MARCH 2023
Madison's Blog
Madison Gard, undergraduate student
1 March 2023
It’s been a busy month for the MMEL managers! We received 55 applications from incredible student researchers to join our lab. This was both exciting and challenging to coordinate interview schedules and final selections. At the end of it all, we are inviting 23 new faces to join the Whatcom Creek team!
On Thursday next week, we’ll have a check-in/closing meeting for Winter Quarter with all of our current researchers. This will be a perfect time to highlight the great work everyone has put in throughout the quarter and celebrate some of our graduating lab members. Additionally, we have some exciting promotions to announce - including a new manager and three research leads who will be stepping into larger roles! On a more serious note, we’ll be able to chat again about our decision as managers to cancel field observations for the winter quarter to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Once we’re back in the spring, we’ll have a kick-off meeting to welcome new members to the lab and focus on training information. I’m really looking forward to seeing both new and familiar faces in the field again so soon!
I met my goal of completing the paperwork for my Honors Thesis project studying the BTC Hatchery smolt release this May! I’ve officially registered for those credits and will plan out the observation and data-collection protocols soon. I also finished writing the discussion to complete the rough draft of my manuscript - this weekend I plan to finish formatting everything for the target journal’s preferred style! Then my editors can take over!
Speaking of editors, I made a strawberry tres leches cake one weekend and brought Alejandro a slice for our check-in meeting the next day. I cut a large slice to fill the tupperware in case he wanted to bring it home or save any. What I didn’t expect was for him to finish it all during our meeting! To be fair - he told me he was planning to eat it for breakfast even though our check-in meetings are at noon. That was honestly the best compliment though, because it had to be good, lol.
Outside of the lab, my classes have been going great! I really enjoy my professors and the topics I’m studying. This week, I interviewed for a summer position as a Whitewater Raft Guide with Triad River Tours and was offered the position! I think this will be a great opportunity to interact with people and enjoy the outdoors during the gorgeous WA summer.
Brianna's Blog
Brianna Hull, undergraduate student
1 March 2023
Hi there,
We are almost done with the quarter now, only three weeks to go then I am graduated! I am very excited for the next chapter of my career and the search for a job has been going decently. I have pursued opportunities that have not worked out and some that I hope will. I have received lots of encouragement from my peers though and that has been encouraging, I hope in the next few months I have secured a start to my future career!
With school finishing up the work has only kicked off, I have a large paper to write for my class and a presentation to create as well. Time is on my side so I should be ok as long as I do not procrastinate which is easier said than done. With the lab I have just begun training undergraduate researchers for lead positions in the lab and I am very excited for this project! It provides driven undergraduates with an opportunity to be recognized for their hard work and a small leadership position which can teach them things that successfully set them up for their future careers. It also allows the managers to pass off tasks that are time consuming which allows us to focus on updating the seal database which is a beast to tackle, and many other tasks. I found that I struggled with managing data in the lab and updating things that could allow the lab to progress, so this project is something I am very proud of. The students who have been offered positions are excited at the prospects of progressing in the lab.
I am excited and sad to admit this is my second and last blog, as I will be graduating I will be passing the baton of head manager to Maddie and co-manager to McKenna but I could not be more happy. The lab will do great under both of them as Maddie has been an amazing co-manager alongside me, so I leave knowing the lab is in good hands. Kate told me the same thing when she passed on manager to me, and I was terrified but the lab has such a supportive community which allowed my fear to surpass. I am beyond grateful for the opportunities this lab has taught me and I hope my future is just as great. I wish everyone well and a restful spring break.
My best wishes to everyone, thank you for everything!
