Current Research Blogs
Maren's Blog
Maren Duffy, undergraduate student
1 March 2025
Hello!
The quarter is almost done and I can hardly believe it, but I am so excited for Spring quarter! I was expecting this quarter to be a bit more laid back than those in the past, but I think it has been my busiest yet. Haley and I have finished data collection for our project, which is super exciting, and are getting back into GIS to figure out how we are going to analyze our data. I have also been getting out to Whatcom Creek observations pretty regularly, and doing Wild EcoHealth DNA Extractions every week. So a lot of hours!
Next quarter I am really excited for Smolt Observations, as well as continuing Haley adn I’s GIS/spatial analysis work. I am only taking Algae Lab in Anacortes on Tuesdays, so my weeks will be very different than this winter. I am planning to mostly just do Algae Lab work, observations, a lot of climbing, and dog walking! I also will have to start organizing my house to get ready to move out in June since I will be leaving Bellingham on the 16th. I am very excited to start my technician job but also a bit nervous about packing up and heading out.
Until next time,
Maren
Dawson's Blog
Dawson Little, graduate student
1 March 2025
Hi y'all,
I’m excited to share that I’ve finished processing over 650 river otter scat samples, which have now been sent off for diet analysis at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s molecular lab. This was a big task, and I couldn’t have done it without the assistance of my fellow lab members, Chloe and Ellie. I really appreciate their help in making this process more manageable.
Earlier this month, I also had the opportunity to present at the National Park Service’s North Cascades Science Days. I shared findings from an effort I led this summer on behalf of the Makah Tribe, where we detected live European green crab within the park near the Ozette Reservation. The goal was to bring attention to this detection and encourage discussions with park scientists about its implications. This year, I'm planning another trip to further assess the extent of invasive green crab focusing more on areas located within the reservation.
Another exciting update came from the Oregon Zoo, which has collected 12 male and 12 female river otter scats from their otters. These will be used in the design of molecular primers to identify the sex of wild otters from scat samples and examine how otter diet varies by sex. I'm hoping to begin trials for this part of my research during Spring quarter.
Looking ahead, I’m preparing to submit my thesis proposal and present the plans for my thesis research at the Washington-British Columbia Chapter meeting of the American Fisheries Society next month. I’ll be speaking at and helping moderate a symposium focused on European green crab in the Pacific Northwest. It’ll be a great chance to share my work and learn from others in the field. There’s been a lot happening this past month, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come!
Best,
Dawson
Victoria's Blog
Victoria Vinecke, graduate student
1 March 2025
Hi everyone!
Happy spring everyone! It’s warming up in Bellingham and it feels nice to have sunshine on my face again! You know what spring means! Smolt season is right around the corner! The undergrad managers and grad students have been busy little seals going through recruiting materials as we prepare to start interviews this week! This year we received 75 applications which is insane! The best part about MMEL hiring season is that the undergrads and grads find time to hang out, eat food together, and casually go through applications. It is a great bonding time and helps keep a semi-stressful time still fun!
Along with recruiting, I have been working toward trying to tie up loose ends for the Northwest Student Chapter Society for Marine Mammalogy 2025 conference. The last thing on my list to get checked off is getting debit card transactions done and roll out the registration form!
Lastly, I have been processing the last of my Vancouver BC Aquarium samples and will soon have those results for validation! I am also receiving nasal swabs from the animals sampled so I can do a direct comparison alongside the eDNA samples. I head to Vancouver BC in a week for the American Fisheries Society WA-BC conference and I am trying to get as much of the aquarium samples analyzed so I can present some of those results as well. Wish me luck!
Until next time,
Victoria
Ellie's Blog
Ellie Taylor, undergraduate student
1 March 2025
Hi everyone,
This month has been a busy month for the lab. We’ve got lots of projects proceeding as usual, along with conference planning for the upcoming NWSSMM conference, and recruiting new researchers! It is all exciting work, and I am super excited to add some new members to our team.
This month we got to experience all the joys of winter fieldwork. We had some cold and gloomy observation days where we had to had to defrost locks and deal with lots of soggy gear. So, I’m very thankful for the sun this week and am feeling ready for spring!
We’ve also been making lots of progress in the lab. I have been helping Dawson process river otter scat samples, and all the scats are now processed and in ethanol (poo-thanol as some may say). I am excited for the next couple steps for Dawson’s project. I think there’s a lot of interesting lab techniques to learn and am eager to learn more about river otters. There’s also been lots going on with Vic and the Wild EcoHealth team. Everyone has been spending lots of time in the lab and we’ve been able to make lots of progress.
