Introducing Natalie Mastick

 

I grew in Northern California, where I was lucky enough to visit the coast regularly with my family. I loved watching marine mammals from the beach, looking for dorsal fins in the water or chubby little seals on the sand. While I loved all animals, marine mammals were the most interesting to me. By the time I was 8, I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist. At that point, though, marine biologist was synonymous with dolphin trainer. With age I learned more about wild marine mammals and developed a fascination with both biology and ecology.

After graduating high school in Santa Rosa, California, I moved to Santa Cruz and graduated with a BA in Environmental Studies and a BS in Marine Biology in just over three years. I then interned in Sarasota, Florida and San Francisco, California before moving up to rainy Oregon to start my Masters in Wildlife Science.

Here are some cool things I have done while pursuing my career in marine biology:

I worked as an animal care volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center, where I helped rehabilitate sick and injured seals and sea lions.

I showed Santa Cruz locals and visitors tide pools, swell sharks, and research exhibits at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz.

I helped with tagging and re-sight efforts of elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Park.

I sighted and photographed dolphins in Sarasota Florida with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program at Mote Marine Lab.

I prepared the skulls of deceased marine mammals found stranded on the beaches of Northern California for the California Academy of Sciences' skull collection.

I helped tag humpback and fin whales off the coast of Cape Cod in the Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary.

I assisted in a blue whale necropsy in Southern Oregon (the first blue whale to Strand in Oregon since Lewis and Clark's expedition) with Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute.

I biopsied blue and fin whales off the coast of California with Oregon State University's Whale Telemetry Group.

In two weeks, I am heading to Antarctica to research group foraging behavior of humpbacks in the Western Antarctic Peninsula and learn more about Antarctic ecosystems. Studying humpbacks has increased my interest in animals behavior, and after finishing my Masters this summer, I plan on pursuing a PhD studying more aspects of humpback cooperative behavior.