Interview with a PSG Student Member

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Featuring Sonya Pastran

Here, MSc Sonya Pastram digs deep to find an Ancient Murrelet in a burrow.

Q: Have you always been interested in birds?

A: I was broadly interested in ecology. I’m originally from northern British Columbia but I lived for a long time in Alberta and completed my BSc at the University of Calgary in Ecology. I’ve done a lot of different field jobs and even spent time working up north in the oil fields as an avian technician. That really got me started on my path to my MSc.

Q: What got you interested in seabirds?

A: I was drawn to seabirds during an internship in Haida Gwaii where I was exposed to all these amazing research projects and a plethora of seabird species. I had spent so much time in the interior of Canada that when I had the opportunity to do seabird surveys, that really stuck with me.

Q: What spurred you to apply for the internship in Haida Gwaii during your undergraduate?

A: I had heard of it before and it seemed very mythical; everyone talked about it, and it was very far away, about a 7-hour ferry ride from the mainland. I interviewed for the internship, just to see if I could get there and see what it was all about! On the island, I met Tony Gaston (PSG Lifetime Achievement Awardee) and Jake Patterson; their knowledge was just incredible—they knew every seabird, every plant. And I thought, “I want to do that!”

Q: How did you turn this interest into a Master’s degree?
A: After my BSc, I re-contacted the organization that I had interned with in Haida Gwaii and developed a research project focused on Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus). I was really fortunate with my timing, and was able to create a project in partnership with Environment Canada, Laskeek Bay Conservation Society, and Simon Fraser University.

Q: Tell us a bit more about your research and collaborators.

A:  I was lucky to be given access to over 30 years of at-sea surveys; so for my thesis, I worked on making this data “usable” and then analyzed habitat use over time. I also created a hotspot map for how persistent murrelet populations have been over time—a methodology that can also be applied to other seabirds in the same area. This information about hotspots is going to the Canadian Oceans Protection Plan.

Q: Where did you first present your research?

A: The first big conference that I attended was PSG 2019 in Kaua’i. I presented a poster about my research (I won best poster!) and PSG members were very welcoming and enthusiastic about my research. It was a great opportunity to meet people, and I received a lot of feedback from attendees, which made me feel that I had been doing something worthwhile and it really helped me keep going!

Q: Speaking of worthwhile, what’s the best part about your graduate work?

A: Probably being able to do field work and spend 2 years on Haida Gwaii! I think this MSc experience has been much more than I expected, and I’ve learned a lot more than I thought I would. I did my own field work, even had my own boat to use, and got to do surveys for a couple of years. I was also fortunate to have an excellent support system, which helped me to learn to code in R and create maps in ArcGIS, which was very helpful.

Q: Given the skills you’ve acquired, what would you say are some of the most interesting questions waiting to be answered by the next generation of seabird researchers?

A: I still think that there’s much to learn about different seabird species, like Icelandic Gull (Larus glaucoides) basic movement biology for example. Also, there’s so much that remains unknown about basic biology and life history of seabirds. Like the Ancient Murrelets (Synthliboramphus antiquus)—we’ve just figured out their movement patterns.

Q: What do you think are some of the toughest barriers young researchers face?

A: It’s key to have connections—without connections, it can be really hard to get anywhere. Biologists put a lot of stock into connections based on volunteer experience. But not everyone has the time or financial capacity to take volunteering jobs, or rely on their family to support them until they can secure a paid job. Many people don’t go into biology because of these reasons, and this limits the diversity of people and pathways in our field.

Q: Given these barriers, do you have any advice for fellow early-career scientists?

A: I think go with the flow and be open to changing your plans—those strategies are important. You have to grab the (paid) opportunities that come, build on them, then maybe return to your original path. Collecting experience is very valuable. Don’t say “no” to opportunities because they don’t fit what you want in the short-term—they will help you in the long-term.

Q: Last question—what’s your favorite seabird species?

A: Marbled Murrelets of course…but, Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) are also amazing.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_btn title=”Return to the Student page »” color=”blue” align=”right” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fpacificseabirdgroup.org%2Fstudents-and-careers%2Fstudents%2F|||”][/vc_column][/vc_row]