CURE is a fantastic undergraduate research opportunity for those looking to improve their research skills, develop a project independently and learn data analysis techniques through a marine biology lens. I chose to do CURE this semester because I have always had a lifelong fascination with the ocean and its mammalian inhabitants. After learning how to scuba dive in the fall I wanted to learn more about marine bioacoustics data collection and analysis, in the hopes that one day I can work in field, assisting in the setup of hydrophones and other monitoring equipment.
For my project I examined the song structure of the northern humpback whale population (DPS6) that winters off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. In order to analyze song structure, I learned how to manipulate and annotate spectrograms in the bioacoustics software Raven 1.6 which is a useful tool to be familiar with. My goal was to program an algorithm in R Studio that would use spectrogram cross-correlation to automatically run through hours and hours of recordings and be able to generate various quantitative measurements of song structures. Unfortunately, that part of the project has been delayed due to setbacks caused by going remote. It is something I hope to continue in the fall semester because automated analysis would be extremely useful for whale bioacoustics research because it would save time on the data collection step of research. In addition to developing our research, we also had the opportunity to participate in the UVM Student Research Conference. Even though it was online, learning to condense the science into a single well-designed and concise poster is a necessary skill. Some would argue that being able to communicate science effectively is even more important than the actual science!
Overall, I am very grateful for the experience I had in CURE. It opened my mind to new research methods and techniques; I learned a ton about humpback whale singing behavior and I challenged myself. Even though not everything went as planned, Laura assisted me in every way possible and encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and try something new. I am very thankful for Dr. May-Collado and all she did. She gives you the freedom to explore your individual interests but still is able to help you when you get stuck, which is certainly inevitable. I highly recommend CURE to anyone interested in developing new techniques, or who has a passion for marine life. I know that I will continue working in this field and I hope to keep listening to the beautiful melodies of the humpback whale!
For my project I examined the song structure of the northern humpback whale population (DPS6) that winters off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. In order to analyze song structure, I learned how to manipulate and annotate spectrograms in the bioacoustics software Raven 1.6 which is a useful tool to be familiar with. My goal was to program an algorithm in R Studio that would use spectrogram cross-correlation to automatically run through hours and hours of recordings and be able to generate various quantitative measurements of song structures. Unfortunately, that part of the project has been delayed due to setbacks caused by going remote. It is something I hope to continue in the fall semester because automated analysis would be extremely useful for whale bioacoustics research because it would save time on the data collection step of research. In addition to developing our research, we also had the opportunity to participate in the UVM Student Research Conference. Even though it was online, learning to condense the science into a single well-designed and concise poster is a necessary skill. Some would argue that being able to communicate science effectively is even more important than the actual science!
Overall, I am very grateful for the experience I had in CURE. It opened my mind to new research methods and techniques; I learned a ton about humpback whale singing behavior and I challenged myself. Even though not everything went as planned, Laura assisted me in every way possible and encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and try something new. I am very thankful for Dr. May-Collado and all she did. She gives you the freedom to explore your individual interests but still is able to help you when you get stuck, which is certainly inevitable. I highly recommend CURE to anyone interested in developing new techniques, or who has a passion for marine life. I know that I will continue working in this field and I hope to keep listening to the beautiful melodies of the humpback whale!
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