Graduate Student: Peter Han
I work with Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska. Steller sea lions experienced a large population collapse late in the last century,
and so far haven't recovered throughout their range. One proposed reason for their situation is nutritional stress. An effort by the Alaska
SeaLife Center aims use pieces of prey along with hormonal traces from sea lion feces (scat) to see if diet impacts reproductive rate, and
these trends are shared between sea lions that are related to each other. My research uses the traces of DNA from the sea lion scat to identify
the level of relatedness between these samples, as well as study how sea lions distribute to overwintering haulouts. To do this, I use
microsatellites and genetic sex markers in our lab at CMU with the help of our undergraduate assistant, Carson Pakula. Hopefully, our
improved understanding of the genetics of the Steller sea lion will contribute to the recovery of this endangered species.
CMU story on Han's research
Funding provided by:
North Pacific Research Board,
Collaboration with:
Alsak SeaLife Center
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