My intrepid field assistants and I have been working for the last two weeks in Costa Rica with initial sampling. To get our summer fieldwork series blog posts off the ground, I'm going to start with a few blogs about each of the students who are working with me so that you know who is being featured in our photos!
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| Nicole Guentzel, Class of 2019 at Texas A&M University |
Howdy! My name is Nicole Guentzel, I was born in Lake Jackson, TX and I am a Senior Biology major and Spanish and Genetics minor at Texas A&M University. I am in the University and Biology honors programs, and am an undergraduate research ambassador.
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| Nicole, 2 years old. |
Last summer, I did research on Xiphophorus birchmanni and Xiphophorus malinche hybrids (swordtail fish) in Calnali, Mexico for a month. We studied mating preference and the genetic structure of different hybrid populations in the region. This trip was my introduction into how actual research is conducted and renewed my passion for international travel. I learned many skills and as a result of my experience working on this project Dr. MacKenzie introduced me to Brie who convinced me that physiology, hormones, and Olive Ridley sea turtles are extremely interesting.
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| Nicole near Huejutla de Reyes in Mexico where she was sampling fish in a hybrid zone. |
Working with Brie and the other research assistants in Costa Rica has been very exciting. This was my first time seeing a wild sea turtle and it was amazing. (They are so much bigger in person). I have been helping Brie analyze ultrasound images since January, and am hoping to see how data is collected in the field and later analyzed. I hope to pursue a PhD of my own, so seeing Brie format her project and adapt to field conditions is really beneficial to me. I also love living with host families because they challenge me to practice my Spanish and learn more about Costa Rican culture.
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| Nicole being silly on Ostional Beach, Costa Rica. |
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| All of my students and I greatly enjoyed staying with local host families. In the background is great-grandson, Juro. |
After a busy summer of sea turtle research, I will be taking the GRE and applying to PhD programs. I absolutely love field research and hope to incorpoarate it into my project. I also hope to eventually be bilingual or even trilingual. My dream career would be to help mold the next generation by being a college professor.
Good luck and great work so far, Nicole!
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| Nicole and Ryota (see future blog post) processing blood samples. |
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| Nicole and Alexis (see future blog post) taking data on captured turtles. |
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