Featured Woman in STEM: Michelle Larue
Michelle is a conservation biologist and ecologist. She conducts her research at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. She practices a method of using satellite imagery to understand polar animals, including emperor penguin and crabeater seals. In total, she has been to Antarctica six times. Check out Larue’s Twitter to follow all of her adventures!
Education
Michelle Larue began her career in 2001 as an undergraduate at Minnesota State University Mankato with a BS in Ecology. Her research focused primarily on hoary bats and white-tail deer ecology. From there she made her way to Southern Illinois University Carbondale and completed her MA in zoology. More recently, her PhD work at the University of Minnesota concentrated on remote sensing of penguins and seals in Antarctica.
In an interview for Harlequin Belle, Larue describes what a typical day in Antarctic looks like while she is conducting research:
“I did most of my work out of McMurdo Station (US), which is the largest base in Antarctica – it’s like a small town. So a typical day – for example a day of visiting seal colonies on the ground – would start out in the galley for breakfast and picking up field lunches. Then I’d meet with my team and we’d get ready for the cold drive on snow machines – the key is to make sure to time your departure so that you’re not waiting around inside with all your cold-weather gear on because you don’t want to sweat.
We’d trek out to the sea ice right next to station where the snow machines are located, check them all out to make sure they are operational, and then the final “to-do” is to check out with the station. It’s a safety precaution so that the station knows where you are and when to expect you back.
Then the crew, anywhere from 3-7 of us, would make the ~30-40 minute drive by snow machine out to the nearest seal colony. After arrival, we might get off and walk around the colony, counting the seals, taking pictures and notes, and documenting what we see. We’d do this at each colony, stopping for lunch when we need to, warming our toes if a warming hut was available, and then return to the station to enter data.
A typical day can take anywhere from a couple hours to >10 depending on the weather and ice conditions. After warming up, cleaning up, and probably eating dinner, the most popular thing to do is to hit the wine bar to relax, share stories, and talk science. Then you do the same thing all over again the next day.”
Image Credit: Michelle Larue, Twitter
Speaking Work
Her work has been covered internationally by hundreds of media outlets including BBC, NBC Nightly News, Wall Street Journal, and National Geographic. She also loves public speaking and describes her experience with public speaking on her personal website:
“I strongly believe that good science communication is key to an informed public and good decision-making. Plus, making it fun is one of the most rewarding things I do as a researcher.”
She has given several keynote speeches at large conferences and small group engagements. Her talks often focus on penguins, Antarctic ecology, cougars, conservation challenges, and climate change. If you are hungry for more, listen to this great Apple Podcast, “Antarctica Unfrozen: Emperor Lifestyles” and watch the video below where Dr. Michelle Larue discusses her adventures working with these arctic birds and her new findings.
