Last semester, Carlos Viteri, a biology major and psychology minor from Methuen, had an internship on campus studying the effects of herbicides and pharmaceuticals on betta fish. He worked closely with Dr. MacLaren, a professor in the Department of Natural Sciences, and conducted quality research to determine their findings. The goal of their research was to see if the drugs and toxins would alter any aggression levels of the Siamese fighting fish. The herbicide they used was atrazine, which is used for fertilizing, and the pharmaceutical they used was fluoxetine, or Prozac, which is used as an antidepressant for humans.
“We would put [the fish] in tanks, and one would have the drugs, and the other one would be the control phase with nothing in it,” Carlos said. “Then, we would have the sleigh window, remove it, and then put it in for five minutes and they would interact with each other. We would count how many times they flare up and those were the signs of aggression.” Through the experiments, Carlos found that the control fish would be mostly aggressive, while the medicated fish would swim around normally.
This internship was very valuable for Carlos, as he looks to enter veterinary medicine once he graduates from Merrimack. “Just seeing animal behavior was cool…just having a little step into the door,” he said. “This was my first time doing research on animals… and doing data with them. I loved it. It was the best experience I ever had.”
Carlos’ passion for veterinary medicine goes back to high school, as he went to a vocational school on environmental science. “We had a lot of fish there, so I already knew basic husbandry and then seeing this, adding the experimental goal to it really helped me on that.” he said. He also works as a veterinary technician, which involves serving patients and administering vaccines.
This internship was more self-based, so Carlos had some independence with day-to-day procedures. He would go in to feed the fish and conduct recordings every day. For some days, he would collect data which involved a 15-minute video recording of the three different control phases. If he had any questions involving the work, Dr. MacLaren was very helpful. “He helped us doing the data, like how to do the calculations, all that. And then if I had any questions, he’d help me out. I loved him.”
Carlos will be earning his bachelor’s degree at the end of this fall semester, accelerating his degree by taking classes in the winter and summer. He looks to earn his master’s degree in research, and this internship served as a great opportunity for something he could potentially do in grad school.
