Current Research Blogs
Rachel's Blog
Rachel Strober, undergraduate student
1 April 2025
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying spring break! Over the past week I’ve been able to spend some time skiing with family up in the mountains and traveled back home to the Oregon coast to get some beach time. Winter quarter seemed to fly by, although it was one of my busiest yet with classes and projects. It’s been nice to have a relaxing break, but I’m also excited to start some new fun classes this spring! We are happy to have hired 24 new undergraduate students in the lab, and I can’t wait to get to know all of them as we get back to observations after break. We always like to plan some fun bonding activities at the beginning of spring quarter in the lab, which is something I look forward to now that the recruting process is over.
I am continuing to work on my sea lion project with Erin, and plan to be fully immersed in lab work over the next few months. On top of that, I will be helping Vic and the Wild EcoHealth team with PCR for the harbor seal diet study. With the smolt project beginning in May, it will also be great to have some early morning and sunset observations on top of our usual schedule. Additionally, in May is the Northwest Student Chapter Society for Marine Mammalogy conference, which the lab managers and grad students have been working hard to plan for the last few months. I’m very excited to meet other students conducting marine mammal research and hear about their projects.
Happy Spring!
Rachel
Maren's Blog
Maren Duffy, undergraduate student
1 April 2025
Hello!
Pretty short blog this month! Super excited to start spring quarter, it will be my last at Western and sadly my last in the lab. I am only taking Algae lab with an additional research credit, so I’ve got a very relaxed schedule, and I intend to use that time to finish out the sex ratio project with Haley. We are working on figuring out some specific GIS tools, specifically finding the least cost distance over water between our location points and haul-out sites. I am also looking forward to the NWSSMM conference, to meeting some out-of-state marine mammal student researchers and continuing to collaborate with the WWU MMEL planning committee. Many new lab members will be attending and it will be great to get to know the new folks in the lab, with Whatcom Creek and Smolt happening throughout spring as well!
Maren
Ellie's Blog
Ellie Taylor, undergraduate student
1 April 2025
Hi everyone!
Been spending spring break soaking up the sun and recovering from finals week! This week has been a great reset after quite a hectic winter quarter!
The last few weeks of the quarter were filled with lots of interviews and manager meetings, which was a fun change of pace. I loved getting to spend more time connecting with the other lab managers! I am also very excited to be welcoming this new group of research assistants, they all have so much excitement for the projects going on in the lab and are very eager to learn!
Observations were going strong all the way through finals week, but paused over spring break to give everyone so time off. Hopeful that with our gradual move into the spring season, we begin to see more seal activity at the log pond site.
Looking forward to starting this quarter and training all of our new members! Wishing everyone luck with their new classes and excited for what's to come!
Cheers,
Ellie
Dawson's Blog
Dawson Little, graduate student
1 April 2025
Hi y’all,
This month, I had the opportunity to attend the Washington-British Columbia Chapter Meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Vancouver, BC along with fellow lab members, Vic and Dietmar. I presented my thesis research as part of a symposium focused on invasive European green crab, which I also helped organize and host. I really enjoyed connecting with other folks working on research that overlaps so closely with my own. It was also my first time in a new city, which was fun.
Shortly after getting back, I received some lab results from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Molecular Lab, which have led me to reassess parts of my project. The results weren’t quite what I expected, and it looks like I’ll need to revisit and refine some of my protocols. While it’s definitely a little disappointing, I’ve come away from this with a much clearer understanding of the methods I’ve been using. I’m actually feeling more confident moving forward and excited to apply what I’ve learned to improve the project. It also means I’ll be heading back out this summer to scour the riverbanks for more otter poop which is always fun.
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.
All in all, it’s been a good close to Winter quarter. It’s felt like a big learning moment in my research, and I’m grateful for the experiences (even the bumpy ones). I’m looking forward to Spring quarter and getting back into the field soon. More updates to come!
Best,
Dawson
Zoe's Blog
Zoe Hosford, graduate student
1 April 2025
Hi everyone,
Another quarter done – how is that possible?? The last month has been very very busy wrapping up the quarter, planning the NWSSMM conference, grading, doing research, and hiring new lab members. This means we officially have new amazing lab members, the conference is just over a month away, and the smolt project is starting very very soon – a very exciting time for MMEL! The last couple weeks of the quarter were pretty chaotic, making me very fortunate for spring break. During break, I had the opportunity to travel the Oregon Coast, which has always been a dream of mine. I am really enjoying being able to explore the West Coast since my move here in September!
