PhD Student, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Sciences
hildebrl@oregonstate.edu

Profile Field Tabs

Biography
Credentials: 
M.S. Wildlife Science, Oregon State University, 2020
B.S. Marine Zoology, Newcastle University, 2018
Research/Career Interests: 

My research interests relate to the ecology and population dynamics of marine mammals in the context of prey availability and environmental conditions. My Master’s research broadly focused on the foraging ecology of Pacific Coast Feeding Group gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus; ~250-300 individuals). First, a caloric assessment of prey available to PCFG gray whales along the Oregon coast and subsequent comparison to the caloric value of the predominant Arctic amphipod fed on by the Eastern North Pacific gray whale population (~21,000 individuals), revealed that Oregon prey are of equal, and in some cases higher, caloric value than Arctic prey. This finding suggests that other factors, such as prey availability, density, and foraging energetics, may play a larger role in the disparity of population sizes. Second, a fine-scale investigation of spatially and temporally overlapping data of PCFG gray whales and zooplankton in Port Orford, Oregon, revealed that gray whales select prey quality over quantity when high quality prey is available. My PhD research aims to investigate spatial ecology and anthropogenic impacts of PCFG gray whales along the central Oregon coast.

Professional Preparation: 
Instructor: FW 340 Multicultural Perspectives in Natural Resources, Oregon State University, 2020
Instructor: FW 317 Mammalogy, Oregon State University, 2019
Instructor: FW 303 Survey of Geographic Information Systems in Natural Resources, Oregon State University, 2018-2020
Research Assistant: Southern California Tagless Behavioral and Physiological Response Study, 2017-2019
Intern: Cascadia Research Collective, Washington, 2017
Research Assistant: Marine Science Center, Rostock, Germany, 2015-2016
Intern: Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute, Italy & Spain, 2014-2015
At OSU
Affiliated with: 
Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory (GEMM Lab)
Marine Mammal Institute
Headquarters: 
Hatfield Marine Science Center
My Publications