Larkin Loewenherz\u2019s interest in marine biology began long ago on a third grade field trip to Oregon State University\u2019s Hatfield Marine Science Center where she and her classmates dissected squid.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone else in the class thought it was terrifying or disgusting,\u201d Larkin says, \u201cbut I thought it was awesome! That\u2019s when I really got interested in marine biology.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Larkin began working in Dr. Lorenzo Ciannelli\u2019s fisheries oceanography lab in her sophomore year, analyzing the stomach content of juvenile flatfish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really interested in working alongside Dr. Ciannelli and his research\u00a0,\u201d Larkin says. \u201cI realized that I had already done the research that I could gather and organize for my thesis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Building on Ciannelli\u2019s research in the feeding behavior of young flat fish, Larkin\u2019s thesis – tentatively titled \u201cPrey Characterization and Feed Activity of Juvenile Flat Fish\u201d – maps the percentages of different foods that comprise the fishes\u2019 diets.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs of now, we don\u2019t have a good basis of what\u2019s going on, especially for juveniles,\u201d Larkin says. \u201cLittle research has been done, and the information isn\u2019t current. Two of the species I studied are commercially fished, so understanding the juveniles helps us better assess those adult fishing stocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Center for \u00a0Genome Research and Biocomputing. There, she ran genome sequencing and bioanalysis on samples of RNA and DNA.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am interested in the implications of changing oceans,\u201d Larkin says. \u201cThe oceans are changing really rapidly so it\u2019s important to get baseline ideas first as fast as we can so we can assess the change in the future. I think it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
When looking toward grad school, Larkin is grateful that she has her Honors College thesis as the culmination of her experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Larkin says. \u201cAlready 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By: Emma-Kate Schaake<\/p>\n
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Larkin Loewenherz\u2019s interest in marine biology began long ago on a third grade field trip to Oregon State University\u2019s Hatfield Marine Science Center where she and her classmates dissected squid. \u201cEveryone else in the class thought it was terrifying or disgusting,\u201d Larkin says, \u201cbut I thought it was awesome! That\u2019s when I really got interested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6614,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1205,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6614"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1714"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1837,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions\/1837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/honorslink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}