Karina Ray

Research Assistant, Western Fisheries Research Center
Seattle, Washington

U.S. Geological Survey

How Karina Ray got involved with U.S. Geological Survey
I applied for a position in Dr. Hansen's immunology lab because I was interested in vaccine development and the conservation of virulence factors between human and fish pathogens. I was recommended to the Hansen lab by one of my professors at the University of Washington, and began as a volunteer until I received a STEP internship. Due to my involvement in the project, I was able to continue my work in the lab as a field assistant after I graduated.

Experience
As an undergraduate researcher I was encouraged to apply for a Mary Gates Research Scholarship using my project at USGS. I received the scholarship and participated in the Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Symposium where I was able to share my work with other students and faculty in the field, receive feedback, and learn about related projects. This was an incredibly rewarding and useful experience that demonstrated the value of my project, and how to effectively share it with others both inside and outside the scientific community.

Karina Ray's accomplishments
This job gave me the opportunity to undertake a research project with minimal supervision and allowed me to grow as a scientist and professional. I successfully created two gene knockouts of Francisella noatunensis to test the virulence factors of genes in the Francisella Pathogenicity Island (a gene dense region on the Francisella chromosome). Next I will perform bacterial challenges on zebrafish to test the attenuation of the pathogen. This experience confirmed my passion for laboratory research, and Dr. Hansen's connections with universities and other prestigious institutions led me to the decision to pursue a graduate degree in microbiology or immunology.

Karina Ray's next steps
Next year I will be doing a one year emerging infectious disease fellowship with the Association of Public Health Laboratories, mainly due to my previous work at USGS. After this fellowship I would like to remain at a lab within the CDC before continuing my education in graduate school, where I will obtain a phD in microbiology or immunology.

Hometown: Seattle, Washington
School: University of Washington
Major: Microbiology and Global Health