Honors Link

Larkin Loewenherz’s interest in marine biology began long ago on a third grade field trip to Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center where she and her classmates dissected squid.

“Everyone else in the class thought it was terrifying or disgusting,” Larkin says, “but I thought it was awesome! That’s when I really got interested in marine biology.”

Now, as Larkin prepares to graduate with a degree in biology, things have come full circle. She has worked in two different labs in her time at Oregon State, and she returned to Hatfield to spend a term in residence and focus her studies on marine biology.

Larkin began working in Dr. Lorenzo Ciannelli’s fisheries oceanography lab in her sophomore year, analyzing the stomach content of juvenile flatfish.

“I was really interested in working alongside Dr. Ciannelli and his research ,” Larkin says. “I realized that I had already done the research that I could gather and organize for my thesis.”

Building on Ciannelli’s research in the feeding behavior of young flat fish, Larkin’s thesis – tentatively titled “Prey Characterization and Feed Activity of Juvenile Flat Fish” – maps the percentages of different foods that comprise the fishes’ diets.

“As of now, we don’t have a good basis of what’s going on, especially for juveniles,” Larkin says. “Little research has been done, and the information isn’t current. Two of the species I studied are commercially fished, so understanding the juveniles helps us better assess those adult fishing stocks.”

Larkin plans to follow her interest in marine science to graduate school. She is particularly interested in genomics, the analysis of whole genomes, which she was able to develop during another research experience, this time at Oregon State’s Center for  Genome Research and Biocomputing. There, she ran genome sequencing and bioanalysis on samples of RNA and DNA.

“I am interested in the implications of changing oceans,” Larkin says. “The oceans are changing really rapidly so it’s important to get baseline ideas first as fast as we can so we can assess the change in the future. I think it’s a very imminent problem and something we need to get a handle on very quickly. Marine genomics looks at the genetics of different marine organisms and how variations in their genes change how they respond to environmental factors, such as warming water.”

When looking toward grad school, Larkin is grateful that she has her Honors College thesis as the culmination of her experiences.

“The thesis was really important to me, and it drew me to the Honors College because I knew I wanted to go into a Ph.D. program,” Larkin says. “Already having that body of work is so important, both for experience and when you present yourself as a candidate for admission. It shows I have already done a research project and followed through on it.”

By: Emma-Kate Schaake