Page 21 - Norwood Spring 2019 Magazine

Why fish? Have you always been the school of fish or squid, then swimming What are your favorite
interested in fish? up through the middle of the “bubble net,” Norwood memories?
I think my interest in fish began with my mouth open, to swallow the entire school. Painting our class mural with Mr. Somarriba
interest in fish-ing. I grew up fishing the On the last dive of the day, as we surfaced we during eighth-grade Intersession is hands
Potomac with swimming buddies, biking to noticed a ring of bubbles encircling us along down my favorite memory. In addition to
the river via the Capital Crescent trail until with a school of young herring. My partner the unparalleled Mr. Somarriba, I have
I got my driver’s license and could explore and I understood what would come next and great memories from many other Norwood
further afield. I also started fly-fishing frantically swam out of the ring, just in time teachers, some of whom are still there! Mr.
early on, which requires a bit of biological to watch a 14-meter humpback lazily cruise Hollander’s history classes were incredibly
knowledge to be successful. The name of the through the bubble net to gulp down tens of engaging. I think my reading list (mostly John
game in fly-fishing is imitation, imitation of thousands of fish. It’s a tough world out there McPhee, Jared Diamond, and a melange of
insects, which hatch from streams and lakes for baby herring! first-hand field notebooks) is still influenced
and are eaten by fish. Observation is key to by him. Mr. Galiber and Mr. McCune were
successfully “matching the hatch,” and my Why is ichthyology important today? great at getting me to loosen up. I still need
scientific skills probably started there. (That’s a great word for a Norwood spelling reminders from time to time. Mr. Martin did
test, by the way!) Only ~32,000 of the suspected such a great job guiding our Florida Keys trip.
What did you study at Cornell? ~45,000 fish species have been discovered and Ms. Matzner and Ms. Pakaluk also helped
Anything fishy? described to date. We are missing nearly a third lay the foundation for my eventual pursuit of
I didn’t start studying fish until junior year. of global fish diversity! How will we monitor scientific research.
Like many undergraduate biology majors, the health of our ecosystems as the climate
I planned to continue on to medical school changes if we don’t know what species are in Did you hear that we now have an
to become a doctor. I didn’t know careers our ecosystems in the first place? Ichthyology aquarium in the Lower School? Do you
existed in ichthyology. Finally, I met a group of sets a crucial baseline level of diversity, which have any maintenance advice?
fellow students in Dr. William Bemis’ lab who we will use to monitor how climate change You would not have been able to peel my
convinced me to follow my interest in fishes. a‡ects our global diversity of fish in the future. face o‡ the glass if we had an aquarium
I ended up completing an honors thesis on Additionally, using genomics, we can study when I attended Norwood. Unfortunately
comparative morphology of rockfishes. past responses of ancient fish to climate as a geneticist, all of my specimens are
change and predict the responses of extant fish kept in jars or test tubes, but I do volunteer
Is there a connection between your love to the current anthropogenic climate crisis. at the Aquarium of the Pacific here in Los
for swimming and your love for fish? Genomics is my tool of choice when studying Angeles. Whether your aquarium is salt or
Of course! I started all four years on Cornell’s evolution in fishes and proves extremely freshwater is a big factor when it comes to
swim team and was voted captain senior powerful when paired with good sampling maintenance. Fish are generally pretty hardy
year. I started my research career relatively techniques and coding skills. so you don’t need to be the perfect aquarist
late so I tried to leverage my intuitive (nature isn’t perfect after all). I would be
sense of movement in water to study fish How has your Norwood experience careful of overcrowding and would provide
biomechanics. Luckily, it paid o‡! and education supported your plenty of artificial and natural cover. I would
journey to where you are today? also suggest cycling in some local species
Your interest in fish has resulted Above all else, Norwood provided if you can. It might inspire some future
in some interesting travel—Alaska, opportunities to try new things and to ichthyologists to wander down to their local
Pribilof Islands, Aleutian Islands, challenge myself. Very few kids graduate body of water to find their local species.
Amchitka Island, and Siberia. Can eighth grade knowing exactly what they
you share some highlights? want to do, but they can graduate with an What will you do when you
My favorite memories come from diving for intense interest in learning and a hunger complete your master’s degree?
the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. for new experiences. For me, this interest Next fall I’ll be starting a PhD program in
At a certain island near Steamboat Bay, we has manifested many times. One of my Cornell’s Department of Natural Resources,
were surveying geoduck clams and had been first exposures to research was on a studying speciation of Adirondack fishes. I’m
shadowed by a humpback whale all day. Norwood-organized science trip to the happy to continue studying northern latitude
Humpbacks are almost as plentiful as salmon Florida Keys to learn about the tropical fishes because I like it cold—and so do the
in Alaska, but it’s exceedingly rare to see one marine habitat. This trip laid the groundwork fish! I can’t wait to continue my career back
while diving. All day we dove within 50 meters that eventually led me to charge head on on the hill and to encourage more kids to give
of this whale but had not seen him any closer. into a field I knew little about, to take a job in research careers a chance!
He was “bubble net feeding,” which involves Alaska where I knew no one, and to not only
corralling prey by blowing bubbles encircling overcome challenges, but seek them out.

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