Hadeyah Donaie

On Thursday, I continued my service-learning work with two more research projects. I spent more time on the beluga whale tracking project, carefully reviewing underwater photos to identify individual whales and record details about their age, sex, and group size. I also contributed to the Notes from Nature project (specifically working with the SERNEC network), where I helped transcribe information from museum plant collections to turn historic physical records into accessible digital data for researchers.

On Wednesday, I spent my service-learning hours helping out with two research projects. First, I looked at detailed cell images to find and mark mitochondria in the placenta—work that helps researchers understand how cells function and helps train computers to analyze data faster in the future. Second, I helped out with wild beluga whale tracking by looking through underwater photos to spot returning whales, note their group sizes, and figure out their age and sex.