I am in the midst of data exploration, looking at various ArcGIS layers of haul-out maps and TKW sightings, along with looking for potential trends and outliers in the data sets I am working with. Hopefully in the next month I will have made immense progress in my research and have a better understanding of what’s to come!
Till next month!
Zoe
Haley's Blog
Haley Recob, undergraduate student
1 April 2025
Hi everyone!
I hope you all had an energizing and exciting spring break! As for me, I did a lot of traveling. I went to Bozeman, Montana, to ski and visit old friends and then took a road trip to the Oregon coast. I am thrilled to get back to Bellingham and start my last quarter at WWU.
March has been a very busy time for the lab. The MMEL management team worked really hard to interview the research candidates. It was amazing to meet all of the potential assistants and hear about their interests in marine mammal research. It was exciting to learn how to manage the recruitment process. I definitely gained some insight on interviewing and plan on using these skills when I apply for jobs in the future. I feel grateful for getting to be able to help lead this experience. Though we had tough final decisions, we ended up recruiting 24 new research assistants to the MMEL team. I am excited to get to know everybody and start fieldwork.
Maren and I decided we are going to do a presentation on our independent project for Scholars Week with Alejandro and Dietmar. Before then we plan on using the ArcGIS least cost pathway to map how far the sex specific harbor seal haul out sites are from the marinas and salmon runs in the Salish Sea. When we quantify that distance, we can move into more analysis. Maren and I are both only taking one class this quarter and plan on dedicating our extra time to this project.
The MMEL management team has also been working hard to plan the upcoming Northwest Student Chapter of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (NWSSMM) conference. We plan on meeting weekly during Spring Quarter to discuss the conference.
I am very grateful to the MMEL management for working so hard this past month to help recruit the new lab assistants and plan the conference. Going through the recruitment process at the end of the quarter was challenging but getting to work with amazing people was a blast. I want to end my blog post by saying thank you to Rachel, Ellie, Zoe, Dawson, Maren, Mallory, Camryn, Chloe, Siena, Vic, and Alex. I appreciate all of your help!
Until next time,
Haley
Victoria's Blog
Victoria Vinecke, graduate student
1 April 2025
Hi folks! Happy spring!
Last month was a whirlwind of lab work, data analysis, conference prep, and networking! At the beginning of March, I was preparing to present at the American Fisheries Society Washington-British Columbia (AFS WA-BC) conference. I had a blast at the conference getting to learn more about the fishes who call WA/BC home. It was inspiring to listen to restoration success stories and learn more about pinniped research being conducted within WA/BC. Past graduate students Zoė L and Kathleen M were also at the conference which gave us some time to catch up! It is always nice seeing familiar faces at conferences.
While in Vancouver for the conference I conducted some lab work behind the scenes at the Vancouver Aquarium! I was able to get the sample permit for the harbor seal nasal swabs from individuals who had their eDNA sampled in the fall. I will use the eDNA results and compare it to the swabs DNA to check for similarities. After I finished up my lab work the staff told me I was allowed to go check out the exhibits free of charge! I was able to catch the harbor seal feeding before heading back to Bellingham!
Lastly, we received some funding via RSP to explore the possibility of genetic individual identification of harbor seals via eDNA. During March I went out to Hood Canal to test some different types of sample collection methodology. With filters and eDNA pump purchased, we will start collecting samples in the upcoming weeks! Wish me luck with the sampling and I am excited to provide updates on how it goes!
Until next time,
Victoria
Alexandreas's Blog
Alexandrea Otto, graduate student
1 April 2025
Hello there,
Still chipping away at data analysis day by day! I like to believe my coding skills are getting better as I’ve been continuing and restarting certain chunks to clean the data better. At the very least though, the continuing practice of coding has helped get more familiar and a bit faster each day! Learning how to code functions is my current struggle or learning hurdle right now! I tend to like to see step by step or line by line of what the code accomplishes, but functions are a more efficient coding chunk that acts a tool in processing multiple coding actions at once. Functions are especially helpful for rerunning code and the reproducibility of code.
The WDFW Stranding internship is still going strong day by day as well! Next month’s blog post stay tuned for a “Species Session” instead of a “Stats Session” where I can share some helpful tips and pictures on marine mammals that are often confused or misidentified with one another!
Till next month,
Alexandrea