Long Marine Laboratory

Williams Group

c/o Beau Richter

100 Shaffer Road

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

 

Thank you again for your interest in the

Marine Mammal Physiology Project and we look

forward to hearing from you very soon.  

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any other

questions or concerns.

The Marine Mammal Physiology Project (MMPP) is under the direct supervision of our principle investigator, Dr. Terrie Williams.  We focus primarily on research efforts concerning the physiology and conservation of marine mammals.  Our entire program is run by volunteers.  There are no paid positions available on the MMPP at this time, and it is unlikely any will become available in the future.  However, as a result of our program being operated largely by our volunteers, Our you will gain a wide breadth of experience while working on this project, ranging from animal care and husbandry practices, to data collection and hands-on animal training with a variety of marine mammals.

The requirements we look for in our volunteers is true commitment.  You must be able to commit to 15 hours per week for a minimum of 1 full year.  As a result of working with exotic marine mammals, our care staff is here 365 days a year.  This means you will be expected to work shifts through winter and spring breaks, summer, and over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  We provide our volunteers 2 weeks of time off during the summertime to allow for vacations.  Typically, if you are not able to commit to working during these periods of time, we will be unable to accommodate your desires of working for the project.

During your first year working on the MMPP, you will be learning a great deal about exotic marine mammal care and husbandry practices.  This includes fish preparation, habitat cleaning, animal enrichment, water quality analysis, and various other day-to-day tasks which are required to maintain a marine mammal facility. From there, you will begin to explore data collection and advanced husbandry practices.  It is unlikely in your first year that you will begin in the training program of the marine mammals.  This hands-on training of the marine mammals typically begins after your first year is completed, although it

may happen sooner or potentially later

than that as well.  Our program is

designed to progress with the needs of

each volunteer independently.  You

will have the opportunity to attend a

lecture series designed to teach you all

about the training theories and methodologies

we use on the MMPP prior to beginning

hands-on animal training.