Research
My research interests are focused on improving our understanding of how anthropogenic and natural disturbances impact marine mammals. Effective policy requires accurate models. I'm interested in combining metabolic rate measurements of cetaceans in zoological facilities, with fine-scale and longer-term tags on wild cetaceans, to improve predictions of the metabolic costs of different activities. Ultimately, I plan to enhance cetacean population models by refining vital population parameters.
I'm also interested in the differences between shallow and deep diving populations of the same species. Deep-diving cetaceans belonging to "offshore" ecotypes are very different behaviorally, morphometrically, and physiologically from their shallow-water counterparts. I hope to explore the natural history questions surrounding such adaptations, as well as increase our knowledge base to inform policy decisions surrounding offshore cetaceans.
Before beginning my PhD in Marine Science and Conservation, I obtained a BBA from the College of William and Mary, where I studied the impact
of bycatch reduction devices on the recreational blue crab fishery, with the goal of reducing diamondback terrapin bycatch. I obtained a Masters of Environmental Management from Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.Â
As a Masters student, I explored the overlap of prey species among short-finned pilot whales and several tuna species, as part of a study examining marine mammal bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries. I also conducted microplastic ingestion experiments with a local coral species; results suggest that taste may be an understudied driver of plastic ingestion in a number of phyla.
