• Elizabeth Wackenhut

    Elizabeth Wackenhut
    Western WA Univ
    Studied the reproductive maturity of Atka mackerel females.

    During my 2009 internship with NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center, I worked under the guidance of Dr. Susanne McDermott in the Fisheries Interaction Team. I analyzed and reported the reproductive maturity of Atka mackerel females based on the oocyte maturity stages present in histological samples. The previously prepared histological samples I analyzed were collected in 2006 on Atka mackerel tagging cruises in the Aleutian Islands.

    The maturity stages were reported based on histological characteristics previously noted in the literature. Other characters such as atresia or the presence of postovulatory follicles were also reported. An image of every sample was captured using a Leica Microsystems microscope and camera. I also measured the diameter of 15 oocytes of the most advanced stage from every sample.

    The maturity stages were reported based on histological characteristics previously noted in the literature. Other characters such as atresia or the presence of postovulatory follicles were also reported. An image of every sample was captured using a Leica Microsystems microscope and camera. I also measured the diameter of 15 oocytes of the most advanced stage from every sample.

    I used the knowledge gained from the previous work to create an Atka mackerel histological guide (.pdf*, 148 MB). Utilizing high quality color images this guide will act as a resource for future work classifying Atka mackerel maturity stages using histological methods.

  • Preparing for 'fishy' work.


    During this time I learned how to take high quality images using a microscope, describing in detail the attributes of maturing oocytes, understanding ovary development in Atka mackerel and summarizing this knowledge into a scientific document. To successfully accomplish this, I worked closely with Karna McKinney from the Graphics group. During this time I became familiar with publishing software and the design of the graphics layout of scientific documents. The knowledge gained from this will be helpful for all future scientific writing and publications in my career.

    Finally, for three weeks of my internship I was lucky enough to participate in the annual RACE surveys in the Gulf of Alaska. On the survey I worked to identify, measure, sex, and collect samples from fish species caught in the groundfish survey. I also learned what it is like to spend close quarters with scientists and crew aboard a research vessel and enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery of Southeast Alaska.