I would like to provide you with an overview of my project so you have some things to look forward to reading. My study has 2 parts, one part anatomy (looking at the shapes and sizes of organs with the naked eye) and one part physiology (using laboratory techniques to measure hormones in tissues of those organs). The organs of primary interest are ovaries. Ovaries are of course those egg-producing-machines mammals of all species possess! Let me show you a walrus ovary so you can have an idea of the image burned in my mind that I fall asleep picturing. These 2 parts serve as 2 chapters of my thesis. I am currently focusing on the anatomy chapter. This chapter asks, "how has reproductive capacity of the female Pacific walrus changed over the past 40 years?" Yeah...it's a bit daunting. To answer this question will will be looking at ovaries from 3 time frames: 1975, 1994-99 and 2008-2010. And to make this question more manageable we will be measuring 3 things in our definition of "reproductive capacity": ovarian volumes, weights and the number of scars from ovulation. My chapter on physiology will be focused on building an understanding of the factors that influence reproduction on a fine scale. I will be looking specifically at progesterone and lipids. Progesterone is the hormone responsible for sustaining pregnancy and lipids are fats. Later this week I will post a blog about my findings from measuring ovarian weights and volumes, so stay tuned!
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Twenty years later and my enthusiasm for things washed ashore has not been curbed. I should have known I would end up getting my masters degree slicing through reproductive organs. Blame it on my "morbid" childhood. Growing up hunting and fishing in rural Wisconsin, I became accustomed to the harvesting and cleaning of animals. I remember as a young girl picking up the leg of a deer my father was gutting and pressing it into the dirt, watching the bones and tendons come poking out the other end. I was a curious child. I still am.
My current curiosities have pulled me to the coast. To the west coast. Alaska to be more specific, where I am studying changes in the reproductive capacity of female Pacific walruses as part of my Masters degree. Reproduction is fascinating! It's why you and I, and every other living thing on the planet exist and how every species will continue to persist long after you and I do not. Many of the factors that govern reproduction are similar across all mammals, but there are still many unknowns, especially in animals that have not been domesticated or are difficult to study. So why walrus? Well yes, for one thing they are difficult to study, making this research novel. Additionally, the habitat of this animal is undergoing rapid change due to warming in the Arctic and reduction of sea ice. How will this ice-dependent species respond? This question has stimulated a flurry of research lately. Next year (2017) US Fish and Wildlife Service will make a decision as to whether or not Pacific walruses should be added to the list of threatened and endangered species. Concerns about walruses and climate change go beyond the health of this species. These environmental changes have and will continue to impact Alaska Native communities that rely on walrus for dietary, cultural and economic well-being. It is my intent that my research on female walrus reproduction will contribute to ever-growing knowledge base on this species. This blog is designed to be an active guide about my research process to those interested in learning more about it. I hope you find it digestible, informative and entertaining :) |
AuthorHi, I'm Jenell. Biologist, student, outdoors woman and author of Mother Walrus. Archives
March 2019
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