Undergraduate Volunteer Application
Elephant seal fieldwork with the Beltran and Costa labs
Deadline: TBD
Background: Join the Costa and Beltran labs in a population monitoring effort of northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo Reserve, a 30-minute drive north of UCSC. The overarching goal of the program is to maintain a population of uniquely tagged seals for demographic, behavioral and physiological research. Undergraduate student volunteers are a critical part of our field, lab, and data work. We are looking for highly motivated and reliable students who are passionate about ecology and evolution and have time in their schedules. A new cohort of 5-10 students will learn valuable skills and knowledge from the graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members in the program.
Tasks: We conduct fieldwork for the entirety of Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. A typical field day requires volunteers to be at the Coastal Science Campus by 6am and return back by 11am. We will drive together in a lab vehicle – you must be vaccinated for Covid-19. Depending on the day, fieldwork consists of searching for flipper-tagged seals with binoculars, marking seals with hair dye, participating in anesthesia procedures, and weighing young-of-the-year seals. All fieldwork involves carrying equipment and walking up sand dunes, and more experienced volunteers may be asked to do more physically demanding tasks including hoisting and tagging seals. Weather conditions are often cold, windy, and rainy. Additional daily tasks may include data entry, sample processing, and gear cleaning.
Qualifications/commitment: A commitment of one academic year (Fall-Spring quarters) is required. Volunteers will need to be available at least one day per week for a shift of approximately 5 hours in the early morning. Preference will be given to 2nd or 3rd year UCSC students as of Fall 2021 who have an interest in long-term program participation with increased responsibilities. No prior experience with marine mammals is necessary. However, we will be working around large, aggressive wild animals (males are 5,000 pounds) so previous animal handling or training experience is desired.
Application process: We are not currently accepting undergraduate students for the 2023-2024 school year.
For more information, please contact Roxanne Beltran (roxanne@ucsc.edu).