Students

Sage Patchett

 

Sage Patchett

I am originally from the Chicago area (Evanston, IL), got my undergrad degree in biology (and a minor in studio art) from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and took a few years post-grad to get some work experience before grad school. While studying abroad my junior year of college in Scotland (at the University of Glasgow), I got to take a marine biology course and conduct studies on toxic algal blooms (at the Field Studies Council Millport), which got me particularly excited about marine research. My first job after graduating college was a temporary position studying wolf predation on beavers in Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. I worked for a master's student at the University of Minnesota and got to assist in editing a paper presenting novel findings in Ecology and Evolution. Then I worked as a laboratory technician and project manager at an environmental sample analysis company called Pace Analytical in Minneapolis. I have always loved animals and am excited to get back into fieldwork and research as a member of Gitte's vertebrate ecology lab through SJSU. My potential thesis will investigate foraging ecology in emperor penguins by examining features using stable isotope analysis.

Sarah Perryman

 

Sarah Perryman

I graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) in the spring of 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. I have experience studying the impact of anthropogenic climate change on grasslands through Dr. Melinda Smith’s Lab at CSU, working in natural resource policy through the Public Lands Policy Group at CSU, studying cryptic species like the Wolverine and Lynx through Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and exploring Marine Mammal research through my internships with the Alaska Whale Foundation and the Marine Mammal Research Program at the University of Hawaii.
During my time at CSU, I worked in Dr. Courtney Schultz’ lab, the Public Lands Policy Group (PLPG), a research group focused on producing work that informs natural resource management. Working with Dr. Schultz was largely influential to my research goals. While working with PLPG, I assisted MS candidate, Ms. Breidenbach, in her work with the Climate Adaptation Partnership, which focused on interdisciplinary approaches to climate issues. I also assisted in and reviewed confidential interviews with stakeholders, and discussed ways to improve political practices in Colorado, Wyoming, and Washington.
With the experiences I had, I understood I wanted to do work that was conscious of the intersection of science and policy and knew that I wanted to explore Marine Biology. Therefore, I became an intern on PhD candidate Martin Van Aswegen’s project for the Marine Mammal Research Program at the University of Hawaii. Mr. Van Aswegen’s project utilizes drones to estimate the cost of climate change on migration and reproduction in humpback whales. Originally, my work consisted of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) data entry and analysis. I have progressed to be involved in the field work during breeding and foraging seasons. Therefore, I am also interning at the Alaska Whale Foundation during foraging season field work. Through this work, I have gained a skillset in UAS, photo identification, data collection and analysis, Matlab, and necropsy.
Working on a marine mammal project has illuminated my passion for climate adaptive research in marine biology. My background has encouraged me to strive to produce work that is mindful of the intersection between science, stakeholders, and policy. Therefore, I aim to produce research that is approached from an interdisciplinary perspective, utilize my stakeholder involvement skills to ensure the consideration of unique needs, and apply my writing and translational skills so that my work may successfully transition into management.
Email: sarah.perryman@sjsu.edu

Congrats on advancing to candidacy!

Kali Prescott

Congratulations to VEL student Taylor Azizeh for advancing to candidacy!

Taylor's thesis will focus on investigating the foraging ecology of late chick-rearing emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) off Cape Crozier, West Antarctica. Specifically, Taylor will use machine learning to identify potential foraging events from biologging data. By combining foraging attempt and dive data, Taylor can estimate what potential costs and benefits of different foraging strategies might be. Ultimately, Taylor hopes that her work will offer novel information to the seabird ecology world, and that eventually, this work can be used in management strategies to better protect ice-obligate species like penguins.

 

 

Sebastian Caamaño

 

Sebastian Caamaño

Upon graduating from the University of California Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Marine Biology, I got involved with the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory System's Lab where I had my first experience working with marine mammals. Here I started as an intern contributing to the daily care and training of the resident seal and sea lion species. Simultaneously, I was able to assist in several of the research projects being collected here between the animals and researchers. These opportunities ranged from hearing tests with a California Sea Lions to physiological work with two arctic seals and even developing some human trials along the way.
This volunteership, and the skills I learned from it, led me to the Alaska SeaLife Center where I continued my behavior and physiology work with arctic seals as a Research and Animal Care Technician. This position allowed me to take on a larger role in the physiology project I had been assisting on, learning several new physiological techniques while continuing to work with these understudied species.
Ultimately, these experiences led me to the research being conducted at the Vertebrate Ecology Lab here in Moss Landing. Since joining, I have enjoyed working for the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and hope to continue working on the physiology of marine mammals.

