{"id":63696,"date":"2010-11-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-senior-tracks-tiger-sharks-to-understand-migratory-patterns\/"},"modified":"2010-11-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-03T00:00:00","slug":"uri-senior-tracks-tiger-sharks-to-understand-migratory-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2010\/11\/uri-senior-tracks-tiger-sharks-to-understand-migratory-patterns\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 senior tracks tiger sharks to understand migratory patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 November 3, 2010 \u2013 New England residents were running from coastal sharks last summer, but New York City resident and 溏心vlog免费B站 senior Jessica Bonamusa spent her summer tracking them as part of her Coastal Fellows research. <\/p>\n


\n\tWorking with her mentor, Bradley Wetherbee, a 溏心vlog免费B站 biology professor, Bonamusa was immersed in a research project tracking and collecting data associated with tiger sharks in Bermuda. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI started the summer analyzing data about the depth and water temperature preference of the sharks,\u201d said Bonamusa. \u201cThe second half of the summer was more research intensive.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\tAfter looking at data, Bonamusa was responsible for researching theories associated with migration and foraging patterns that were inconsistent with previous assumptions about the sharks\u2019 behaviors. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cNot much is known about tiger sharks. They were thought to be coastal animals, but they actually go up the coast and then out to the ocean in more of a pelagic pattern,\u201d Bonamusa said, referring to the long span of time the tiger sharks spend in open Atlantic waters.<\/p>\n


\n\tManaging large sets of data hasn\u2019t been an easy task for Bonamusa. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cJessica is analyzing the data with somewhat complex mathematical models relating direction of movements and the time it takes to move a certain distance to forage in order to quantify when the sharks are feeding as opposed to just moving to and from locations,\u201d said Wetherbee. <\/p>\n


\n\tIn order to test these theories, Bonamusa tackled a complex statistical software program on her own while Wetherbee was in Bermuda conducting more research. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWhen Dr. Wetherbee left for Bermuda, I was instructed to do research on the two migration theories. I was overwhelmed at first, but I was then able to find my way through research papers, the statistical software and other helpful information,\u201d said Bonamusa, now working on discovering how the collected shark data reflects the basis of the two main migration theories.<\/p>\n


\n\t溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Coastal Fellows program, based at the university\u2019s College of the Environment and Life Sciences, grants undergraduate students with the opportunity to work in a structured setting with professionals to address certain environmental issues and concerns. Students are paired with mentors and staff to enrich their knowledge of scientific research on a topic that correlates with their major and future career goals. <\/p>\n


\n\tTaking on heavy workloads isn\u2019t a foreign concept for Bonamusa, who is a double major in marine biology and the classics. She pursues a wide range of interests, from environmental research to serving as the secretary of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Classics Society. <\/p>\n


\n\tWith her impending graduation sneaking up, Bonamusa is still thinking about her future education plans. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cAs a child I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist, and now I\u2019m looking into different areas, especially squid,\u201d she said, her interests stemming from a puzzling interaction with a group of squid while snorkeling with her father, which left her wanting to know more about animal communication. <\/p>\n


\n\tOverall, Bonamusa\u2019s involvement in the Coastal Fellows program has afforded her many rewarding lessons.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe most rewarding aspect of the research was working on migration theories because I researched them and applied them to the shark\u2019s movement,\u201d she said. \u201cNot much is known about them so working on this project with Dr. Wetherbee made me feel like I was making a real contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above Jessica Bonamusa<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communications & Marketing photo by Michael Salerno Photography.<\/p>\n


\nThis release was written by Alicia Blain, an intern in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Department of Communications and Marketing and a public relations major.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 November 3, 2010 \u2013 New England residents were running from coastal sharks last summer, but New York City resident and 溏心vlog免费B站 senior Jessica Bonamusa spent her summer tracking them as part of her Coastal Fellows research. Working with her mentor, Bradley Wetherbee, a 溏心vlog免费B站 biology professor, Bonamusa was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63698,"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-63696","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\/63696","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=63696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}