Minorities in the Aquatic Sciences

I plan to pursue a graduate degree next year in either Oceanography, Marine Biology or Zoology. My specific area of interest is behavior and ecology of marine mammals, but not necessarily limited to it. I also find genetics intriguing.

During the Winter break of 2003-2004, I enrolled in a Tropical Field Ecology course through Emporia State University that was conducted in San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. I studied at the College of the Bahamas at the Gerace Research Center for ten days. I investigated the coral reef ecosystems surrounding the island, collected organisms from the field and placed them in collection tanks, identified organisms in a laboratory, and attended seminars covering reef invertebrates and reef fish.

In the summer of 2005, I participated in a 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduate Program (REU) through Oregon State University at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. My research consisted of determining population densities of euphausiids off the Pacific Northwest coast for the year 2000. I enumerated euphausiids by species and developmental stage from vertical plankton tows and MOCNESS net samples and calculated their biomass from length-weight relationships. From these data I calculated population abundances of krill (euphausiids) off the Oregon coast for the summer of 2000.