Your research project will let you experience the life of a field scientist and gain many benefits.  Collaborating with a scientific mentor on the project is good training for a thesis, graduate school, or a job. Studying wild animals in harsh marine conditions is an adventure you can talk about in interviews and applications.  Cooperating with your peers and working independently develop skills that you can use throughout your life.  Conducting research will connect you with  a network of marine environmental scientists, activists, and policy-makers that can help you advance your career.

proposal

Your research project starts with you transforming your own curiosities and questions into a detailed proposal within the research theme. To learn what's been accomplished already, you'll delve into the scientific literature, talk with experts, and examine the work of past students (links at right). You may choose to replicate a proven method or try a new bioacoustic technique. Within the first few weeks of the program, you'll have a polished proposal, be familiar with the equipment your methods require, and be ready to collect data.

data collection

At Beam Reach, we emphasize non-invasive bioacoustic techniques. Killer whales are underwater about 90% of the time and use sound to communicate, forage, and navigate. We specialize in passive acoustic techniques -- listening to underwater sound with a hydrophone. You can listen to calls with a fixed hydrophone via the internet, analyze archived recordings, or lower a hydrophone from our sailing research vessel. You can use our high-frequency hydrophone/recorder to measure frequencies (up to ~70kHz) in the range that orcas use for echolocation clicks but we can't hear.

You can even locate the source of underwater sounds by towing our array of four hydrophones behind our boat. The near-silent biodiesel-electric propulsion system lets you listen while paralleling a moving sound source (e.g. a killer whale or a tagged fish); a conventional boat engine would make so much noise that it would be impossible to listen while moving.

No matter what techniques and equipment you use, all Beam Reach data must be collected in ways that are consistent with the "Be Whale Wise" and NMFS "Whale Watching" guidelines. These guidelines are designed to prevent harrassment of marine mammals in the Pacific Northwest, particularly the endangered orcas.

Even with multiple weeks at sea, a big challenge in field science is obtaining enough observations. You can double your sample size by collaborating with a peer who can be at sea while you are on land. Another good idea is to build on the work of a past student, using their data as a starting point and aspiring to both replicate and enhance their study.

analysis

Data analysis occurs throughout data collection and intensifies during the final few weeks of the program. Beam Reach lead instructors are experts in the analysis of sound and behavioral data, including spectral analysis and statistical tests.

presentation

After making rare observations of an endangered species, it's especially important to share what you've learned. You'll have a chance to speak (for ~15 minutes) in a public forum on the final day of class. You'll also write about your results and insights in a research paper. Both your paper and presentation will be published on your class web site. With your initiative, you may also submit your work for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.