Belugas in Churchill

Through my research I have been able to go on two field seasons to Churchill, Manitoba. Our research in Churchill is looking at how vessel traffic and tourist vessels impact the thousands of belugas that come to the estuary in the summer. It was amazing to collect data using drones, time lapse camera systems and to help with the setup of hydrophone moorings all while seeing tons of wildlife. I've been up close to belugas and just far enough away from polar bears, foxes, eagles and even a pine martin that surprised me while I was checking on my camera setup inside of the port of Churchill.

Fieldwork can be complicated and often does not go as planned. But even when things went wrong, the team for our project was able to work together to come up with solutions. One of the best parts of working on my masters has been forming friendships with the field season crew, classmates as well as fellow grad students in my office. The office and off-field season are where I've spend the most of my time with my colleague, tackling something scarier than polar bears: data analysis! Like working in the field, when a problem arrives with my data or in a course, I know there are others I can ask for help.