For science students at Memorial University, the summer months are ripe with opportunities to conduct research in the field.
And for first-year undergraduate student Michael McSweeney, his “field” was the land and waters of his home of Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas.
Mr. McSweeney is a native Bahamian enrolled in the ocean sciences program in the Faculty of Science, who worked with his supervisor Dr. Iain McGaw to conduct surveys interviewing local land crabbers across several islands in the Caribbean country.
The surveys aim to gain biological insight into the reactions between Bahamian land crabs and their environment and represent an opportunity to document traditional knowledge passed down through generations.
Memorial in the Caribbean
Dr. Iain McGaw says he has been working with the Cape Eleuthera Institute on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas for several years.
He is investigating the physiology and ecology of the black land crab, Gecarcinus ruricola.
“Michael took my OCSC 2001 class in winter of this year,” said Dr. McGaw. “We got talking and he mentioned that he was Bahamian and studying here at Memorial. We have had trouble finding someone to carry out surveys and it just happened that Michael was the ideal candidate. We hired him for the summer as a part-time undergraduate research assistant.”
Mr. McSweeney says there have been “a lot of positives” about his experience.
“I’ve lived in Nassau my whole life,” he said. “It’s 21 miles long and seven miles wide. There were areas I went to conduct surveys that I had never been to. I thought it was such a small place, but it was larger than I thought.”
Island surveying
When Mr. McSweeney joined the team of land crab researchers, the survey had already been developed.
However, he says he was able to make subtle additions and changes to improve the survey throughout the summer.
“I added the Bahamian perspective,” he said “I was able to bring back feedback as I was surveying to add new questions or change how we asked questions, like how we ask about certain topics like level of education. We wanted the survey to act like a conversation between people, so flow was important — and it definitely worked.”
The survey results will be published in a paper at a later date, and Mr. McSweeney will continue to be involved in how the survey results contribute to any published works.
Highlighting Bahamian culture
During his field work, Mr. McSweeney realized the survey represented an important opportunity to document traditional knowledge about land crab species and to network with his local community to learn more about and highlight Bahamian culture.
“You could see the excitement on their faces when I asked certain questions.”
Crabbing is an element of Bahamian culture and has been for thousands of years, he says, and the crabs are one of the very few native terrestrial animals on the island.
“Each island has a different attitude and perspective. The out islands [mostly uninhabitated islands] are a lot more traditional and localized, and it’s very interesting how a survey like this one can differ depending on where you are. To meet people who approach crabbing in such a serious manner for livelihood . . . it drove home the importance and significance of crabbing to our culture.”
Mr. McSweeney believes the survey served the purpose of telling the story of crab hunting in the Bahamas.
Many people don’t have power, cars or running water; the survey gave them a voice.
“You could see the excitement on their faces when I asked certain questions. It was nice to feel like I was doing work to benefit people through sharing their experiences, and feeling like a part of science.”
The future is bright
The field work experience has inspired Mr. McSweeney to continue exploring biological oceanography and aquaculture aquaponics.
He is also challenging himself to continue studying ocean sciences at Memorial.
“This survey provided me with a glimpse at the end goal — it’s in sight. It’s attainable,” he said about his degree.
Mr. McSweeney shares some advice for other new Memorial University students interested in finding similar opportunities.
“Coming in as a first year, it’s daunting and a bigger workload. You are responsible for yourself. You have to persevere,” he said. “You’ll think that you’re dead set on one option, but you’ll discover so much more as you take more courses and have more experiences like mine.”
