Current Research Blogs
Dawson's Blog
Dawson Little, graduate student
1 September 2025
Hi y'all
This past month brought some of the busiest and most rewarding days of the field season. We kicked things off with the annual Makah green crab trapping blitz across Makah Bay and Neah Bay, where a large team of staff and volunteers joined forces to set over a thousand traps. Together we removed nearly two thousand green crab in just three days. The scale of this effort was incredible, and it really showcased the power of collaboration in tackling an invasive species.
In addition to fieldwork, I helped set up a functional molecular lab for the Tribe here in Neah Bay. Drawing on what I’ve learned through my thesis research, I worked to organize protocols, equipment, and supplies so that molecular tools can now support a wider range of ecological and fisheries projects beyond my own. This has been an exciting step toward building long-term research capacity on the reservation and opening doors for new applications of DNA-based approaches in the future.
I also had the chance to host a photographer and interviewer from Western Washington University who made the trip out to Neah Bay to learn more about me and my research. It was a great experience to share the work I’ve been doing, walk them through some of our field sites, and talk about how this project connects to both my graduate studies and the Tribe’s ongoing stewardship efforts.
This month also included Makah Days, the Tribe’s annual celebration of community, culture, and tradition. The event spans three days and features a parade, traditional dances, canoe races, and food stands, bringing together families and visitors from near and far. The Fisheries Department hosted a booth at the event, where we shared updates on ongoing projects and connected with community members about the work being done to protect local ecosystems. It was a meaningful way to tie science back to the broader cultural context in which it takes place.
On the thesis side, I continued collecting river otter scat samples and now have a strong set of samples representing both river estuaries. I also started reviewing trail camera footage from otter latrines where green crab remains have been found. Already, a few clips are giving us a window into otter foraging behavior in these estuaries.
With the summer field season beginning to wind down, I’m looking forward to shifting some focus back toward the lab and writing, while still keeping up regular monitoring in the estuaries. It’s been a month of long days and heavy lifting, but also one of major progress, and I’m excited to carry that momentum into the fall.
Best,
Dawson
Anna's Blog
Anna Gilboard, undergraduate student
1 September 2025
Hi everyone,
Fall quarter is just around the corner, and it’s wild how fast the summer flew by. I’ve been soaking up the last of the warm days before school kicks into full swing, spending time on the water, hiking, and getting excited about the research ahead.
This month I wrapped up a big milestone: submitting my honors capstone proposal! I’ll be investigating pinniped strandings and how they might be influenced by human activity in San Juan County. The next step is securing access to the stranding dataset and figuring out where the most meaningful patterns might lie. I’m especially interested in how tourist hotspots like Friday Harbor or Roche Harbor might intersect with marine mammal presence.
In the Marine Mammal Ecology Lab, I’m continuing in my role as Photo Cropping and ID Lead. Even though my focus hasn’t shifted to the field quite yet, it’s been cool to stay connected to seal photo-ID work and get more comfortable recognizing individual animals. There might even be some collaboration in the works with folks developing a facial recognition tool for harbor seals in Seattle, more on that soon!
As the quarter starts, I’m looking forward to diving into classes, strengthening my R and GIS skills, and beginning to lay the foundation for my analysis. Even though the fieldwork part is still ahead, it already feels like things are starting to come together.
Until next time,
Anna
Camryn's Blog
Camryn Sumrok, undergraduate student
1 September 2025
Hello all!
Summer has gone by in the blink of an eye! We have less than a month until fall quarter begins and I can’t wait to get back into a solid routine on campus. The salmon will also be running when fall quarter starts, which means Whatcom Creek will likely be filled with lots of seal activity!
I started doing Log Pond observations this summer and am loving it. There has been lots of seal activity in Bellingham Bay and it has been really incredible to see seal pups interact with their mothers. On a recent observation I saw many episodes of some sort of social activity, which I believe to be either playing or fighting. There has been a lot of construction in the waterway connecting Whatcom Creek and Bellingham Bay, with barges and cranes continuously shifting and causing a ruckus. It will be interesting to see how this anthropogenic noise and motion affect the seal activity in the area when the data is reviewed in the future.
Mallory and I are still in the long process of data input from the Smolt Project. We are also continuously working on our outline for when we start writing about the project, which was been really exciting! We are ecstatic to share with everyone what we have learned and found within this amazing project.
I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the summer! See you next month!
Seals and Salmon,
Camryn
Victoria's Blog
Victoria Vinecke, graduate student
1 September 2025
Hi again,
Last time I checked in I was at the Wildlife Disease Association conference. While at the conference I listened to a talk covering polar bear co-management. The presenter’s company, Cloudberry Connections, collaborated with knowledgeable Inuit to create a free Nanuk (Polar Bear) course covering Inuit knowledge, co-management practices, and relationships between people and Nanuk. I wanted to pass along the information; here is the link to the course: Nanuk Narratives.
Currently, I am visiting two of my very good friends in Philadelphia soaking in the last bit of summer. So, I will be keeping the rest of my update short and sweet! I am mainly focusing on writing this month along with extracting eDNA samples collected in the spring. I also plan on getting field work going toward the end of the month to collect the last batch of eDNA samples!
