Mentor & Lab: Ari Friedlaender, Bio-telemetry and behavioral ecology lab
Positions: 1 intern
Tentative dates: July 1st – August 31st
Project Location: Coastal Campus with opportunities for field work on Monterey Bay
Project Background:Humpback whales acquire all of their energy during a short feeding season. We will compare the rates of energy gain in humpback whales across two regions (Antarctica and Monterey Bay) using images collected by unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) throughout the feeding season in both regions. Images will be processed in the lab using customized software to precisely measure changes in body condition over time. During the summer, students may assist in field work to collect UAS images of whales from Monterey Bay and will work with data collected locally and from the Antarctic. The results from this work will help to inform scientists about how whales forage and how disturbance and climate change may impact these animals.
Intern duties: Organize and analyze UAS images collected by graduate students. Assist in field work to collect UAS images from whales in Monterey Bay. Write up results to compare growth rates of whales from two separate feeding areas.
Intern qualifications: Comfortable learning customized software, experience with basic statistics and graph making, comfortable with being on a small boat for long periods.
Do you recommend the intern(s) volunteer in your lab during Spring quarter?
Not necessary