Center of Drone Excellence

I am a behavioral ecologist using remote sensing to study marine mammals. I am specifically interested in understanding the relationships between behavior, environment, and individual characteristics including physiology, morphology, sex, age, and health. I have a background in studying marine megafauna using image analysis of drone data. For my PhD I used drone footage to study the behavioral ecology and respiration physiology of the Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG) gray whales. For my postdoc, I am investigating the social behavior of gray whales on the PCFG foraging ground and in the wintering lagoons in Mexico where I’ll also assess the influence of close encounters with humans on their behavior.