Until next time,
Victoria
Siena's Blog
Siena Gorohoff, undergraduate student
1 September 2025
Hi! This summer has been flying by, I can’t believe we’ll be starting fall classes again this month. Lots of exciting things are coming up these next few months, new classes, fall time observations at the creek, and starting the next steps of the research project with Chloe hopefully very soon. We’ve finished and sent out our proposal and we are in the process of planning a meeting to start getting raw data to work with, which has been very exciting. It seems like we’ve got a pretty long road ahead of us with this project, but all the work so far has been incredibly fun, and I've learned so much already.
Outside of the lab I’ve been trying to spend as much time near the water as I can. I’ve been able to go to the beach by my house and see seals there, who are now having their pups, which has been really exciting to see. I’m hoping to see more seals (and maybe even pups) when I’m up in Bellingham again. I've been loving to hear about all the activity from observations at both the creek and log pond.
Thank you to all the volunteers this summer, you all have been doing so much great work for the lab! Hope everyone has had a great summer, and I’m looking forward to a great fall!
See you next month!
Siena
Chloe's Blog
Chloe Bentley, undergraduate student
1 September 2025
Hey everyone, it’s great to be here again!
This month I wasn’t in Bellingham very much so unfortunately, I wasn’t doing as many observations. But I did go to Japan, and it was so amazing! I got to see seals while there and it was so cool to apply everything I have learned in the lab to what I was observing. The Instagram has been great, the girls are making some great posts, and it has been fun to see what they are cooking up! Excited to get back into it now that I am back in the states. See y'all next time!
Seals and Salmon
Mallory's Blog
Mallory Stonier, undergraduate student
1 September 2025
Hello everyone,
It has been a beautiful summer in Bellingham so far and we have recently started to see seals at Whatcom Creek again! I’m looking forward to the Salmon run and the activity that the creek sees in the fall. Camryn and I are still working with the observational data from Smolt in the spring and are excited to specify our objectives as we hope to start to analyze the data in late October. We are also expanding our research outline to begin the writing process and finding more sources to define the background essential to understanding why we are looking at harbor seal predation on juvenile smolt rather than adult Salmon. In the meantime, I have been enjoying volunteering for wildlife rehabilitation and finished part of my physics coursework over the summer. I recently leveled up as a volunteer and handled my first raptor, which was a surreal experience to say the least. While I might have been busy with my summer course and moving over the last month, I finally have gotten more time to visit the Methow Valley in the North Cascades and have been enjoying relaxing by the river and the mountain views before getting back to work in Bellingham early this month. Before I left Bellingham, I even managed to enjoy the bioluminescence at Teddy Bear Cove which was on my summer bucket list!
It’s hard to believe that Fall quarter begins in just a few weeks, but I’m looking forward to getting back into things and talking with everyone each week in lab meetings again.
Seals and Salmon,
Mallory
Zoe's blog
Zoe Hosford, graduate student
1 September 2025
Hi all-
It’s hard to believe that it’s already September! This summer has absolutely flown by and I’m doing by best to soak up the last little bit of it.
I have continued plugging along on getting data ready and working on coding for the modeling process. It is slow moving, but it feels like I am finally starting to make some headway in the process, and finally have some output! I have been continuing same as last month: data wrangling, coding, thesis writing and editing.
Besides keeping busy with schoolwork, I have been enjoying my summer and letting myself relax a little bit. Taking my dog on weekly hiking trips, hanging out with my friends, and my mom was even just out here for a visit for a while! It’s crazy to think that in just a short few weeks we will all be back on campus, and back to our regular crazy schedules, but honestly I can’t wait!
Till next time,
Zoe
Alexandrea's Blog
Alexandrea Otto, graduate student
1 September 2025
Hi,
I don’t have much this blog post as things are quiet busy! In thesis world, I’m still coding/data analysis. The trials and tribulations of data formatting continue but to persevere, I just remind myself in terms of progress: slow motion > no motion. In stranding work world, things have been almost too busy to catch up on everything in a monthly blog post as well. It is almost the end of harbor seal pupping season though! Now this time of “stranding season” weaned harbor seal pups are on shores and salmon are starting their journeys back up the rivers!
Everyday I’m very grateful to still have a job in wildlife and have the opportunity to experience/witness these moments and seasons of nature. Time and time after again, I am always amazed and encouraged by the seasonality of wildlife; it is a beautiful thing (and good reminder of natural change)!
Stay wild and strong out there! And….just keep swimming & persevering!,
Alex
Ellie's Blog
Ellie taylor, undeTgraduate student
1 September 2025
Hi everyone,
I hope you have all been enjoying the summer! I just got back from my last hitch of trail work for the summer. While I'm bummed to say goodbye to the trails I've been working on all summer, I am excited to get back to the lab and jump back into my project!
Dawson has been collecting samples on the estuaries along the Makah Reservation all summer, which we will be able to extract DNA from and use for sex-identification and diet analysis. When we left off in spring, we were perfecting our extraction protocol (with the help of Dr. Erin D'Agnese) and ordered new primers. I am excited to get back to work on this project, especially with our new bank of samples!
Cheers,
Ellie