Here We Go (Again)
Passport - check
Camera - check
Phone (the mandatory first Harry Potter book on tape) - check
Rainjacket - check
More clothes than I'll probably need for a month and a half - big check
Long airport layover in a thunderstorm- check....
Hello all! It's been a little while since I posted about my activities. I'm currently sitting in the Atlanta Airport en route to Panama City, where I will be for the next month and a half. But I guess I should back up and give a quick readers-digest-version update of what I've been up to since the last time I posted.....
Last fall I started a PhD program at Arizona State University (ASU) for Conservation and Animal Behavior. The degree is officially called Biology and Society and additionally I am also part of the 4E Academic Center, which stands for "Ecology, Economics and Ethics of the Environment." As the name implies, the focus of the center is to educate students on all aspects of conservation, not just the traditional biological approach.
Previous to coming to ASU, I worked for several years at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, initially as one of the animal care and adoption staff members, but later as the adoption supervisor. I greatly enjoyed my time at ARL (there were definitely lots of good and bad times), and I could not have asked for a more incredible learning experience. It was partially that time that encouraged me to pursue my burgeoning interest in animal behavior. It was under this title that I initially applied to graduate programs, but I shortly realized that conservation would give me a way to utilize my understanding and knowledge about animal behavior and I would have a way to contribute back to the natural world (not that research in Animal Behavior does not do this,...)
Thus I settled on my interest in researching conservation from the perspective of animal behavior. In other words, how can we use an understanding of animal behavior to create more effective, non-harmful conservation policies and actions? This led me to my desire to focus my studies on human-wildlife conflict and the many forms it takes around the world. Currently this focus has led me to Panama where I will be working on a project investigating the impacts of whale-watching on humpback whales. Every summer (July-October) the humpback whales from the southern hemisphere come up to the Las Perlas Archipelago to have their offspring. This gathering attracts tourists from all over the world, and has made Panama one of the premiere locations for whale watching.
My project is in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and my project advisor, Hector Gúzman is one of the prominent marine researchers there. STRI is the only branch of the Smithsonian located outside of the US and it plays host to thousands of international researchers and students every year. ASU and STRI have been working to establish a collaboration between the two institutions, aimed at encouraging graduate research in the tropics. Earlier this year I went down to Panama for several weeks as part of an ecological "training/orientation" program, that was also hosted by STRI. Along with one other ASU student and several others from McGill, we got to visit several of the STRI research centers, learn and work with some of the professional scientists and researchers and experience working and studying in Panama.
Along with a masters student from my lab at ASU (A.A) we will be conducting behavioral observations of whales (both in the presence of boats and hopefully some not) along with hormonal biopsies. Our hope is that by assessing the stress level of the whales at specific points, we can determine which (if any) behaviors are exhibited in times of high stress. Traditionally it has always been extremely challenging to determine causes of stress for wildlife as there is no way to identify the source. While this obstacle is still very relevant for us, we are going to do our best to find a different way to tackle it. (We also recognize that the action of collecting the blood for the biopsies can likely be a cause of stress for whales, but we have been told by other whale researchers that as long as we collect the sample (including pursuit of the individual) within half an hour, the stress from the chase will not have a chance to permeate the blood. So we would theoretically only be assessing the previously existing level of stress). I am still not entirely clear how the collection process works, but from what I have been told it includes a dart gun and a hollow-tip dart and it will be somewhat along the vein of Herman Melville (hence the name of this blog....) All of this will hopefully give us an indication if the whales are physically stressed by the presence of the whale watch boats.
While Panama and many countries around the world are governed by the whale-watching regulations set forth by the IWC (International Whaling Commission), there is a lack of enforcement in many locations that has led to unsafe and potentially unhealthy situations for wildlife. Currently any boat owner (many of them former fishermen) can take any paying customer out into the ocean to watch and even sometimes swim with the whales (which is illegal). My advisor Hector believes that the findings from this project may provide motivation of the Panamanian Environmental Department and other regulatory bodies to increase enforcement levels to better protect the whales.
