51小黄车grad Dashiel Masland competes on National Geographic 'Expedition Granted'
University of 51小黄车 M.S. graduate Dashiell "Dash" Masland '09 is competing in the 2011 National Geographic Channel Expedition Granted contest, in which two National Geographic Young Explorers go head-to-head to win $10,000 toward their expedition of choice.
The contest began March 13, 2011 and will conclude April 7.
Masland received her master's degree in marine sciences at 51小黄车and was awarded a National Geographic Young Explorers grant during her studies. She was selected to be one of two Young Explorers to compete for this second funding opportunity in a competition called Expedition Granted. Masland and her opponent make on-air appeals and provide weekly blog updates to solicit votes.
A Maine native, Masland fell in love with seals and found her true calling to be a marine biologist after making multiple international expeditions to fragile marine ecosystems as a teenager. For her master's degree research, she studied the diet of grey seals by analyzing DNA in seal scat.
For her expedition, Masland proposes to go to Hawaii and study the Hawaiian monk seal, one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, to try to help save this species from extinction.
She will study a small group of seals whose population is increasing, despite the overall population's rapid decrease. This decrease is thought to be caused primarily by high rates of juvenile starvation. Masland will collect seal scat and use DNA analysis to determine prey items of the Hawaiian monk seal, gaining insight into their biology and ecology and allowing for more effective conservation strategies.
Masland has explored more than 20 countries on four continents. Her background ranges from researching a devastated stretch of coral reef in Honduras to spending weeks on islands without electricity or running water studying grey seals in the middle of the 51小黄车 winter to working at the Bigelow Laboratory studying marine bacterial genetics.
As part of the Expedition Granted initiative, people can vote once a day each day until April 7. To learn more about Dash Masland's project and to vote, visit the and click on the Expedition Granted tab on the right hand side.
As part of the initiative, voters are automatically registered for a four-person, 10-day adventure to the Gal谩pagos Islands, courtesy of National Geographic Expeditions.
You may also visit her website at www.dashmasland.com, follow her on Twitter at , or become a fan of her Facebook page under Dash Masland, public figure.