Vicky Ooi

Vicky Ooi

My endless curiosity towards wildlife led to my pursuit of a dual bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and Zoology from the University of Queensland, Australia, where I accomplished my dream of studying on the Great Barrier Reef. 

Following completion of my undergraduate studies, I entered an honors research year investigating dugongs along the coast of Southeast Queensland with Drs. Janet Lanyon and Lee McMichael. During this period, I successfully pioneered a fecal DNA extraction protocol that allowed amplification of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from free floating dugong feces. This development enabled single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be amplified from dugong scats, representing a breakthrough for non-invasive population genetic studies in this species. 

I relocated to the United States around mid-late 2022 to reunite with my husband, and later completed an internship program at Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute (Species Preservation Lab) with Karen Steinman, where I further acquired laboratory skills on semen quality assessments, cryopreservation, enzyme immunoassays, and hormone analyses. As of Fall 2023, I have begun working with Dr. Birgitte McDonald on a research project, focusing on the foraging ecology of emperor penguins in Antarctica. Simultaneously, I am working part-time as a naturalist on the Sea Goddess whale-watching cruise.  

Welcome to the VEL!

Taylor Azizeh

Welcome to the Vertebrate Ecology Lab, Sebastian and Vicky!

Sebastian Caamaño graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Marine Biology. He also worked with the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory System's Lab where he got to experience working with marine mammals for the first time. Working as an intern, he got to contribute to the daily care and training of the resident seal and sea lion species. Simultaneously, he assisted in several of research projects. These opportunities ranged from hearing tests with a California Sea Lions to physiological work with two arctic seals and even developing some human trials along the way. This volunteership, led him to the Alaska SeaLife Center where he continued his behavior and physiology work with arctic seals as a Research and Animal Care Technician. Ultimately, these experiences led him to the Vertebrate Ecology Lab here in Moss Landing. Since joining, he has enjoyed working for the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and hope to continue working on the physiology of marine mammals.

Vicky Ooi completed her bachelor's degree in Marine Science and Zoology from the University of Queensland, Australia. She then entered an honors research year investigating dugongs along the coast of Southeast Queensland with Drs. Janet Lanyon and Lee McMichael. During this period, I successfully pioneered a fecal DNA extraction protocol that allowed amplification of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from free floating dugong feces. This development enabled single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be amplified from dugong scats, representing a breakthrough for non-invasive population genetic studies in this species.

She relocated to the United States around mid-late 2022, completing an internship program at Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute (Species Preservation Lab) with Karen Steinman, further acquiring laboratory skills on semen quality assessments, cryopreservation, enzyme immunoassays, and hormone analyses. Her thesis will focus on the foraging ecology of emperor penguins in Antarctica, simultaneously working part-time as a naturalist on the Sea Goddess whale-watching cruise.

Congrats to Parker Forman and Daphne Shen for defending their theses’.

Taylor Azizeh

Congratulations to our very own Parker Forman and Daphne Shen for recently defending their theses'.

Parker Forman

Thesis Abstract:

I described the at-sea behavior of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) during late chick-rearing at Cape Crozier. Analyzing data from eight penguins, I investigated how intrinsic factors, including sex, size, and body condition influenced their behaviors. Penguins exhibited mean trip durations of 10.6±3.4 days, covering a daily distance of 55.7±8.0 km. Penguins predominantly performed dives within the upper 200 meters of the water column (90.7±26.5%), with a smaller proportion of dives (9.3±2.0%) reaching greater depths. Deeper dives were typically associated with shallow bathymetry. Penguins conducted an average of 1,860±681 dives with maximum depths of 455.8±32.6 m and durations of 12.9±2.4 minutes. Penguins spent 66.4±14.8% and 43.9±4.4% of their time at sea resting and diving.

