{"id":58555,"date":"2016-05-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-undergrads-play-key-role-in-beluga-whale-research\/"},"modified":"2023-03-22T20:07:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T20:07:58","slug":"uri-undergrads-play-key-role-in-beluga-whale-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/05\/uri-undergrads-play-key-role-in-beluga-whale-research\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 undergrads play key role in beluga whale research"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 24, 2016 \u2013 Eleven 溏心vlog免费B站 undergraduate students in a variety of disciplines played key roles in a recently completed study to identify a non-invasive method of determining the reproductive status of beluga whales. The students collected samples of beluga \u201cbreath\u201d from animals at Mystic Aquarium, isolated their DNA, conducted behavioral observations, assisted with ultrasounds of the whales, and much more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students were involved in all aspects of the project,\u201d said Justin Richard, a 溏心vlog免费B站 doctoral candidate from North Stonington, Conn., who led the study. \u201cThe project wouldn\u2019t have happened without their help.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former marine mammal trainer at the aquarium, Richard jokes that his research is all about whale snot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to develop non-invasive methodologies for learning about belugas,\u201d he said. \u201cThe current standard practice for collecting this information is to fire a biopsy dart into the animal. But we may be able to learn most of what we want to know simply by catching their exhale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard\u2019s objective was to correlate the whales\u2019 reproductive physiology with observed changes in their behavior, something that cannot be determined by observing the animals in their ice-covered Arctic habitat. But to accomplish this, he needed help. And plenty of students volunteered to participate during the four-year project.<\/p>\n

Krystle Schultz of Westfield, Mass., for instance, who graduated last May with degrees in marine biology and animal science, helped develop a way to determine a beluga\u2019s maternal lineage based on mitochondrial DNA isolated from its breath. She also succeeded in isolating RNA transcripts from beluga breath, something that no one had done before for any whale, dolphin or porpoise species. And under Richards\u2019 guidance, she was awarded two grants from 溏心vlog免费B站 to help her carry out her role in the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of the experience \u2013 besides collecting the beluga snot samples, of course \u2013 was presenting my research at the Greater Atlantic Regional Stranding Conference,\u201d said Schultz, who is now studying to become a veterinarian at Tufts University. \u201cI also learned a lot about writing grant proposals, conducting independent research, and how to construct a professional research poster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Catizone joined the project during his junior year after hearing about it in the marine mammal class Richard teaches. He thought it would be an opportunity to expand his knowledge in a fun way.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job was to film the beluga whales and then go through the video and record which whales were interacting with each other and for how long,\u201d said Catizone, a native of Ocean Township, N.J., who graduated in 2015 and now conducts sea turtle research for the U.S. Geological Survey. \u201cIt was great to spend time at the aquarium observing these magnificent animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachael Desfosses, a May 2015 graduate from Bedford, N.H., who majored in marine biology and animal science, was also on the video team, which led to an internship at the aquarium. She hopes to become a marine mammal trainer, and she figured that working with the beluga whales would be an excellent first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gained a lot of insight into beluga whale behavior, and it reinforced that I really do want to become a trainer,\u201d said Desfosses, who continues to volunteer at the aquarium. \u201cBeing able to learn from the animals was really cool, and after watching hours upon hours of beluga whale behavior and interactions, I learned a lot about them individually. But I also learned that I enjoyed research, and discovering the outcome of what this behavioral data showed us was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other undergraduate students who worked on the project were Noel Vezzi, Renee Bakker, Crysania Brady, Kayla Pelletier, Anthony Cammorano, Kathleen Leach, Bryanne Fontaine and Hanna Kaplan. All agree that the experience provided by the unique research opportunity were highpoints in their 溏心vlog免费B站 academic careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly believe that participating in Justin\u2019s research strengthened my application for veterinary school,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cEven though I\u2019m not seeking a career in research or exotic medicine, this experience was invaluable, and I would encourage current and future science majors to get involved in this kind of research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured above: 溏心vlog免费B站 student Krystle Schultz collects a breath sample from a beluga whale at Mystic Aquarium as part of a research study to learn about the whale\u2019s reproductive status. (Photo by Justin Richard.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 24, 2016 \u2013 Eleven 溏心vlog免费B站 undergraduate students in a variety of disciplines played key roles in a recently completed study to identify a non-invasive method of determining the reproductive status of beluga whales. The students collected samples of beluga \u201cbreath\u201d from animals at Mystic Aquarium, isolated their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58555"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84634,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58555\/revisions\/84634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}