{"id":52897,"date":"2011-12-28T08:08:46","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T13:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=52897"},"modified":"2012-01-05T09:16:46","modified_gmt":"2012-01-05T14:16:46","slug":"pathobiology-grad-student-making-waves-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/12\/pathobiology-grad-student-making-waves-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Pathobiology Grad Student Making Waves"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story about graduate student Andrea Bogomolni originally appeared in UConn Today in October 2011.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The focus is on seals off the Isle of Shoals, located approximately six miles off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pathobiology and veterinary science doctoral student Andrea Bogomolni is the epitome of a busy graduate student. With a penchant for, in her words, \u201cjust making things happen,\u201d this native Californian has learned to juggle academic, professional, and personal interests in a way that not only rewards her quest for knowledge through the pursuit of challenging long-term research objectives, but that also makes a difference in the lives of others.<\/p>\n

An interest in marine sciences that developed while she was a child led her to pursue a BS in wildlife fisheries and conservation biology at the University of California-Davis. But because she also had an interest in biological illustration, she stayed on an extra year to complete a BA in studio art.<\/p>\n

\"Andrea<\/a>
Andrea Bogomolni, necropsy coordinator at the Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute, takes a close-up look at a giant sunfish. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She enrolled at Boston University in search of a one year master\u2019s degree in marine science, but once on the east coast \u2013 and despite her mother\u2019s admonition that the Pacific is a perfectly good ocean to study \u2013 she switched to a three-year research master\u2019s and began working with the Cape Cod Stranding Network<\/a> (now the International Fund for Animal Welfare\/Marine Mammal Rescue).<\/p>\n

She became the necropsy coordinator with the stranding organization and later began working as a research associate at the Wood\u2019s Hole Oceanographic Institution<\/a> focusing on zoonotic diseases in marine vertebrates. That\u2019s when she first began working with UConn associate professor of pathology Salvatore Frasca and associate professor and director of the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program<\/a> Sylvain DeGuise. It was their encouragement that led her to consider UConn\u2019s pathobiology Ph.D. program in the Collete of Agriculture and Natural Resources, with a concentration in marine science.<\/p>\n

\"Bogomolni<\/a>
Bogomolni (behind the fin) and a colleague conduct a necropsy on a fin back whale.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With initial funding from the Interdisciplinary Research & Training Initiative on Coastal Ecosystems & Human Health<\/a>, Bogomolni came to UConn and began studying marine mammals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe marine mammal side of things wasn\u2019t necessarily where I thought I\u2019d end up\u201d, she says, \u201cbut they\u2019re such great sentinels. They\u2019re such great communicators of what\u2019s happening in our marine environment. People really begin to listen when you start talking about seals and dolphins rather than microscopic organisms such as algae. They\u2019re animals the average person can relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In Curaso, Bogomolni demonstrates the finer points of a fish necropsy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her work at Woods Hole led to her involvement with the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network<\/a> a regional volunteer network that records sightings and strandings of marine mammals in the eastern Caribbean. Bogomolni\u00a0 and the network\u2019s founder and director, marine biologist Nathalie Ward, work with individuals based on about a dozen eastern Caribbean islands, including Guadeloupe, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, to gain community support for the protection of resident and migratory whales and dolphins and their marine habitat through research and education.<\/p>\n

When Bogomolni was named a Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation<\/a> fellow in August, those who know her weren\u2019t really surprised.<\/p>\n

\"Bogomolni<\/a>
Bogomolni works with veterinary students at the University of the West Indies School of Veterinary Medicine. Due to its location, the school offers students an opportunity to focus on exotic diseases and wildlife.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bogomolni works with veterinary students at the University of the West Indies School of Veterinary Medicine, which focuses on exotic diseases and wildlife.<\/p>\n

The highly-selective Switzer fellowships are awarded to graduate students who are pursuing degrees that will lead to positive environmental change. In announcing the names of this year\u2019s 20 fellowship winners, board chair Jen Sokolove said, \u201cThe heart of the Switzer Foundation is about supporting environmental leaders who are able to think across traditional disciplinary boundaries and shape the future of environmental science, policy, and study.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bogomolni\u2019s has combined the study of public health, marine sciences, and pathology in her degree program. \u201cI guess I\u2019m passionate about a lot of things,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

And her \u2018can do\u2019 attitude has again led her in a direction she did not anticipate. With an increasing population of gray and harbor seals around Cape Cod, there is an inevitable clash between fisheries and those interested in pinniped conservation.<\/p>\n

When the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen\u2019s Association<\/a> contacted her to see if there was a means of constructively addressing different agendas, Bogomolni\u00a0 jumped into the fray. She obtained funding through Woods Hole and helped organize a conference dealing with the issues of disease and health, population dynamics and behavior, and human interactions. The conference, held last year, attracted fishermen, students, and researchers, as well as NGO and government representatives, from both Canada and the U.S. It was so successful that another conference is in the works focusing on fishery interactions and integrated research.<\/p>\n

\"Andrea<\/a>
Andrea Bogomolni at the lab bench in pathobiology. (Sheila Foran\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As to what she will do once she has completed her Ph.D., Bogomolni isn\u2019t sure yet. \u201cI just know it will be something involving an understanding of human and animal disease transmission and marine health,\u201d she says. \u201cI also want to bring science to the public so that everyone can understand and relate to both the problems and opportunities that exist in our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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