Penguins with similar behaviors were categorized into groups: Group I foraged near the continent and traveled to the Ross Bank, and Group II predominantly foraged near the continent. I found significant differences in foraging behaviors between the groups and sexes. The composition of these groups was influenced by sex. Group I mostly comprised males, while Group II were females and one unknown sex. Females displayed higher dive frequencies per day (Females (F):186±17, Males (M):151±4), shallower maximum depths (F: 432.2±29.4 m, M: 476.8±12.8 m), and shorter durations (F: 3.2±0.7, M: 3.9±0.3). Possible explanations for the observed differences between male and female penguins include energetic requirements, prey preference, physical characteristics, and niche differentiation, which can shape their distinct foraging behaviors.

Furthermore, results from this study indicate that penguin behaviors were also influenced by the physical characteristics and condition of their bodies. This finding suggests that there may be an optimal body condition for achieving greater diving depths. Penguins with intermediate body conditions may possess a more efficient physiological adaptation for sustained deep diving, enabling them to access resources inaccessible to individuals with lower or higher body compositions.

This study advances our understanding of late-chick-rearing penguins and the influence of intrinsic factors on their behavior. The findings indicate that emperor penguins exhibit divergent strategies influenced by sex and physical condition, leading to variations in dive behavior and bathymetry use. These sex-based disparities in penguin behavior highlight distinct ecological roles for each sex within the species. These findings provide a novel description that underscores the remarkable adaptations of emperor penguins in successfully navigating dynamic environments at Cape Crozier.

 

Daphne Shen

Thesis Abstract

Understanding how marine mammals respond to and recover from acoustic stressors is crucial if underwater noise increases. The use of an animal-borne biologger that combines a speaker with a motion sensor allows for the collection of whole-dive and fine-scale data over repeated exposures under identical experimental parameters. This study determined whether northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), a model for deep-diving marine mammals, exhibited a stereotypical behavioral response when exposed to killer whale whistles, an acoustic stressor. I examined changes in dive characteristics, measured duration of altered response, and observed behavior in response to repeated exposures. When exposed to the playback on ascent, the elephant seals performed an escape response consisting of a dive inversion during which they increased activity and displayed more variation in swimming direction. However, the seals returned to baseline diving behavior immediately after the exposure dives, suggesting they recover quickly from disturbance. After repeated exposures, the seals continued to perform dive inversions but reduced the extent of their responses over time. Even though northern elephant seals appear to recover quickly from this acoustic stressor, the initial strong behavioral response still causes an increase in energy expenditure that could be detrimental over time, especially if they are continuously faced with disturbances. Integrating behavioral responses with physiological measurements will help us fully comprehend how these animals change their diving behavior in response to increased sounds in the ocean.

Congrats on Candidacy!

Kali Prescott

As of Fall 2022 these students in the Vertebrate Ecology Lab have received approval for their Theses Proposals and are now moving into Master's Candidacy

Jack Barkowski

Jack’s thesis work will investigate patterns in humpback whale vocalizations along the U.S. West Coast. Jack will look at the spatiotemporal variation in humpback whale song activity over a 3 year span within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary . He will also report the presence and acoustic characteristics of 5 specific non-song calls that have been documented in humpback whale populations around the world, suggesting that these 5 call types play an important role in social interaction. Jack hopes his work will reveal spatiotemporal differences in peak song activity that will allow for more effective management decisions aimed at reducing entanglement risk in fishing gear and ship strikes from large vessels, the two leading causes of anthropogenic-caused mortality for large whales.

 

Kali Prescott

Kali's thesis work will be focusing on exploring how Computational Fluid Dynamics can be used to estimate drag incurred by biologgers and other externally attached devices.  She will be examining Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris, as a model species using 3D scans collected during the seal's haul out periods at Año Nuevo State Reserve. These scans will be used to build 3D models of the seals along with 3D models of the biologgers generated using Computer Assisted Design Software (CAD). Using a fluid dynamics program originally designed by Engineers, Kali will simulate drag and drag coefficient by placing the tagged seals models into a computer generated flow through chamber. These models will be used to identify what factors associated with biologger attachment (size, location, and number of loggers) will most impact the incurred drag. These proxies for drag will then be compared to foraging, dive, and reproductive data collected from animals tagged in real life to determine if there are any measurable impacts.