Tate's Honors Portfolio

Pronouns: he/him or they/them

Interests: Biology, music, painting, baking, animals (especially frogs!), reading

Hobbies: Playing violin and guitar, baking, watercolor, going on nature walks to spot wildlife

Major: Biology (Ecology, evolution, and conservation)

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Learning statement:

When I first started at UW, I wanted to be a wildlife biologist. I had spent my childhood fascinated by animals, and had gotten particularly interested in reading about animal cognition, behavior, conservation, and morphology. But, while exploring my interest in wildlife biology, I also wanted to explore my other interests, including evolution, music, and justice. My goal in college was to learn as much as possible, which I approached through three main ways: my class, my research, and my work with the Rhapsody Project.

 

My freshman year, I was really excited about the idea of working on research, and started working with a team of other undergraduates (Team Squirrel) studying the ecomorphology of squirrels. I got to learn how to take microCT scans, and learned about 3D imaging software, as well as R. The undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and professors who I worked with taught me so much, and I looked up to the way they built such welcoming, engaging environments. I stayed involved in research about evolutionary morphology, traveling to New York and Berkeley over the summers to work on research projects. Later on as an undergraduate, I got the opportunity to work on research in conservation, learning about geographic information software (GIS) to help on a project studying whale-ship collisions. Finally, to explore my interests in wildlife biology, frogs, and citizen science projects, I signed up as a volunteer working on a citizen science project through the Woodland Park Zoo, where I learned about pond surveys for pond-breeding amphibians and got experience surveying ponds for amphibian conservation.

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While working on research, I was able to explore my other interests through interdisciplinary honors classes and activities outside of school. I explored my interest in music through Dr. Berrios-Miranda's class on music and community artivism, as well as performances, designing curriculum, and co-teaching classes with the Rhapsody Project. I also got to learn more about Yiddish music, traditions, and food from my heritage through a grant project I worked on through the Center for Washington Cultural Traditions's Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Program. And, through my classes and work at the Rhapsody Project, I also got to learn more about the history of racism and help build better music education programs for future generations of youth.

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I did consider other career paths during my time at UW, such as becoming a doctor for other trans youth and becoming a librarian, but I always decided in the end that wildlife biology was the right path for me. I'm incredibly grateful for all of the support that my partner, dog, friends, teachers, and mentors have given me, and I'm excited for my next steps!