Meeting #35 Mama Shark Project & Life as a Research Assistant
We kick started our second meeting of Trimester 1 with Dr. Jodie Rummer (@rummerjodie) on her Mama Shark Project, overseeing the research projects taking place in Mo’orea French Polynesia for the past 13 years. Next we had Meghan Warren (@meghanmichelle19) sharing her experience of working as a research assistant and the pathway she took to get there.
Highlights from her presentation:
learnt about the distinct differences between the 10 nurseries where shark tagging and samples were taken, taking into account the effect of warming ocean temperature and its effects on blacktip sharks and lemon sharks’ physiology.
acknowledged that specific species of sharks do have preferences on specific nurseries. Further informing the effects of warming temperatures and its effects on these nurseries.
uncovering the effects of elevated temperatures on stressful situations and learnt about the use of floating sea pen use to observe stress rates, identifying early warning indicators.
learnt about the implications of ultra-sounding and identifying pregnant females, allowing for tracking of the specific time and location of birth.
Some highlights from her talk included:
learnt about the balance between office work, lab work and field work. She explained about the intricacies of organising logistics, mantaining equipment and taking on new students.
highlighted the advantages such as the networking and collaborations done, always looking forward to learning something new. However some of the disadvantages may be the long hard hours spent in the field as field work is can be a labour intensive and smelly job.
Gained insight of the skills she achieved such as improving interpersonal skills, both verbal and written communication skills, utilising a combination of problem solving, adaptability and flexibility, and upholding planning and organisation.
learnt about the entire process of planning a shark tagging trip, going into detail the methodologies and pre-planning of a successful tagging trip.
Thank you to everyone who attended the biweekly meeting. We would also like to appreciate both our speakers Dr Jodie Rummer and Meghan Warren for sharing their projects and experiences, making this meeting one to remember!