In addition to physical assessments, we are also hoping to assess how the whale-watching industry is being perceived by the people of Panama (tourists, boat operators/tour guides, and local residents). We are going to be conducting surveys of the above mentioned groups to ascertain their perceptions of whale watching, conservation and what benefits (if any) are being derived from the industry.
I think that about sums everything up for the time being... I am not entirely sure what this summer will consists of on a day to day basis, which is why I wanted to start up this blog again. I imagine there will be some highs and some lows (as the only thing sure about field work is that nothing ever goes according to plan). I also imagine there will be much rain and many bugs.
That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have some interesting updates next time!
Peace, Love and Rainstorms
Camera - check
Phone (the mandatory first Harry Potter book on tape) - check
Rainjacket - check
More clothes than I'll probably need for a month and a half - big check
Long airport layover in a thunderstorm- check....
Hello all! It's been a little while since I posted about my activities. I'm currently sitting in the Atlanta Airport en route to Panama City, where I will be for the next month and a half. But I guess I should back up and give a quick readers-digest-version update of what I've been up to since the last time I posted.....
Last fall I started a PhD program at Arizona State University (ASU) for Conservation and Animal Behavior. The degree is officially called Biology and Society and additionally I am also part of the 4E Academic Center, which stands for "Ecology, Economics and Ethics of the Environment." As the name implies, the focus of the center is to educate students on all aspects of conservation, not just the traditional biological approach.
Previous to coming to ASU, I worked for several years at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, initially as one of the animal care and adoption staff members, but later as the adoption supervisor. I greatly enjoyed my time at ARL (there were definitely lots of good and bad times), and I could not have asked for a more incredible learning experience. It was partially that time that encouraged me to pursue my burgeoning interest in animal behavior. It was under this title that I initially applied to graduate programs, but I shortly realized that conservation would give me a way to utilize my understanding and knowledge about animal behavior and I would have a way to contribute back to the natural world (not that research in Animal Behavior does not do this,...)
Thus I settled on my interest in researching conservation from the perspective of animal behavior. In other words, how can we use an understanding of animal behavior to create more effective, non-harmful conservation policies and actions? This led me to my desire to focus my studies on human-wildlife conflict and the many forms it takes around the world. Currently this focus has led me to Panama where I will be working on a project investigating the impacts of whale-watching on humpback whales. Every summer (July-October) the humpback whales from the southern hemisphere come up to the Las Perlas Archipelago to have their offspring. This gathering attracts tourists from all over the world, and has made Panama one of the premiere locations for whale watching.
My project is in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and my project advisor, Hector Gúzman is one of the prominent marine researchers there. STRI is the only branch of the Smithsonian located outside of the US and it plays host to thousands of international researchers and students every year. ASU and STRI have been working to establish a collaboration between the two institutions, aimed at encouraging graduate research in the tropics. Earlier this year I went down to Panama for several weeks as part of an ecological "training/orientation" program, that was also hosted by STRI. Along with one other ASU student and several others from McGill, we got to visit several of the STRI research centers, learn and work with some of the professional scientists and researchers and experience working and studying in Panama.
While Panama and many countries around the world are governed by the whale-watching regulations set forth by the IWC (International Whaling Commission), there is a lack of enforcement in many locations that has led to unsafe and potentially unhealthy situations for wildlife. Currently any boat owner (many of them former fishermen) can take any paying customer out into the ocean to watch and even sometimes swim with the whales (which is illegal). My advisor Hector believes that the findings from this project may provide motivation of the Panamanian Environmental Department and other regulatory bodies to increase enforcement levels to better protect the whales.
In addition to physical assessments, we are also hoping to assess how the whale-watching industry is being perceived by the people of Panama (tourists, boat operators/tour guides, and local residents). We are going to be conducting surveys of the above mentioned groups to ascertain their perceptions of whale watching, conservation and what benefits (if any) are being derived from the industry.
I think that about sums everything up for the time being... I am not entirely sure what this summer will consists of on a day to day basis, which is why I wanted to start up this blog again. I imagine there will be some highs and some lows (as the only thing sure about field work is that nothing ever goes according to plan). I also imagine there will be much rain and many bugs.
That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have some interesting updates next time!
Peace, Love and Rainstorms
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