By Maggie Biunno

Sunbathe, work, intern, repeat. Amid partying in celebration of classes being finished until Labor Day, college students are involved in such activities on summer days. For Lara Luzak, University alumna, the past two summers were for investigating and making her mark on scientific history.

Luzak, a native of Wilmington, Del., studied with the Hofstra University Marine Laboratory (HUML) and biology professor, Dr. Jason Williams, in Jamaica.Luzak worked as a research assistant for Williams for about a year before her trip. During this time, she studied the worms he found off the coast of Jamaica on a previous excursion.

“Dr. Williams studies hermit crab commensals, things that live in, on, or with hermit crabs and their shells,” Luzak said.With Luzak’s help, they had discovered a new type of polychaete worm that lives in the shell of hermit crabs, of the genus polydora and the spionidae family. Polychaete worms are usually found in marine living environments, but sometimes in freshwater, Luzak said.

“While in Jamaica at HUML, he collected some shells, cracked them open and thought he had something new,” Luzak said. “He brought them back to the lab at Hofstra, which is where I come in. It took about a year, because I was busy taking 18 to 19 credits a semester and trying to work in the lab, to crack open all the shells and collect data on every single worm that was extracted from the shells.”

Luzak explained that the data had to be compared to all similar species that are already documented. This involved looking up literature in research databases through the University’s library and comparing things such as numbers of spines on certain segments, shapes of structures, and more: a “very tedious process,” Luzak said.

In August 2006, after only spending time with worms in the lab on campus, Luzak visited the place where Williams found them, off the coast of Jamaica. Due to a lack of funding, this was the last trip to HUML that is no longer affiliated with the University.

Mornings were spent snorkeling to collect hermit crab shells and in the afternoon, Luzak and Williams hit the lab to analyze their findings. There was no reason to get discouraged about being inside-the windows from the lab revealed a view of the ocean and the mountains, Luzak said.

For her, being indoors for the afternoon was worth it to learn more about the new species.

“It was amazing for me to be involved with this type of work,” Luzak said. “I had never really heard of anyone describing a new species, but as I came to find out, it is fairly common. I was very excited to be a part of it.”

After nearly 10 years of school and three degrees, Williams has had much success in focus of scientific study. He compared Luzak’s undergraduate journey as similar to his own, with much exploration of research.

“Much of my work has been completed in the Indo-West Pacific and because these groups of symbionts are poorly known in this region,” Williams said. “I have had the opportunity to describe twenty new species.”

But discovering that a type of worm is unique from all others classified is just the start of the adventure.

“The discovery of a new species is exciting but more importantly the discovery of these species can lead to novel findings in terms of their behavior and functional morphology,” Williams explained. “For example, Lara has shown that the new species of worm from Jamaica exhibits a type of sexual dimorphism that has never been previously observed in the family to which it belongs.”

This means that the males in this species are much smaller than females and lack major spines that the females exhibit, Williams said.

Also, Williams has discovered that this species of worms can ingest the eggs of host hermit crabs, which interferes with its titled as a commensal, just living on the crab.

A classmate, Beth McGuire, completed her biology degrees at the University-undergraduate in 2004 and graduate in 2007, when Luzak completed her bachelor of science. McGuire also worked as an assistant in Williams’ lab while Luzak in the process of describing the new species. This work was different for the lab because the samples were from a geographical location that does not receive much attention.

McGuire said there have been other discoveries in the lab, but Luzak’s efforts into uncharted territory were different.

“Sometimes people get lucky and she did,” McGuire said. “She worked hard on describing it and drawing it. She deserved it.”

Jacquelyn Kardoulias, a 2007 graduate with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, lived on the same floor as Luzak in Bill of Rights residence hall.

Luzak tutored Kardoulias in biology and chemistry and treated her to a chance to see where all hands-on research takes place-surely a nice break from textbook studying.

“One time she physically invited me to her lab and showed me all her special little creatures,” Kardoulias said. “I, of course, had to warm up to the creepy crawlers.”

Investigation of these crawlers in Jamaica may have been her first time out of the country, but most likely will not be the last trip Luzak takes to fulfill her passion for biology.

“I would definitely travel around the world to study-there are places in which certain worm habitats have not been studied and it’s possible there are many, many new species out there,” Luzak said. “I wouldn’t move really far away though-there are too many important people here that I couldn’t be away from for too, too long.”

But Luzak is still away from home and will spend another few years in school at Old Dominion University in Virgina. She isn’t stalling from entering the real world-her research work is very similar to what she will do after graduate school is completed. As as graduate research assistant, she will spend summers on a boat collecting samples and spend the school year in the lab to analyze and identify her findings.

“Anyone who wants to pursue this career field should just do as much research as they can,” Luzak said. “It’s great experience working in different labs for different professors and getting new techniques and ideas under your belt.”

And Luzak said she would like to become a professor herself one day. Classmate Eric Rulison is finishing up his masters in biology at the University and said he sees Luzak teaching in the future, as well.

“Lara knows herself well,” Rulison added. “She knows what she likes, dislikes, and is not afraid to be her own individual. She is a grounded individual that is not afraid to go after what she wants.”

However, her discoveries did not end in 2006; Luzak described three more new species. She worked at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the same organization that sent a submersible down to explore the Titantic and is widely known around the world, Luzak said.

“I felt I was rubbing elbows with the big shots,” she said.

Luzak also got the opportunity to look at samples that were collected in 1984 (the year she was born) and compare them to known species of today.

Williams and Luzak have represented their findings at conferences and are now working towards publishing their work and naming the worms they discovered.

Luzak in Dr. William’s lab at the University, taking the chance to show her brother, Lucas Peterson, some worm specimens. (Lara Luzak)

In the morning, Lara Luzak investigated the underwater world in Jamaica and then went to the lab. (Lara Luzak)