Tracking puffins at dawn in Alaska
Collecting data on tufted puffins thanks to the Vivian Lewin and BELF Awards
In the eerie stillness of a misty Alaskan dawn, Cassandra Ciafro was already on the move by 3 a.m. Clad in camouflage, she melded seamlessly with the rugged cliffs, joining the seabirds in their lofty perches. Her mission? To deploy trackers and observe deitary patterns of the tufted puffin, a key indicator of the region鈥檚 fish stocks.
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to work with something related to聽marine science,鈥� said Ciafro. 鈥淭his experience has helped me grow so much as a person.鈥�
Focusing on biodiversity and conservation, Ciafro, a fourth-year student, embarked on a summer honors project which took her to Middleton Island, Alaska. This project, under the guidance of Professor Kyle Elliott from 麻豆AV鈥檚 Natural Resource Department along with co-supervisor Katelyn Depot (MSc), focused on the foraging ecology of tufted puffins.