Finding My Place in Research: Lessons from the Bird-Window Collision Project by Katerina Malone

When I was given the opportunity to take part in research conducted by the Biology Club under my mentor Dr. Ursula Valdez, I didn’t think twice about it. Being a freshman and being new to the university system made it a little difficult for me to find opportunities that I was interested in or that aligned with my major or future goals. When I was first introduced to the Bird-Window Research, I was instantly hooked; I always wondered how many birds suffered from injuries due to windows. Growing up in Athens, Greece, I experienced it a lot, mostly pigeons bumping into big windows on apartment buildings and dropping on a sidewalk. It was a devastating sight to see. What I enjoyed observing was how people took charge and tried to prevent the pigeons from bumping into the windows. They would hang CDs in order to reflect light and keep them away, or apartments with balconies would put up a net to prevent the pigeons from reaching the windows. What my research group and I decided to research was to record and observe the number of birds and species type that hit our school windows. 

Unfortunately, my group and I were not able to get to the actual research part of our project because we ran into some difficulties. We didn’t have direct contact with our mentor who was out of the area with no service. We were also unsure about what we wanted to conduct our research on and how we would go about it. At first, we wanted to set up cameras and calculate the bird or window contact that way, but we were unable to get permission. We also wanted to buy special reflective window film that prevents birds from colliding with windows and compare it to the normal windows.

At the end, we decided that the best way to go about our research was to start basic. So we picked a couple of buildings around campus that we would survey and we were manually going to go around and observe how many birds we find (if we find any) and what kind of bird it is. To record, we would take pictures and record our findings in a shared data spreadsheet. Beyond the observational study, we also organized all our materials and built strong communication amongst our group members. 

Being a psychology major with hopes of minoring in Biology in the future, I hope to learn a lot about data collection and maybe a couple of biology terms that could be helpful in my studies. Something I learned about the research process itself is that it is a lot of trials and errors. We all come in with different thoughts and expectations, and at the end, we have to make a decision on which choice benefits our research and outcomes the most. 

Engaging in undergraduate research has taught me many important lessons in both academic environment and life in general. Research has taught me the importance of having contacts, people I can go to for advice, or if I need answers to questions. The workshops, in particular, have also taught me the importance of teamwork and collaboration. I loved sitting with different people every week and getting to know about their research, but also getting to know their thoughts process and how it differed from mine. I feel like it is important that we learn from others and get inspiration, and I believe that the workshops and collaborating with other people has really helped me with that. From my research group, I have learned that talking virtually is a lot more helpful than emails or texts. We get so much more done when talking face-to-face, even if it’s from a computer screen. 

Some advice that I would give to other UW Bothell undergraduate researchers who are just starting out is to build their circle of contacts. Reach out to professors, clubs, and even friends that might be interested in helping them out with research. It is so important to have a strong circle of contacts because you never know when you will have a question without an answer and need some help. I also recommend to be open and talk to people and make friends who are also undergraduate researchers. You can make a lot of great friends who can also be your study or research buddies in the future.

Learn more about the Research & Creative Projects for Undergrads at UW Bothell.