Students in Arctic Research (STAR) | Elisa Maldonado
Wilmington, California
Project: Study of Oil Spill Effects on River
Otters in Prince William Sound
Principal Investigator: Dr. Merav
Ben-David, University of Alaska, Fairbanks,
Alaska
TEA Teacher: Myrtle
Brijbasi, Temple Hills, Maryland
Biography
Elisa's passionate interest in marine biology began
in the 5th grade while on a trip to Sea World, where
she was first introduced to the beauty and complexity
of marine animals. She soon developed objections to
the practice of keeping wild animals in captivity for
entertainment, while realizing the necessity of
marine research and public education about
conservation issues central to marine ecosystems. For
the last four years, Elisa has been a mentor for
children at the San Pedro Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
She was one of twenty high school
students selected for the Museum Research
Apprenticeship Program at the Los Angeles County
Natural History Museum. Elisa will be a co-author on
the publication of research she conducted with
scientists at the L. A. County Natural History
Museum. They studied an unusual species of brittle
star that broods juvenilebrittle stars of a different
genus within its body cavity, but does not brood its
own offspring. Elisa grew up in Wilmington,
California on the outskirts of Los Angeles. She
graduated from Bishop Montgomery High School in 1998
where earned a place on the Principal's Honor Role
during each of her four years of high school. In
addition to her interest in the biological sciences,
Elisa is the president of the Teens for Life Club,
and is a member of the Associate Student Body
Commission of Religious Affairs, the Newtonian
Society, and Key Club. Beach combing, listening to
music, reading, and speaking Spanish are some of
Elisa's other hobbies. After returning from her
summer research experience in Alaska, Elisa was busy
volunteering as a naturalist and day-camp instructor
at the Roundhouse Aquarium in nearby Manhattan Beach.
Elisa began studying marine biology at the University
of California at Los Angeles in the fall of 1998.
Alaska Days - coming out of my "bubble"
By Elisa Maldonado
ABSTRACT:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) sponsor Teachers Experiencing the Arctic (TEA). TEA sends teachers and students to conduct research alongside scientists throughout Alaska. From July 10 through July 28, 1998, I was a member of a three-partied group sent to conduct research on river otters at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska. Our research focused on the effects of oil contamination on the physiology and behavior of a group of fifteen male river otters held in captivity at the SeaLife Center. The research is funded by the Exxon-Valdez Trustees Council, which also funds the Alaska SeaLife Center in order to better educate visitors to Alaska of the effects of the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The two other members in my group were Myrtle Brijbasi, a high school teacher from Maryland, and Noa Levanon, a recent high school graduate from Indiana. We were put under the guidance of Dr. Merav Ben-David, an otter biologist from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. This experience has broadened my horizons and has actually changed many of the beliefs I held before the summer. It may have altered the course of my life.
Words cannot express how grateful I am for the
opportunity I have had to participate in Teachers
Experiencing the Arctic. The TEA program, sponsored
by NSF and ARCUS, is designed to immerse both
students and teachers in ongoing Arctic research.
I was part of the team conducting
research at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward,
Alaska. My fellow T.E.A.ers were Myrtle Brijbasi, a
teacher from Maryland, and Noa Levanon, a student
from Indiana (who will soon be walking down the ivy
halls of Princeton University). We had the remarkable
fortune to work with Dr. Merav Ben-David, an amazing
otter biologist who has been conducting research on
fifteen male river otters ever since she captured
them in April 1998. Our research focused on the
behaviors of these river otters, in captivity at the
SeaLife Center. The principal investigator, Dr.
Ben-David, will compare the data we collected to
behavioral data that will be collected after the
otters are fed fish contaminated with oil.
The benefits I have received from this awesome program reach far beyond just the academic aspect of my life. I am Hispanic and have lived in the impoverished community of Wilmington, California, all my life. I might have accomplished nothing by now, using double minority status as an excuse to do nothing with my life, but I am very stubborn, so no one will ever tell me that I cannot be a marine biologist or that I will never be good in my field! No one could tell me that I could never participate in the Museum Research Apprenticeship Program (M.R.A.P.) at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. They could not tell me I would never work in the museum's Echinoderms lab for over a year alongside Dr. Gordon Hendler, a well-published invertebrate zoologist. No one could tell me I could not co-author a scientific paper by age eighteen or do research in Alaska as part of an NSF-funded project, because I have done all of these things. The eighteen days I spent in Alaska (from July 10 through July 28) brought me to a new level of awareness. It finally occurred to me how much I am doing with my life.
