Temecula Grad 'Dives Into Science' At CSU Monterey Bay

TEMECULA, CA — Temecula graduate and Cal State Monterey Bay Junior Cassidy Thompson is diving into her studies with an under-the-sea science class.

At the end of her junior year, she and her fellow students spent time underwater counting sea life, surveying snails, starfish, and fish populations, and learning where and why they are found in the most significant number. The science diving course, one of the few offered in the Golden State, shows the riches of the ocean and the necessity to study life below the surface.

For 13 weeks, Thompson and her fellow students have donned scuba gear and sought to solve a scientific problem, according to James Lindholm, chair of the Department of Marine Science. Thompson and her classmates used the scientific method to ask a question and find a result, but as CSU Monterey Bay PIO Mark Muckenfuss shared in his recent article, that result is often not what students expect.

"I knew a lot about the fundamentals of diving when I came to CSUMB," she said. "I didn't know about scientific diving. That wasn't something I'd been able to do before."

Critical thinking comes into play when the results of a study aren't what you imagine they should be. Now, she is turning her time in college into real-life research experience, as with the sea star count.

Professor James Lindholm, the chair of the Marine Science department, has guided Thompson and her classmates toward putting theory into practice. He has honed the Marine Science class into a program that trains 300 divers a year, more than any other California or US school, according to the report.

"Science diving is my end goal," Thompson expressed. She hopes to get her master's degree and dive in Australia to work in conservation-restoration, she said.

Lindholm's graduates work as science divers, as Thompson hopes to do. "We have divers go work at the aquarium here in Monterey and other aquariums around the country."

Read the full story on the Cal State Monterey website.