Alumni Spotlight: Selene Fregosi

What is your hometown?

Benicia, CA (San Francisco Bay Area)

Where are you now and what are you doing?

I just finished my PhD in Wildlife Science at Oregon State University. My dissertation research focused on using autonomous underwater gliders to listen for and count whales, called passive acoustic monitoring. I defended remotely over Zoom from Ithaca, NY (where my partner is a postdoc) because of Covid. I am currently working as a postdoc for one of my PhD advisors and applying for jobs! I hope to have a long research career working with novel acoustic technologies to support research in marine mammal ecology and promote conservation and management. 

What was your favorite thing about the deptartment/USD?

The desert camping trip!! I TA'd that course just so I could go on that trip several times :) Really, my favorite part about being a student in MARS/at USD was all the opportunities to get out in the field for classes and as an undergrad researcher. I loved the small, close-knit community of the department. My best friends at USD were in the department. I knew my professors cared about my success and that helped give me the confidence to push myself. 

How did your degree from Environmental and Ocean Science help prepare you for what you are doing?

I left USD with so many practical science skills - from developing and conducting field and lab experiments to reading the literature, writing up the results and presenting them to peers. Those skills were a solid foundation for graduate school and my future science career. I particularly appreciated the interdisciplinary aspects of the MARS degree - the courses in physical, chemical, and biological oceanography helped me have a well-rounded approach to studying marine life. The diverse course work exposed me to research areas I hadn't thought of or been interested in before and that sort of big picture thinking was critical for grad school.

What advice do you have for current undergraduates?