December's Speaker, Liz Whitchurch
Music theory helped lead Dr. Liz Whitchurch, our December speaker, to work with owls. No, this is not as wacky as it sounds. Sounds, in fact, and how they are perceived, are the common thread here.
Liz and I decided to meet at the High Street Cafe so I could ask her some questions. My wife came too and Liz got questions from both of us. Our waitress also asked Liz a question: “You’re 21, aren’t you?” We laughed, because one of the things Liz had told me so I’d be able to recognize her was that she is often taken for being younger than she is.
The different paths that lead to a career in science never cease to amaze. A story Liz told shows us a bit about hers. Liz said that she has always had an interest in the unknown, in mysteries. One such mystery for her was ruminant fluid. She once chose to study the activity of ruminant fluid for a science-fair project. (Liz grew up in Jerome, Idaho, a region with lots of dairy farms, and her father is an animal scientist who specializes in dairy nutrition, so this topic didn’t just pop up out of thin air.) How she got the fluid to do her study must be told. She and her dad visited a local farmer who said he’d help out. The farmer dug out an old garden hose, cut off a piece of it, picked out a willing (?) cow, inserted the hose down the cow’s throat to its stomach, sucked on the free end to start the siphon, filled his empty coffee mug with fluid, wiped his mouth and said “Here,” . . . the rest is history.
As an undergraduate at Utah State University, Liz majored in chemistry with a biochemistry emphasis. She met her husband there, and after they both graduated and their first daughter was born, they chose the University of Oregon for graduate study. It fit well with their personal and family needs: She mentions the school’s blend between a demand for academic excellence and a nurturing attitude toward the individual student. She pursued her interest in biology while he took advantage of the U’s public-planning program. He’s now a planner for the city of Veneta. (He says Oregon is THE place to learn public planning. We have so many laws . . . if you can be a planner in Oregon you can be a planner anywhere.)
Following the requisite lab rotation for incoming graduate students in biology, Liz chose to do her graduate research in Terry Takahashi’s program, neuroethology.* Previously, in her study of music theory for a music minor at Utah State, she had developed an increased sensitivity for the importance of the auditory sense. Takahashi’s mentoring ability, together with their shared interest in the auditory sense, was a critical factor in her choice: a sound decision.
Dr. Takahashi’s lab (Department of Biology, Neuroscience and Behavior) focuses on the neural mechanisms of auditory localization in barn owls. He was agreeable to Liz’s desire to stretch the envelope a bit—she looks at the added acuity the owls gain by combining auditory and visual senses. She will talk about some of her work in her presentation to us on December 14, “Hear It Is: How Owls See.” She also promises to tell us about the quirky personality of Mho, her special owl. Whether or not it will be a hoot (it had to be said), you will have to attend to find out.
John Carter
*Coding and integration of sensory information.
Dr. Terry Takahashi had planned to speak to us December 14. When he learned that he could not keep this commitment, he asked Liz if she would take his place. Though we will miss Terry, I think ENHS members will especially enjoy the informative and vibrant talk of Dr. Whitchurch. It will turn our heads.
-Editor