Current Research Blogs
Maren's Blog
Maren Duffy, undergraduate student
1 November 2024
Hello!
Some pretty cool things have happened since the last blog. I was able to help Victoria in Vancouver at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Research Center with her eDNA sampling, and it was a really cool experience! It was really interesting getting to see the eDNA collection process and get some experience with some more molecular research. Also hanging out with all the seal pups was super incredible, the people working at the Center were so kind and let us feed the pups! I have also been reaching out to folks working in Alaska as biologists at USGS and ADFG, and gotten some really helpful information as I start looking into careers back at home.
School has been very busy but Haley and I have been chipping away at our salmon data collection for our project. We reached out to Casey Clark and Joseph Anderson about the best ways to compile salmon data, and they pointed us to a really helpful resource which we are currently filtering to fit our project scale. We also found a large Canadian salmon escapement/abundance data set, and will have to similarly filter the large amount of data. We are almost done with the data collection and hope to move onto our data analysis soon.
Until next month,
Maren
Dawson's Blog
Dawson Little, graduate student
1 November 2024
Hi folks,
This past October has been my first full month here at Western, and it's been exciting integrating into a campus setting once again. Although I'm unable to attend lab meetings this quarter, I was able to meet a lot of lab members at our social event as well as meet with a few folks individually which has been really great. It's so nice hearing about everyone's different backgrounds, interests, and involvement in the lab. I'm thrilled to be a part of a lab group that has such a kind and collaborative atmosphere, and I hope to continue to foster that lab dynamic as I continue with my graduate research. I'm also very much looking forward to attending lab meetings in the future, taking part in observations, and collaborating on research with other lab members.
This month, I transported processing supplies along with approximately 800 river otter scats to the lab here in Bellingham that I collected from the Wa'atch and Tsoo-Yess rivers on the Makah Indian Reservation from 2023 through 2024. I'm in the process of organizing and preparing these samples to be sent to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife molecular lab by the end of the year for metabarcoding analysis to determine otter diet composition. I'm also preparing them for in-lab qPCR analysis to determine the sex ratio of river otters in my samples, working with Dietmar to design the necessary molecular primers. I received sex-confirmed river otter tissue samples from the UW Burke Museum to use in the design of these primers and had my research featured on a whiteboard found in one of the displays at the museum (picture below). Although I'm still working through some of the specifics for my project, I was able to get my thesis topic, plan of study, and committee members approved allowing me to begin lab work and really start fleshing out the proposal for my thesis research.
Best,
Dawson
Whiteboard displayed at The Burke Museum.
Zoe's Blog
Zoe Hosford, graduate student
1 November 2024
Hi again,
Fall is in full swing, and with that comes the rain! Coming from New England, I’m used to a lot of inclement weather, but the rainstorms we have been having lately have been a little crazy, even causing a landslide!
It has been a crazy first full month of graduate school… full of teaching, doing coursework and thesis proposal writing! It feels like I might finally be finding my groove with all the aspects of school and a new life in Bellingham. But if you asked me the same questions 2 days from now, I might give you a completely different answer. I have been really enjoying teaching, and getting to know students, along with working alongside a few veteran teaching assistants who have ‘shown me the ropes’
As for my thesis work, I have been writing and editing tirelessly, hoping to have a complete final proposal written by the end of fall quarter, so I can start applying for grants in the new year. Along with writing, I have been in communications with the Whale Museum and WDFW about partnering with them to get necessary data to complete the first step of analysis for my research. Meeting and talking with all of these professionals has been inspiring and eye-opening, listening to all of their thoughts, ideas, and overall possibilities for my thesis research. But for now, it’s just a waiting game. Hopefully next time we talk(or maybe I should say type?), I will have data in hand, and will be able to look at all the possibilities, or lack thereof, for my thesis!
Until then, I will continue writing and editing!
Zoe
Rachel's Blog
Rachel Strober, undergraduate student
1 November 2024
Hi everyone,
It has been a busy but very fun month to start the academic year! I am currently taking all marine and coastal science major classes which has felt great after taking almost all prerequisites before this quarter. It has been interesting to talk all about various oceanic topics every day with some field trips every once in a while too!
Whatcom Creek has been very active all month with salmon and lots of seal activity. Each time we think the activity may be about ready to start slowing down, increased numbers of seals keep surfacing! We are lucky enough to have had many dry and sunny days for observations but have also powered through some rainy weather as we get deeper into fall. It has been great to see everyone in the lab signing up for observations and it’s been fun to chat and catch up during our weekly lab meetings.
I have continued to work on the outline for my independent project while also diving into research on the sex markers (Y-chromosome) of male Pacific Salmon species. I have also started research to find and design a qPCR probe, which will be used to measure DNA amplification during each cycle of qPCR. It is a long process while I’m still learning about the ins and outs of DNA sequences, but I’ve been really enjoying it so far. I am also still helping out with Dr. Erin D’Agnes' other molecular project through Wild Ecohealth by performing scat DNA extractions and homogenizing fish tissue. We have some new people on the project, and it has been fun to work with more members of the lab.
