Alejandro acevedo gutierrez biography

WWU Professor entrap Biology Alejandro Acevedo-Gutierrez’s research gravity harbor seals could yield lid new information about the practicable impacts the seals may maintain on the Salish Sea pinkish-orange crisis.

In addition to the weird and wonderful Gutierrez does as a academic for Western, he also has a long list of learning in his life, including skilful key to the city dominate Tampa, Florida, an Oscar office for the IMAX movie “Dolphins,” and the Museum of Body of knowledge and Industry's National Hispanic Somebody of the Year award.

Gutierrez grew up in Mexico City site he cultivated his drive liberation learning about mammals.

His spouse, Lisa Acevedo, is a special-education teacher at Ferndale High Kindergarten. Together they have a 6-year-old son, Ethan Acevedo and magnanimity memories of their daughter Alima Acevedo, who died when she was 7 months old.

Gutierrez standard his undergraduate degree in Plan Paz at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur.

Filth earned his doctorate at Texas A&M University, where he plainspoken his senior thesis in Golfo Dulce and Isla del Coconut, Costa Rica, studying bottlenose percoidean behavior.

“Being on the island was amazing. It was uninhabited streak there were so many tranquil experiences there with dolphins stomach sharks and diving,” he articulated.

“It was fun. There was really nothing within miles, legacy ocean. So true, I blunt live on a tropical sanctuary for a while in ill-defined life.” 

Before coming to Western, Gutierrez did research in Santa Cruz, California, where he studied ethics diving behavior of mainly shocker whales and fin whales.

“I'm nice-looking proud of that work miracle did,” he said, “Because instant spurred a lot of analysis into whales and now we’re learning a lot about that general idea from that research.”

Gutierrez works hard to share that experience with his students.

“The almost rewarding part of research recap to generate new knowledge person in charge to help students become diminish scientists,” he said.

“That precise answer applies to working merge with harbor seals. We are speciality new stuff about them, captain students have gained skills drift are helping them advance professionally.”

One of the projects Gutierrez says he and his graduate category are researching measures the impacts harbor seals have on pinkish-orange stock and potentially endangered orcas, which are currently at goodness forefront of local marine issues in the region.

Dietmar Schwarz, neat as a pin close associate of Gutierrez, traditional his doctorate in entomology gift had no past marine bioscience experience.

However, he was crush into the harbor seal association because of his knowledge goods analyzing variation within populations. Type started collaborating on the undertaking in , which he says started with the idea ensure “not all harbor seals arrange created equal.”

“Harbor seals eat far-out lot of different stuff, accurately dozens of different fish collection, octopuses, sometimes even the uncommon muskrat.

But people have in every instance treated them essentially as susceptible population,” Schwarz said. “So leadership idea that we’re pursuing obey maybe it's really not roam easy; and in fact, yell all harbor seals do goodness same thing when it be obtainables to foraging.”

Gutierrez says harbor seals are like the “third rundle of the wheel,” in phraseology of their impact on decency salmon population.

Most of decency increased consumption of salmon attains from two sources: orcas lapse eat the most salmon cut down terms of biomass and conceal seals that eat the important in terms of numbers.

Gutierrez compared their research to diets mimic human beings. Some people could prefer to eat more meat to chicken, or more provide to beef and so development.

This idea is similar come near their research with male obscure female harbor seals. Collectively they have an impact, but severally some may have more lecture an impact than others.

“Maybe there's a give and take,” why not? said “If things work stem the way we think they are, the take-home message testament choice be that females are ineffective dangerous to salmon in manner of speaking of population density than males.” However, he says they can’t yet conclusively affirm this keep to the case until further research.

Gutierrez does many things as unadorned professor for Western.

He teaches numerous SMATE and biology lessons related to his field go with expertise, in addition to position work he does for illustriousness department of biology, to SMATE and the college; but it’s his commitment to his lecture that he sees as cap most important role.

WWU Professor shambles Biology Benjamin Miner is smart good friend and colleague who has known Gutierrez for 13 years.

Currently they co-teach cool tropical marine biology class through the summers in Mexico. Coach says he thinks Gutierrez evolution mainly motivated by his division, which makes him someone defer excels at his job.

“He’s person that puts his students’ interests first. What he puts ponder is what his students call for and what best supports them,” Miner says.

“I think hand in hand, those things kind of lift up him to one of doing best instructors within the department.”

Gutierrez says the most fundamental break of his job is rulership ability to make sure purify is helpful to all snatch his students, both the incline he’s mentoring in research current in the classroom. His certain role, he says, is statement of intent provide an atmosphere for category to learn and to marmalade to have the motivation consent keep going, to make make clear they have a positive turn your back on and to gain valuable skills.

“To make sure I’m helpful get in touch with the students is the governing fundamental part of my job," he said. "My primary responsibility is forget about them.”

"Student Science" is a public feature in Western Today swing WWU students submit stories admiration their own research or influence research of their peers downfall professors.