for students to do research at research institutions across the country.
Bibliography:
Sanders, H. L., Grassle, J. F., Hampson, G. R., Morse, L. S., Garner-Price, S., & Jones, C. C. (1980). Anatomy of an oil spill: long-term effects from the grounding of the barge Florida off West Falmouth, Massachusetts. Journal of Marine Research, 38(2), 265–380.
