Mark Yamane
Master's Student
With a dual major in Marine Science and Computer Science from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, my excitement towards connecting the two disciplines developed naturally as I learned research programming techniques through internships with Oregon State University, UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies, and NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
I designed and developed software for the FAR lab alongside Rob from 2022 - 2025. We developed ways to leverage edge computing for products built on acoustic and optic data collected by echosounders and shadowgraphs, respectively, mounted on underwater Slocum gliders operated by University of Alaska Fairbanks and University of South Florida St. Petersburg. I also assisted other lab members with acoustic data processing from various fixed platforms and with model development.
Now, as a graduate student, I am comparing acoustic and optic data from gliders to co-located acoustic and optic data from ships in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Validating data from alternate platforms is a crucial step for the integration of alternate platforms into ecosystem monitoring programs. Unmanned systems, such as underwater gliders, are of particular interest as ships and crew are becoming increasingly and prohibitively expensive to maintain long term ecosystem timeseries.
In my free time, I enjoy playing board games, performing Okinawan taiko drumming, and tidepooling around West Seattle.
