June 19, 2000
Grad student Scott Shaffer wins Ocean Sciences Outstanding Student Achievement Award for 1999-2000
By Tim Stephens
The Ocean Sciences Department has awarded the 1999-2000 Ocean Sciences Outstanding
Student Achievement Award to graduate student Scott Shaffer. The award recognizes
overall scientific excellence, achievement, and promise coupled with outstanding
service to the scientific and public communities. The $100 award is made possible
by the generosity of anonymous donors.
Shaffer received his Ph.D. in biology this year, just three years after completing
his M.S. degree in marine sciences. Professor of biology Daniel Costa and associate
professor of biology Terrie Williams served as his coadvisers for both degrees.
"[Shaffer] has been an excellent student, an outstanding citizen, and has tremendous
potential as an academic and representative of UCSC," Costa said. "He is
without question one of the finest students to come out of my laboratory."
Shaffer's research for his master's thesis examined the diving behavior of beluga
whales. His thesis was published in and made the cover of the Journal of Experimental
Biology in December 1997. For his Ph.D. thesis, Shaffer studied the physiology of
flight in two species of albatross.
Both of these projects involved collaborations with other institutions: The beluga
whale research was carried out at the U.S. Navy research laboratory in San Diego,
and the albatross studies at two French Antarctic stations in collaboration with
the French Antarctic Research Program. In both cases, according to Costa, Shaffer
served as a superb ambassador for UCSC's programs, impressing his collaborators and
paving the way for other UCSC students to work with these institutions.
Shaffer has presented his research at various scientific meetings and recently received
the award for "Best Student Paper" at the Pacific Seabird Group meeting
in February. He has also given public lectures, most recently to the Northern California
Chapter of the Audubon Society. Shaffer also serves as a graduate student representative
to the Chancellor's Animal Research Committee.
In addition to his considerable skills as a researcher, Shaffer is an accomplished
teacher. He was the senior teaching assistant in Costa's Marine Mammal Biology class
and was responsible for creating several new laboratory sections for that course.
He also gave several lectures to the class and will be teaching Marine Mammal Biology
this summer.
