Kensuke Mori interned with the Institute for Fisheries Research.

The internship aimed to develop an individual based model of smallmouth bass nests using Turbo Delphi.  The model was developed based on the model described in DeAngelis et al.(1991).  It was intended to provide insights into the population dynamics of the small mouth bass and the impact of recent change to the bass fishing regulation in Michigan.  Because the model description by DeAngelis et al.(1991) often lacked parameter units and other details in many aspects, there were difficulties in recreating their model.  As a result the model was not completed.  Although it did not achieve the intended purpose of predicting the impact of change in fishing regulations, it achieved in creating a foundation for further work in understanding the bass population dynamics. 

Overview of the work:
1. Performed literature reviews to obtain understanding of the life cycle of smallmouth bass in Michigan, to learn previous works on modeling bass population, and to obtain necessary parameter values. 
2. Studied programming language of Pascal and Turbo Delphi in order to create the model.
3. Developed a smallmouth bass population model using Turbo Delphi.

Through this internship I obtained valuable experience in modeling.  Though I encountered many difficulties in making the model, and though I did not manage to complete the work, because of those difficulties I learned many lessons in future model making, such as the importance of checking the units of each parameters and make those units clearly expressed for later use or for publications. 
The experience did not only teach me the know-hows of developing an ecological models, but also taught me how it is like to work in professional environment outside of the school.  Having worked on modeling project in professional environment will surely help me in achieving further career goals. 

Internship Details