Hello! Whale-come to my website!

 

My name is Lauren Kashiwabara, and I’ve been an aspiring marine biologist for as long as I can remember. My latest endeavor will include completing an M.S. in the Biological Sciences studying the effects of plastic pollutants on marine mammal physiology at the University of the Pacific.

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I’m passionate about using marine research and education to save the oceans (and therefore, the world)! My hope is that my research will directly influence policy and that teaching will allow my students to realize that baleen on the environment is not an option. I want my students to be able to live more sustainably and use their education to vote.

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Recently, I swam closer to my conservation goals by fin-ishing my B.S. in Marine Science with minors in Mathematics and Statistics at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). In my time at CSUMB, I dove (literally at times) into the ocean world. I volunteered with The Marine Mammal Center and The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s education department. Rescuing and providing medical assistance to pinnipeds de-fin-itely has my seal of approval. I also enjoyed my time conducting research at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML), NOAA South West Fisheries laboratory in Santa Cruz, CSUMB, and Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. I researched the effect of climate change on organisms from kelp to whales, and I am eager to continue to seas every op-port-unity that comes my way in order to reach my ultimate goal of ocean conservation. Being a professor would allow me to continue my love of research while educating young people. 

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Stumbling upon marine biology growing up was not a fluke. I have always had an inexplicably overwhelming draw to the ocean and everything in it. Something about its mystery, vastness, and depth fascinated me. In elementary school, I dove into every book I could get my hands on that had anything to do with the ocean, and I s-pacific-ally loved my Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises handbook. In doing so, I learned about marine ecosystems and grew attached. As a child, I watched countless documentaries about nature and climate change and felt like I’d otter do more about it. In fourth grade, though my family already recycled, I thought I’d o-fish-ally start taking our cans and bottles to a recycling center in order to raise money for cetacean rescue and ocean conservation efforts. This ended up being more than a b-reef effort, and it is a project that my family and I still continue today.