B.S. Marine
Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, 2000
B.A. Global
Studies, University of California Santa Barbara, 2000
M.S. Animal Behavior, San Diego State University, expected May 2006
Ecological
Research Experience
Undergraduate Research at UC Santa
Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA: As an undergraduate at UC Santa
Barbara I worked for two years on various projects as a lab assistant in the Marine
Biology Department. I assisted one of the
post doctorates on a project to record data on juvenile fish recruitment on kelp mats, and
on a project to determine the age of individual sheephead fish through the annual growth
rings present on their dorsal spines. I also
worked for the section of the PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal
Oceans) project being conducted at UC Santa Barbara.
The purpose of the project was to monitor the interactions occurring between
species in various intertidal as well as subtidal regions along the California coast. My
duties included assisting in the digital mapping of distribution patterns of various algal
species, as well as monitoring experiments in the field on predator-prey interactions of
invertebrates. We studied the effect certain
predator species such as sea stars and whelk snails had on two prey species of mussels. While in Santa Barbara, I gained experience doing
laboratory techniques such as preparing specimens with drummel tools and fine scale
microscope work.
Cetacean
Research Experience
In April of
2000, I was fortunate enough to begin interning at the Cetacean Behavior Laboratory at San
Diego State University. I helped researchers
with projects on aspects of photo-identification, behavior, and acoustics of bottlenose
dolphins. I became very involved with the
photo-identification work taking place in the Cetacean Behavior Laboratory and began
spending most of my time learning and acquiring the technology associated with this
research methodology. I assisted researchers
with the managing of photo identification data from studies in Monterey, CA, San Quitin
and Ensenada, Mexico, and Belize, Central America. I
have also created a training exercise to assist interns in reliably recognizing resights
of individual dolphin fins.
In March of
2001 I had the opportunity to begin studying bottlenose dolphins off of the coast of
Belize, Central America. With this work I
continued doing the research that had been started in 1992 (Campbell et al. 2002). In this work I led a team of volunteers that
collected data on various aspects of the natural history of bottlenose dolphins that
inhabit that area. Data collection included:
photographs of each individual, environmental data, group size information, and behavioral
data. I also composed and gave presentations
to visiting participants on the ecology of whales, dolphins, coral reefs, and coral reef
fish.
Current
Research
While
interning at the Cetacean Behavior Laboratory and studying in Belize, I realized that I am
very interested in not only the methodology involved with photo-identification, but also
the social structure and site fidelity of cetaceans. The study I conducted in Belize will
provide data for analysis on social affiliation and site fidelity, which I plan to present
as my thesis. I am interested in exploring
why some individuals seem to interact closely while others from the same species and same
populations do not. I would also like to study why some individuals stay in one area while
others travel extensively. I will be exploring the notion that prey distribution and
abundance may an important role bottlenose dolphin social structure. I also would like to write a paper to be published
in a journal on these findings. I feel that
through this work I can enhance the scientific community’s knowledge of social
structure on an animal that we still know so little about.
Additional
Interests
Currently, I continue to work as a naturalist, and dolphin researcher for the Oceanic Society, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco. Although I am not collecting my data for my thesis anymore in Belize I still enjoy leading trips for volunteers and educating them about Belize and its unique ecology.
Personal
While not studying cetaceans I enjoy scuba diving and walking on the beach. I also enjoy dancing and photography. I am also an avid reader of political ecology books and am very interested in developing nation environmental sustainability. I do want to take this opportunity to thank my family for their undying support. Thank you to my mother who inspires me to love nature and to my father who inspires me to live out my dreams.
Literature
Cited
Campbell,
G.S., Bilgre, B.A., and R.H. Defran. 2002. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Turneffe Atoll, Belize:
occurrence, site fidelity, group size, and abundance.
Aquatic Mammals 28.2, 170-180.