Bri
Holland's Blog
Holland Conwell, undergraduate student
1 March 2023
It’s been an exceptionally busy winter quarter, and I can’t believe it’s almost over! In the last month, I’ve made some huge strides with my diet analysis project. Even though I had a discussion outline figured out, I initially had trouble actually composing the discussion itself. After some failed attempts, I went back to the drawing board and mapped out a huge outline of my whole manuscript to gain some more perspective. This was an incredibly helpful exercise, and I was able to apply this bigger picture to the discussion and tie it nicely into the rest of the manuscript. From there, I finished up some last minute figure additions and finally sent along the first completed draft of my manuscript for edits. I still have to address some smaller tangents (i.e. calculating the false negative rate for males), but I’m so glad to have made this much progress this month.
Regarding the ongoing lab hiring process, thanks to a team effort from all the lab managers, we were able to interview over 30 applicants for the lab in just 3 days! I’m honestly astounded that we pulled that off, and it was great to get to meet so many new people. After deliberations, I decided to bring 4 new people onto my project for the spring and summer, and I’ll have already sent out the news by the time this blog post is up! I’m excited to share more about my project, get them set up, and welcome them officially to the MMEL very soon. I’ve also been starting to map out my independent project on long-term seal numbers at the log pond site, and I’m hoping to get going on this soon since this will be my Honors capstone project. I’m definitely juggling a lot right now in the lab, but I’m excited to see where I’m at with it all next month!
Victoria's Blog
Victoria Vinecke, graduate student
1 March 2023
Happy March!
Did you know that March 22nd is international day of the seal? Now you do! I recommend doing a fun seal related activity to celebrate! Some great ideas could be to go watch seal behavior whether that be in person or online, read a scientific paper about seals, or even find some funny photos to share with friends/family! I personally will strive to do all three! Whatever you decide to do make sure you have fun and think about the important role seals play in ecosystems!
February flew by faster than I could have ever expected! It has been an extremely busy month due to working on my proposal, teaching, grading, and conducting interviews to hire new undergraduates to help out the lab! It was amazing meeting a bunch of undergraduates to talk about their interests and future goals! Bri, Maddie, Holland, McKenna, Alex, and I all took turns interviewing potential candidates over a span of three day. I am extremely proud of how efficient we have become as a team and how well we delegate tasks to one another to share responsibility. I am extremely lucky to be working alongside the most dedicated and hardworking undergraduates I have ever met. With that being said I would also like to congratulate undergraduate McKenna on moving up to a manager position in the lab!
Lastly, I would like to congratulate Alex on submitting a grant proposal! She has worked so hard and is such an inspiration to me! Overall, I am filled with joy to be supported by such amazing undergrads, grads, and advisors: Alejandro/Dietmar! Thank you all for the continuous support and I am lucky to be a part of such an amazing lab!
Until next time,
Victoria
Alexandrea's Blog
Alexandra Otto, graduate student
1 March 2023
Warm greetings!
In response to my last blog post, I would say things are starting to get wrapped up this quarter! My biggest accomplishment this month would be submitting a project proposal for funding. Fingers crossed! Regardless of the outcome, the process alone always helps me flush out aspects of my project and keeps me aware of how important planning ahead is. At the same time, the funding proposal helped me craft portions of my thesis proposal that I hope to submit soon to my committee for departmental approval as well!
In addition to writing, I helped out in the MMEL recruitment process of welcoming some new members to the team! We went through applications and interviews these past couple of weeks. It was inspiring to meet with so many passionate undergraduates and hear about their own journeys in marine science. Some stories have just begun while others already had some hands-on experience with marine mammals, all stories exciting and impressive to hear about. Just as inspiring I would say are the current lab managers. Working alongside them, I got to witness their pure love for the lab, experience their teamwork, and admire their efficiency in the entire application process on top of all their other commitments and classwork. We are all so excited to be welcoming on new members to the lab. It was great as well to scope out some MMEL members interested in genetics/molecular ecology that might want to help out on my project in the downtime of field seal observations!
In other news, going back out to subsample! One of the components I love about graduate school right now is the variety of tasks and how multifaceted it is! One week you can be locked in the office, writing away to apply for funding for your project. The next week, you can be outside subsampling data for your thesis! It’s an exhilarating process to be leading your own project start to finish with all that comes with it.
Till next time,
Alexandrea