A scientist turned an $80 motel room into a makeshift lab; then she discovered two new species of microscopic amoebae

A scientist turned an $80 motel room into a makeshift laboratory during follow-up fieldwork in North Carolina after first spotting two unusual microscopic cells on a family vacation. Julia Van Etten, an evolutionary biologist who joined the University of Maryland as an assistant professor in 2026, made the initial discovery in May 2021 while visiting the Outer Banks. She collected a water sample and examined it with a hobby-grade microscope, spotting cells belonging to the rare photosynthetic amoeba genus Paulinella. Further investigation showed that the cells represented two previously undescribed species, later named Paulinella marae and Paulinella murrayi. Their discovery, published in the Journal of Phycology in September 2026, expanded the number of known photosynthetic Paulinella species from four to six.A roadside water sample revealed something unexpectedVan Etten's discovery began during a family trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks.