Current Research Blogs
Dawson's Blog
Dawson Little, graduate student
1 July 2025
Hi y'all
June kicked off with some big changes as I wrapped up the academic year and shifted fully into the field season. I’ve officially relocated from Bellingham back to the reservation, where I’ll be based for the rest of the summer. The move itself was a bit chaotic—no surprise there—but it’s been grounding to be back and settling into work that feels directly connected to place and purpose.
A big piece of news this month: I was honored to be selected as one of three 2026 Caroline Gibson Scholars in Marine Conservation through the Northwest Straits Foundation. The scholarship supports students working to protect and restore the Salish Sea, and I’m incredibly grateful for the recognition and support. I’ll have the chance to connect with the other scholars and board members at an event later this summer, which I’m really looking forward to.
With fieldwork underway, I’ve also resumed my role managing a team of six technicians for the Makah Tribe. We’re deep into a full slate of summer projects, including invasive green crab removal and ecological monitoring across several estuarine and intertidal sites. I’ve also begun collecting another year of river otter scats for my thesis, and I’ve already come across several that contain remains of invasive European green crab. It’s a rewarding feeling to see some of the pieces falling into place, especially after navigating so many contingencies earlier in the project.
On the lab side, I finalized ordering all the molecular supplies I’ll need and will be doing sample collection, processing, and extractions entirely on the reservation. One of the unexpected but exciting outcomes of this shift is that I’ve been able to help design and begin setting up a working molecular lab space for use by tribal staff which is something that could be really valuable for future research. Once I receive the reagents needed for river otter sex identification, I’ll make a short trip back to Bellingham to work with Dietmar and Ellie on testing the new protocols and launching that next phase of the project. Things are finally starting to settle into a rhythm after a few big bumps in the road, and it feels good.
Best,
Dawson
Ellie's Blog
Ellie Taylor, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
Hi all,
Everyone is trained and set up for summer observations, but I will be working on a trail crew and unfortunately won't be super involved in the lab during the summer.
The end of the quarter went smoothly. It was hard to say goodbye to our graduates, but I'm so excited to see all their future accomplishments! For the sex- identification otter study, we created a protocol for extracting a higher quantity of DNA from the scars. Dawson has also ordered the new primers, so that we can get back to work on the qPCR. Throughout the summer, progress might be a little slow but I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get things ready to crush out labwork in the fall.
Hoping everyone enjoys their summer!
Ellie
Rachel's Blog
Rachel Strober, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying the start of summer! It has been great to enjoy some nice weather at my hometown in Oregon, and to get on some bike rides and surf trips this past month. The end of spring quarter seemed to go by quickly, but was filled with lots of fun lab activities. We were able to get together for an end of year celebration to say goodbye to our graduates, who all gave so much to the lab and will be deeply missed. Congratulations to all the grads!! I am sad to say this was my last quarter in the lab as well. I recently bought a one-way plane ticket to Ireland to study abroad in the fall, and will be graduating at the end of that quarter! I am super excited to explore a new place and see what the classes are like, but I’m also going to miss the lab and people here who have been so amazing.
We are still doing Whatcom Creek observations over the summer, and they are being run by Chloe and Siena as they are now the new managers of the project! I am very happy to pass that role on to them and am excited for them to continue to influence the lab in great ways. I am currently still working on my salmon sex ratio project over the summer, and have been testing the assay by running a ton of qPCR! We are still tinkering with the cycling parameters and various other things that go into the assay, but are getting hopeful results that keep getting us closer to our goal of identifying the salmon sex ratios in sea lion scat samples.
Have a great 4th of July and enjoy some sunshine!
Until next time,
Rachel
Maren's Blog
Maren Duffy, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
Hello!
Bittersweet that this is my last blog, but I am very excited to be moving onto the next chapter in the biology field! I have made the move up to Alaska after graduating on June 13th, and have now started up my position as a marine mammal technician in Anchorage, Alaska on the JBER Airforce Base. I saw my first Cook Inlet belugas on our first field equipment swap day and it was really exciting! It is a really interesting place to work, lots of new things for me. Tons of bears everywhere, I’ve seen five this week so far. It is also a wonderful team and so fantastic to be around folks who are so willing to share knowledge, advice and experience. I am looking forward to learning about a new marine mammal and continuing to utilize my field observation knowledge out here in the Cook Inlet.
Haley and I have mostly completed our research project, and now face the process of writing the manuscript. I am looking forward to continuing to keep finishing this project up and excited to have a final product! It is certainly difficult to be far away from Haley but I am hoping to get her up to Alaska soon and show her some belugas. I am so grateful to have this experience with the Marine Mammal Ecology Lab at Western and to be able to contribute to knowledge of our local wildlife. I have been able to work with such incredible people and I feel very lucky to have made such great connections. I hope to be back to visit soon to see everyone and hopefully the seals at the creek!
All the best seals and salmon!
Maren
Anna's Blog
Anna Gilboard, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
Hi everyone!
I’m Anna, and this is my first blog post with the Marine Mammal Ecology Lab! I’m an undergraduate student majoring in Biology, and I’m super excited to be working with such a passionate and supportive group of researchers. I joined the lab Spring 2024, and it's been a fantastic learning experience. I’ve been fascinated by the way organisms interact with their environments and with each other for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I was always full of questions, raising tadpoles into toads in my backyard and constantly (and unintentionally) scaring my parents by picking up snakes to get a closer look. I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and wanted to study new organisms in a new environment which is what led me to Washington.I became obsessed with the ocean and marine life and I feel really lucky to be part of this lab!
In the lab, I serve as the Photo Cropping and ID Lead, which means I’m in charge of teaching lab members how to crop the seal photos we collect and organize them for individual identification. Once the images are properly cropped and cataloged, we identify the seals based on their unique markings! Recently a lovely fellow WWU student created a website that helps us ID the seals. It’s been really fun to learn how to do it, and I can’t wait to teach others! I love that I get to work closely with both the data and the people in our lab.
For my independent research, I’m so excited to be working with The Whale Museum and focusing on pinniped strandings in San Juan County. I am hoping to look at trends in harbor seal and sea lion strandings over time, especially in relation to human activity and environmental factors. I’m currently putting together a research proposal that outlines my goals, methods, and the types of data I’ll be using. I’m hoping this work can contribute to a better understanding of how human impacts intersect with pinniped health and behavior in the Salish Sea.
It’s been great getting to know other students in the lab and see all the different projects going on! Everyone is doing such fascinating work, and it’s inspiring to be surrounded by people who care so deeply about marine wildlife and conservation. Looking forward to sharing more updates as my project takes shape this summer. Wishing everyone a great start to July and hope you’re finding time to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather!
Until next time,
Anna
Chloe's Blog
Chloe Bentley, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
Hi everyone!
It is great to be writing to all of you! My name is Chloe and I am an EEO major at WWU. I came up to Washington from Missouri to pursue a biology degree. I’ve been in the lab for little over a year now, and I’m excited to step into my new management position for the Whatcom Creek Project alongside Siena! It has been a pleasure to work with everyone in the lab. Haley, Maren, and Rachel have been excellent role models for Siena and me as we transition into this new role.
June has been a busy month, with the school year wrapping up and us saying goodbye to fellow lab members who are heading off on to their next adventures. Fortunately, we have a great group of great volunteers this summer to help continue data collection. Also, this summer, I’ll be helping manage Log Pond and Whatcom Creek throughout this month and into July. This has given me a chance to interact with more people in the lab, and it’s been fun to observe the differences between the two projects. We’ve been seeing lots of pups in the waterway, though no seals in the creek so far on our observations. That's okay — at lower tides, new animals appear on the exposed bed every day. And you know what they say: no data is data!
I’m also one of the lab members who runs the MMEL Instagram account, and it’s been so satisfying to see it grow as more people from our community join us online. Siena, Mallory, and Camryn are all a part of our social media team, and I’m excited to see what we all can do together to grow the account even more.
Seals and Salmon,
Chloe
Victoria's Blog
Victoria Vinecke, graduate student
1 July 2025
Hi again! Happy summer, it is starting to warm up in Bellingham! June was a busy month full of lab work for Wild EcoHealth. The past two years MMEL has been in collaboration with Wild EcoHealth to update pinniped diet data which included a lot of fish grinding and various DNA extractions. We were able to finish up all the lab work for that study and hand off all the DNA to the WDFW genetics lab for sequencing. It was quite a busy month pulling long hours getting all the loose ends taken care of, but it feels great to be able to take a little break from lab work now with my part of the project completed! At the end of the quarter the Wild EcoHealth volunteers got together for a sunset and snack hangout before everyone dispersed for the summer. It was such a great experience managing the Wild EcoHealth volunteers’ team and getting to spend time mentoring everyone. Lots of laughs were had, memories made, and I will really miss the crew we had this year! Thank you to Rachel, Maren, Ellie, Julia, Camryn, Chloe, Celia, and Mallory for being such an amazing team! The progress we made this year would not have been possible without everyone so thank you thank you!
I also want to give a shout out to our graduating undergrads! Congrats everyone and best of luck in your future endeavors! To our graduating managers/leads Haley and Maren you both will be missed immensely. Thank you for all your hard work and leadership over the years.
More recently I have been working on editing my thesis and finishing up the last parts of analysis needed! I am looking forward to the writing portion coming together and seeing the project as a complete story! I plan on continuing with writing through July and will check back in on progress next month!
Until nex time,
Victoria
Siena's blog
Siena Gorohoff, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
Hi! I’m Siena and I will be working as a new co-manager of the Whatcom Creek Project with Chloe. I’m going into my third year at Western this fall in the Marine and Coastal Science program. This year will also be my second full year in the lab and I'm excited about everything coming up this summer and soon next school year.
The end of the school year was pretty crazy with transitions of leadership in the lab. Working with Rachel and Haley last quarter learning about manager duties within the lab was really fun even during one of my busiest quarters yet, and it totally flew by. Spring quarter ending is always a bit bittersweet, it’s sad to say goodbye to older members graduating and moving on but it’s always fun to meet new members and get to work with them through summer and next school year. I am beyond excited to start a management role and research project working alongside Chloe. We've been hard at work with the early steps of the project, but it’s been a lot of fun so far. Last year Chloe, Rachel and I worked together starting a social media for the lab, which has since grown to include Camry and Mallory. Keeping past members of the lab updated on lab happenings is one thing I’m really happy we get to do both through these blogs and the lab’s Instagram.
I’m looking forward to observations and lab work this summer with our awesome team of volunteers. Hopefully I’ll soon have more to say about summer observations and the research project with Chloe, but for now that’s all.
Happy summer and see you next month!
Siena
Haley's Blog
Haley Recob, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
Hi everyone,
I can’t believe that this is my last blog post! It feels like just yesterday that Maren and I were starting our independent project and I was drafting my first post. Now, we are nearly done and about to start writing our manuscript! Even though we are many miles apart, Maren and I still plan on meeting weekly to discuss our project.
This past month has been bittersweet as it’s been full of goodbyes and new beginnings. At the beginning of June, the MMEL hosted an end of the year get together where we shared cake, snacks, and watched the movie, Dolphins (2000), featuring Alejandro! The other graduating members of the lab and I got to say goodbye to some of the amazing folks that run the lab. We were awarded the silver “seal colored” graduation cords that commemorate the hard work we have done for the lab. It was really special to be able to get together one more time. With Rachel studying abroad in the fall and with me graduating, we passed on the manager position to Chloe and Siena! I feel very confident that they will be great managers and exceed all expectations.
Managing the Marine Mammal Ecology Lab has been one of my greatest joys as an undergraduate. I have gained skills and confidence that I will take with me throughout my career as a biologist. On June 13th, I graduated with the Outstanding Graduate Award for the General Biology Major and a minor in Environmental Science. I would not have been able to achieve this without my advisors, Dr. Alejandro Acevedo-Gutierrez and Dr. Dietmar Schwarz, for giving me invaluable advice and many opportunities to grow. I want to say thank you to the amazing lab managers like Rachel and Ellie and graduate students, Alex, Vic, Zoe, and Dawson for supporting me for the last year. I also want to thank Maren for being the best project partner I could ever ask for.
This summer, I’ve started interning with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association. Afterwards, I am hoping to find employment near Seattle and live close to home for a while. I am excited for the next chapter and believe that the MMEL will always have a special place in my heart. I hope to continue to see MMEL updates on the Instagram!
Seals and salmon,
Haley
Zoe's Blog
Zoe Hosford, graduate student
1 July 2025
Hi all-
It feels like its been forever since the last time we ‘chatted’, so much has changed! It was a whirlwind end of the quarter with getting grades done for my TA-ship, finishing my own classes, wrapping up end of the quarter thesis research things, and bringing on 2 undergrads to my project. It has felt good to have just a little time to breathe these last couple weeks, but not for long…
Earlier this month, my thesis proposal was officially approved by my committee members which was the last official hoop to jump through for my project to be official! But this summer is the time to get a lot of research stuff done for me – like I said, I officially welcomed 2 undergrads onto my project to help streamline data processing and the analysis process, so welcome Lottie and Luke! I am so excited to work with them on this interesting project and to see where we end up. This summer is going to be full of thesis writing, data organization, and likely lots and lots of failed coding :’). I told myself that I would give myself until the end of June to relax and take a deep breath, and reflect on the accomplishment of getting through my 1st year of grad school… so now it’s time to work!
But lastly, I just want to extend a huge congratulations and thank you to all our hard-working MMEL managers, leads, and research assistants that graduated earlier this month! This lab and so many grad student projects would not be possible without your contributions and dedication, and I cannot wait to see where you all end up in the near future!
Orcas and seals,
Zoe
Mallory's Blog
Mallory Stonier, undergraduate student
1 July 2025
June has been an eventful month! Finals have wrapped up and I’m grateful to have found lots of time for family and friends afterwards. The winter and spring are always busy with little time to make trips home, and I always appreciate recharging at home with my parents and brother. I was even lucky enough to show my parents the Log Pond site which was lots of fun and special to share where much of my time has been spent this spring. With the sunny weather and incredibly low tides, summer activities have been plentiful. Tide pools especially and exploring the nature Bellingham has to offer have been the focus of my free time this month. For the summer, I am continuing Whatcom Creek observations and have just started helping Ellie with Log Pond observations which have been a lot of fun so far. I saw two sets of mother and baby seals at Log Pond, which was a first for me and I was very excited. In relation to the Smolt project, right now Camryn and I are spending lots of time inputting the many data sheets from observations in the Spring. Looking forward, we’re looking at processing the data we've inputted to find trends or lacks thereof that can direct our further research.
I'm still looking to spot an orca in person, but there is plenty of time and opportunity left!
Mallory
Camryn's Blog
Camryn Sumrok, undergraduate student
2 July 2025
Hello again!
Happy summer! It’s been a crazy and busy month as we recently completed finals and concluded spring quarter. I am so proud that Mallory and I successfully completed the Smolt project this spring. I have learned so much about leadership, research, and collaboration. I could not be more grateful.
Currently, data input and observations are the main lab work on my agenda. I am doing observations for the Whatcom Creek project and Log Pond project as a volunteer.
I have been working a job in retail for about 20 hours a week. When I am not working, I have been volunteering for the lab, swimming, hiking, and visiting family. The merchandise for newer lab members has arrived, so I have been distributing those among the lab members that placed orders. I love our lab merchandise because it includes the lab logo and MMEL art made by recent graduate Maren Duffy.
I am looking forward to continuing research in the lab in the fall! There are always more salmon at Whatcom Creek in the fall because that’s when they are running, which is a really cool sight to see. Mallory and I will be continuing our work for the Smolt project as well!
I hope everyone has a great July, until next time!
Seals and Salmon,
Camryn
Alexandrea's Blog
Alexandrea Otto, graduate student
3 July 2025
Hi there,
Stats “Session” or tip for this month: utilizing GitHub for project coding, collaboration, and organization can be a huge help! Investing the time to set up your project directories and repositories can be a big pay off in the end with long term storage and being able to track your code changes/versions over time. Setting up a time with a friend or colleague to work together in this initial investment part of set up can be a helpful way to establish accountability partners during what might be considered a boring or tedious start/task!
Till next time,
Alex