I hope you have stayed tuned while our lab Instagram page continues to develop, as we have posted some new content and have many exciting things in the works! It has been great to have the whole lab involved in formulating ideas and goals for the page, and we will continue to have more fun and educational content as time goes on.
That’s all for this month!
Thank you for reading,
Rachel
Ellie's Blog
Ellie Taylor, undergraduate student
1 November 2024
Hey folks,
It’s crazy to think we’re about halfway through the quarter already! This month I’ve started back up in the lab helping Dr Erin D’Agnes' project on a harbor seal diet analysis. It’s felt great to be back at the lab bench and get to see some of the new lab members dippin’ a toe into molecular lab work. This quarter I’ve also started to shift my academic focus from Marine and Coastal Science to a Cell Biology focus, so I’m super excited to continue to learn more about this field!
Earlier in the month, I got to up go to Vancouver with Maren to assist Victoria in acquiring eDNA samples from the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Research Center. It was great to be a part of the sampling process and learn more about her project after just hearing her talk about for all this time. Even though it was a bit of a rainy day, we got to spend lots of time watching all the seal pups at the center and we were even able to feed them!
Things at the Log Pond are going quite smoothly. Observations are running daily throughout the week and we’re collecting lots of data to add to the labs database! We also just got a feature on the lab’s instagram’s page, so if you’re interested go check it out!
Until next month,
Ellie
Haley's Blog
Haley Blog, undergraduate student
1 November 2024
Hi everyone!
Happy Halloween and happy November! This quarter has been my busiest one yet. I’ve been really enjoying all my classes and working hard but 4 classes have proven to keep me occupied. This month has been filled with many observations and we’ve been seeing lots of activity at Whatcom creek. There has been many seals foraging and socializing as well as lots of fishermen and even kayakers in the creek. I have been able to ID multiple seals in the field too! I have really enjoy going on these observations with my fellow lab-mates.
Maren and I have been working hard on our independent project as well. We have reached out to folks at WDWF like Casey Clark and Joseph Anderson who have provided us with great resources to collect salmon abundance data in Washington. We have also found a Canadian escapement database that shows salmon runs in the Salish sea. We have been going through these data resources and narrowing them down to the years the harbor seal haul out scat was collected and the locations within the Puget Sound and Salish sea basin. It’s been a lot of data to go through, but we are making good progress and hope to move onto data analysis soon after it’s organized
Until next month,
Haley
Victoria's Blog
Victoria Vinecke, graduate student
1 November 2024
Hi everyone, happy fall! It is starting to cool down in Bellingham and the seals have returned to the creek to take advantage of the returning salmon buffet! This month I had the opportunity to sample the seals at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Center which was such an amazing experience! It was incredible seeing how the rescue center operated while I was there sampling for a week. I even got to feed the seals on the last day of sampling! I am eager to start processing the 76 samples collected and see what the results look like! I want to thank everyone who helped with my project dearly! This would not have been possible with out all the help!
Victoria taking eDNA control sample before pup goes into the pool Photo by K. Rodriguez.
Besides the exciting project with the Marine Mammal Rescue Center, I have received some exciting news about my Whatcom Creek eDNA samples! I sent seven samples off for GT-seq to see if getting genotyping data was a possibility for aquatic eDNA. There may be the possibility to get down to individual identification from my wild eDNA samples! I am anxiously waiting for data updates as Dr. D’Agnese continues preliminary analysis! I hope to have updates next month!
Until next time,
Victoria
Alexandrea's Blog
Alexandrea Otto, graduate student
1 November 2024
Spooky Greetings!
Things have been back to busy over here! Besides still being in the thick of thesis data analysis, I also have been fortunate enough to start a new part-time job with WDFW as the new marine mammal stranding intern! It’s been a whirlwind of knowledge and learning lately which has been exciting in its own! I’m just excited to get back into stranding work (the last time I was active in a marine mammal stranding network was in my REU internship back in 2018) and provide marine mammals some sort of hands-on active conservation work/service in addition to my thesis work.
Furthermore to all things busy this month, I was also able to finally see one of the last study sites in my thesis that I had yet to visit in-person by helping WDFW with their harbor seal captures- Hood Canal! Harbor seal captures are a logistical feat to be a part of and help work and witness with such a huge team! Half the fun of captures is getting to meet new people out in the field that all come together to help out regularly from time to time! In this particular week, no seals were caught as harbor seals are quite sneaky and fast swimmers once they plop into the water from their haul-out spot. Luckily for us, no trip was ever wasted as we took each opportunity to collect scat! I’ve become much better identifying the fish smelling “cow- patties” along tidelines and beaches now-something I’ve never thought I’d say but something I’m certainly proud of!
With WDFW, helping capture harbor seals in the Hood Canal area. Taking a knee and waiting for any potential seals to appear with salmon hoop net in hand. Photo credits: Lindsey Bull, WDFW.
Seals & Salmon,
Alex