Dr. Jenn Dearolf leads seal and dolphin studies
for Skeletal Muscle Biology Lab
CONWAY, Ark. (August 9, 2024) — Central Arkansas may not seem
like a place where one could study aquatic mammals, but Hendrix College Professor
of Biology Dr. Jenn Dearolf’s Skeletal Muscle Biology Lab has been making it
happen for years now.
Starting in 2017 with students Lindsey Barrett ’19, Elijah
Ballard ’19, McKenzie Fletcher ’20, Veneeza Mukhtar ’21, Sundus Nazar ’21,
Hannah Fewell ’24, and Kelsey Sample ’25, Dearolf and her team began
investigating the locomotor muscles of different species of seals found in the
Arctic to better understand their abilities to swim and dive. These seals rely
on sea ice, which is disappearing in the rapidly warming Arctic, as a resting
and diving platform, so knowledge about these abilities is crucial.
In more than 25 years of studying marine mammals, Dearolf
had never had the opportunity to study the muscles of a seal, and this project
allowed her and her students to look at three species.
“And not just any seals — Arctic seals!” she said. “These
animals are challenging to study because of the difficulty in accessing their
habitat, but through our collaborators, we were able to collect data revealing
the fiber composition of their locomotor muscles. These data can now be used by
others to begin to assess how well the seals will adapt to the loss of sea
ice.”
Dearolf and her students worked with Anna Bryan at the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Dr. Colleen Reichmuth at UC Santa Cruz, and
Mariah Tengler, a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Nicole Thometz at the
University of San Francisco. The work of Dearolf’s students and Tengler was
recently published in the journal Aquatic Mammals, the oldest
peer-reviewed journal publishing papers on marine mammal science.
More recent work in Dearolf’s lab has moved to mammals
living in warmer waters. Since the summer of 2021, Ian Campbell ’23, Savanna
Watts ’24, Hannah Fewell ’24, Kelsey Sample ’25, and Emma Self ’25 have been
studying the development of locomotor muscles in spinner dolphins, which are
found in the waters off the islands of Hawaii. These students are comparing the
properties of the muscles of calves, juveniles, and adults to determine if
spinner dolphin calves are able to keep up with
their mothers and the rest of the pod when they are chased by tuna fishermen.
Like the Arctic seal work, the spinner dolphin study is a
collaboration with Dr. Shawn Noren at UC Santa Cruz. The data collected by
Dearolf’s students are being incorporated into a manuscript and will serve as
preliminary data for a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant being submitted
by Noren and Dearolf.
Both studies have been supported by Odyssey grants to
Dearolf and her students.
“Through working on these projects, my students gain
valuable skills, including critical thinking and problem solving,” Dearolf
said. “In addition, each of them presented the results of their studies at
scientific conferences and thereby improved their oral communication skills.
They also got to interact with other scientists and hear about their research —
all things the Odyssey Program encourages and makes possible through the
funding it provides.”
Dearolf added that many of the student researchers who
contributed to this project have since gone on to medical, veterinary, or
pharmacy school, while others have begun careers in healthcare or research.
“These recent graduates and I shared some really wonderful
learning experiences during their time at Hendrix,” Dearolf said. “I love seeing
how their paths are unfolding.”
More information about the Odyssey Program is available at hendrix.edu/odyssey.
Visit Dearolf’s Skeletal Muscle Biology Lab website at www.smubl.com
For more about the Arctic seal study, read
the research at the Aquatic Mammals Journal website.
About Hendrix College
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is featured in Colleges
That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges
and celebrated among the country’s leading liberal arts colleges for academic
quality, engaged learning opportunities and career preparation, vibrant campus
life, and value. The Hendrix College Warriors compete in 21 NCAA Division III
sports. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since
1884. Learn more at www.hendrix.edu.
“… Through engagement that links the classroom with the
world, and a commitment to diversity, inclusion, justice, and sustainable
living, the Hendrix community inspires students to lead lives of
accomplishment, integrity, service, and joy.” —Hendrix College Statement of
Purpose