Center of Drone Excellence

Education

PhD Marine Science and Conservation, Duke University, 2021

MEM Coastal Environmental Management, Duke University, 2016

BS Biology, Sonoma State University, 2014

Research/Career Interests

I am interested in ecomorphology, or the relationship between the morphology of an animal and their environment. I use drone-based photogrammetry as a non-invasive method to measure the morphology and body condition of baleen whales. I currently lead MMI's Center of Drone Excellence (CODEX), which focuses on developing analytical methods for using drones to monitor the health of marine mammal populations. CODEX has developed several open-source hardware and software tools to help researchers using drones collect and analyze important health data on marine mammals. Broadly, I focus on how changing habitat influences the morphology, body condition, and overall health of baleen whales. I work with the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna (GEMM) Lab on the GRANITE Project, which studies Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG) gray whales in response to stressors, and the SAPPHIRE Project, which studies the impact of climate change on krill and Pygmy blue whales off the coast of Aotearoa New Zealand. Much of my work also focuses on the body condition and morphology of humpback, Antarctic minke, and dwarf minke whales along the rapidly changing Western Antarctic Peninsula and blue whales off the coast of Monterey, California.