FROM THE TOS PRESIDENT
Deborah Bronk

Hello TOS members!  For those of us in North America, summer is in full swing! For many scientists this is a time of intense field work, mentoring summer interns, juggling child care during school break, and trying to find windows for summer vacations and time with family. I’m going to lead by example and punt this month on the president’s column. Instead of writing, I’m going spend the time taking a hike in the beautiful Maine wilderness. I hope each of you finds something to toss off your To Do list and instead use the time to find a little bit of bliss on a beautiful day! 

Please reach out to me at [email protected] if you have any concerns or ideas of how TOS can better serve its members and the work they do.

STUDENT HIGHLIGHT
Ari Solomon

Growing up, my parents would take me to the Nantucket Whaling Museum every summer. In it, there is a whale skeleton with a film explaining how it was acquired accompanying it. Every time we went to the museum I would sit and watch the movie on loop. I fell in love with the story of the whale. This whale was beached on one of the Nantucket beaches, and despite constant volunteer efforts to return it to the ocean, it eventually died. I was so interested in how the whale ended up there and why the whale’s skeleton looked the way it did. Growing up in Florida, my adoration of the ocean was especially cultivated whenever I went to the beach. When I got older, I forgot my love for the whale skeleton and the ocean and tried to pursue international relations in undergrad at NYU. However, I decided to apply to transfer schools after my first year, and I landed on the Marine Sciences and Conservation Program at Duke University. I am currently pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Duke’s program. I am working with the Silliman Lab at Duke in an assistant position helping with coral resilience research. I am also a member of the Read Lab, and will begin researching group behavior with Pilot Whales in the future. My interests lie in cetacean behavior and community dynamics and I look forward to seeing where my career in marine science takes me!