Hoping for a more restful month in March and wishing you all luck in the final weeks of the quarter!
Cheers,
Ellie
Haley's Blog
Haley Recob, undergraduate student
1 March 2025
Hi everyone!
I hope you are all enjoying the weather as were starting to have sunny Spring days in the forecast! Daylight savings is right around the corner and I am thrilled to start having longer days.
This quarter seemed to fly by as I’ve been super busy with lab duties, homework, requirements, and conference planning. There hasn’t been much activity at Whatcom Creek besides the brief construction on the boardwalk. No harbor seals have been seen yet, but I am hopeful that Spring quarter will bring some marine mammal action.
The application deadline for new MMEL lab assistants was February 24th. We ended up receiving 75 applications! The MMEL management team all got together and went through them all (over pizza and cookies) and decided who we were going to interview. It was exciting to start selecting who is going to potentially join the lab. It feels like a full circle moment as I remember when I interviewed to be a research assistant 2 years ago. I’m very grateful I’ve been able to help out with this process and am enthusiastic about meeting new students who are interested in researching marine mammals.
Maren and I have been as busy as ever working on our independent project. We recently had a meeting with Professor Andy Bunn from the environmental science department. He gave us great advice on how we can start spatial analysis through the maps we have made on ArcGIS. Maren and I may have to reach out to a professor who teaches ArcGIS as we still have a lot to learn regarding the program. I am hopeful that in spring we will make great strides in analyzing our data.
That's all for now,
Haley
Alexandrea's Blog
Alexandrea Otto, graduate student
1 March 2025
Hi everyone,
I’m in the midst of data analysis still, so this month’s blog post might be a bit shorter! I did want to take a moment though to acknowledge all the changes happening in the US currently and extend my support to everyone within the field of science.
Stay well till next month!
Seals & Salmon,
Alex
Zoe's Blog
Zoe Hosford, undergraduate student
1 March 2025
Wow, another month has flown by! The sunny is shining more, it’s getting warmer, and it feels like we might finally be on the tail-end of winter, yay!! The quarter is very quickly wrapping up, so therefore it’s been very very busy. I’m still not quite used to the whole quarter system thing. The few months, the lab managers have been working on planning the NWSSMM conference, which has been quite exciting. I can’t wait to host that in May to meet other marine mammal research students in the PNW and learn more about the research they/ their labs are conducting. Along with that, we are getting ready to recruit new people in the lab! Lab managers have spent a lot of time prepping materials, sending out fliers and reviewing applications. In just a few weeks, we will have a lot of new lab members, which is so exciting!
Research wise, I’m feeling pretty good this month. My NPRB grant application is DONE and SUBMITTED!! This is so exciting as I have been working on writing my proposal and this grant application tirelessly since October. I also had my first committee meeting, so my thesis topic is now officially approved by Western. It was great to sit down with Dr. Andy Bunn specifically to get more of his insight on the statistical analysis of my project. We discussed if it’s even feasible, what it’s applications may be, how to start ‘wrangling’ data and where to maybe go from there. I am looking forward to spending the coming weeks diving heavily into my data now that my grant application is completed!
It’s going to be a busy month, but hopefully full of progress and exciting events.
Until Next Time,
Zoe
Rachel's Blog
Rachel Strober, undergraduate student
1 March 2025
Hi everyone,
I can’t believe it’s March already! I hope you all have been able to get out and enjoy the sunshine recently. I’ve had a very eventful few weeks when it comes to marine mammals. In a class, I had the opportunity to go out on multiple boat trips around the San Juans where we saw a Bigg's killer whale, two gray whales, a bunch of harbor porpoises, harbor seals, and Steller sea lions! It was an amazing opportunity to get out on the water so much and learn a lot about the animals in the process.
Lab recruiting is currently underway with interviews next week! We have some amazing applicants this year and it is so exciting that we will have so many new people joining soon. At Whatcom Creek things are staying steadily slow during this season, but observations are still underway and have been very enjoyable with this sunny weather. As Camryn and Mallory prepare for the annual spring smolt project, I am excited to get some more observations with additional data!
As far as my project goes, I am currently talking with the biology apartment to get certified to use the qPCR machine! Primers have been delivered to the lab and probes are in the process of being ordered, so we are definitely making some progress towards getting the lab work started.
I hope you all have a great end of the quarter and good luck on finals!
Rachel