Hi! My name is Wyatt Heimbichner Goebel and I am a REU intern in Dr. Kelly Sutherland’s lab this summer. I am a student at Western Washington University pursuing a degree in marine biology and I hope to graduate next spring. In addition to pursuing a biology degree, I am minoring in creative writing and have been a competing spoken word poet for the last six years. In April, I competed for Western at CUPSI, which is the largest collegiate poetry slam in the country. I’m also a huge music nerd. I have been following music criticism since high school and I am always keeping up to date on new album releases, so feel free to talk to me if you want some recommendations. I’m originally from Colorado and as such, I am often asked how I became interested in marine biology. I was fortunate enough to take three years of biology in high school due to my participation in the International Baccalaureate program. This fostered a deep passion for biology that coincided with a growing interest in marine organisms and ecosystems. Thus, I left Colorado and moved to Washington in order to pursue my developing interest in marine biology. During my time at Western, my interests narrowed to marine ecology as I began working in a marine mammal ecology lab with Dr. Alejandro Acevedo-Gutierrez. I am very interested in the interaction between human activity and costal marine mammals, such as harbor seals. At Western, I work on a project that studies how harbor seals have been affected by waterfront development in Bellingham, WA. During my time in physics classes, I began to think more about the interplay between physics and biology and consequently became interested in investigating how biomechanics informs ecology. This interest is perfect for work in Dr. Sutherland’s lab as her lab focuses on the biomechanics and ecology of gelatinous zooplankton. I will be focusing my research on an organism called Pleurobrachia bachei, the sea gooseberry. I am currently hoping to study how the beat frequency of the comb plates, which are a structure that this jelly uses to swim, relates to the swimming speed of the organism as this has not been well described. I am excited to get started on my research, especially since I have the opportunity to design my own independent research project. I applied to this REU program because I am interested in doing research as part of my career and thus I am trying to gain as much experience as I can while I move through my academic career. I hope to gain experience with respect to how research is conducted during this program, in addition to learning a lot and having fun. Ideally, I would have something to show for my efforts at the end of the program, but for me the process and what I learn along the way is more important than any final product. I have already learned about multiple types of jellyfish as well as gained experience with various techniques used to study these incredible organisms, such as plankton tows and high speed videography. I can’t wait to continue this journey and I hope that you’ll follow along with me.
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AuthorMy name is Wyatt Heimbichner Goebel and I am a marine biology major at Western Washington University. I love biology, specifically marine mammal ecology and biomechanics. I’m always up for conversations about music, poetry, and weird biology facts. Archives
August 2018
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