I had never been far away from home before I went to Alaska. All I had ever known of the world was good old Wilmington and Las Cruces, New Mexico (where I have spent many summers visiting family). This was the first time I was to leave my "bubble". It was my first taste of independence and I loved it! In the three weeks I spent away from home, I gained a valuable experience that will help me adjust to living on campus. This experience has also affected my parents in a positive way. They have learned that I can take care of myself when left on my own. It was made evident to them as I stepped off the airplane and they saw that I had not been starving the past three weeks!
My trip to Alaska has also defined my career
preference. I have known for a long time that I want
to study marine animals. Which marine animal to study
has been a more difficult question for me to answer.
Marine invertebrates (particularly brittle stars and
sea stars) are particularly fascinating to me.
Yet, after working with the river
otters, I find that mammals are much more complex and
show strikingly similar behavior to humans. The way
the otters groom each other, wrestle, communicate
("Lucky" the otter always seemed to get his point
across by screaming until you backed off), and hold
their dinner of fish between their front paws like
any human would, particularly intrigued me.
My experience with the river otters also changed my perception of animals in captivity. I dislike Sea World with a passion. I find that keeping animals in captivity merely for entertainment is ludicrous. What sea lion balances a ball on their nose in the wild; and what Orca allows a human being to ride its back while in the open ocean? I will not let my dislike for marine amusement parks take up too much space, and I am not trying to coax anyone into following my own beliefs. I do want to support keeping animals temporarily in captivity if they will be used as subjects for a practical research project. My opinions have changed, thanks to the river otters, considering that before the summer I did not condone any reason for keeping an animal in captivity.
I
have come to know the most diverse group of people
imaginable during my three week trip. Our research
group in Seward resembled a mini United Nations. We
were under the guidance of Merav Ben-David, an
Israeli woman who is one of the most knowledgeable
people I have ever met. I learned so much about
Alaska from her, information all unique and
interesting, during our rides along the Alaskan
highway and hiking trips into the local coastal
rainforest. I also had the privilege to work with
Susanne Trillhose, a German intern who has been in
America for only four years and is a student at the
University of Alaska, Fairbanks. There was also Olav
Ormseth (whom I sometimes mistakenly called Hans,
confusing his name with that of the very bold river
otter), a Norwegian-American who moved to Alaska from
Minnesota and has been working with Merav ever since
he helped her capture the otters. Myrtle Brijbasi is
the teacher from Maryland selected to participate in
T.E.A. 
She was born and raised in Guyana,
South America and has lived all over North America.
Finally we have Noa Levanon, a recently graduated
high school student who is Jewish and who practices
many of the traditional beliefs of her religion. She
taught me a lot about Judaism, a religion I never
completely understood even though I follow the
beliefs of its offspring, Catholicism. To say the
least, I have made lifelong connections with a
variety of people I had never encountered before.
Each of these individuals has helped me learn more
about myself and the world around me; valuable assets
to take with me as I enter college and begin my
career.
Anyone who has ever been to Alaska can understand the life-altering effect it can have upon a person. It is thousands of miles of virgin terrain, waiting to be explored; yet, unaccustomed to human civilization. Its mountains seem to be painted a hue so green, Crayola has yet to match nature's crayon. I had never seen a glacier before, and I was astounded by their abundance throughout the state. Their massiveness only reminded me of my seemingly microscopic presence in this world. Observing water so blue, animals so abundant, and trees so green made me feel blessed to be alive. In my hometown of Wilmington, I do not get to experience much nature save the trees surrounded by cement, and seagulls who fly inland in search of food.
I am now very aware of all the opportunities that await me in this world. California only has so much that can be studied with its beach front property and polluted waters. Yet, the possibilities in Alaska are endless. I am considering furthering my education at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks after I finish my undergraduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles ( UCLA), where I will be a freshman this fall. I will find some way to get back to Alaska!
I owe many thanks to all the people who
have made my dreams a reality. I want to thank my
parents for always supporting all of my academic
interests, especially when they seemed a bit
unconventional. I also want to thank Dr. Gordon
Hendler for giving me so many opportunities in his
lab at the Natural History Museum. His concern for
giving me real research experience has played a huge
role in making my trip to Alaska possible. Thanks
especially to EVERYONE at ARCUS. I am especially
grateful to Dr. Wayne Sukow at NSF and Wendy Warnick
at ARCUS for selecting me and providing me with such
an awesome experience. I couldn't have asked for
anything better! Renee Crain at ARCUS, you are a
fairy godmother! Thank you for showing us all the
wonders of Alaska and for having the patience to deal
with all of our "twenty-one question" sessions. I
will never forget you! Words cannot do justice to
what is in my heart!