{"id":4538,"date":"2025-08-12T19:07:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T19:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/?p=4538"},"modified":"2025-12-01T23:02:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T23:02:40","slug":"kelp-restoration-with-applied-microbiology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/2025\/08\/12\/kelp-restoration-with-applied-microbiology\/","title":{"rendered":"The Giant and the Bug: Kelp Restoration with Applied Microbiology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellow Bernadeth Tolentino, a PhD student in the USC Dornsife Department of Biological Sciences, studies how well giant kelp can survive different temperatures when it\u2019s introduced to certain helpful bacteria (Anya Jim\u00e9nez\/USC Wrigley Institute). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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The Giant and the Bug: Kelp Restoration with Applied Microbiology<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n By<\/span>Bernadeth Tolentino<\/strong>\n \n August 12, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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A New Friend<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhat do you do for a living?\u201d a woman asked, sitting across from me at a local bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a marine biologist,\u201d I replied, watching her apathetic expression transform into wonder.<\/p>\n

Her reaction was a familiar one. \u201cMarine biologist\u201d is often an answer children give when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does one become a marine biologist? What does a day in a marine biologist\u2019s life look like? Do you swim with dolphins?\u201d she asked, not pausing long enough for me to reply.<\/p>\n

I laughed and explained that, unfortunately, dolphins don\u2019t exactly enjoy being around humans. Then I spent the rest of the night explaining my career to this perfect stranger.<\/p>\n

How to Become a Marine Biologist<\/b><\/h3>\n