June 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
What do you do at NOAA Fisheries?
I am a marine mammal biologist and have been at NOAA Fisheries for 26 years. I am currently the Deputy Chief for the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division in the Office of Protected Resources. I work with an amazing team of colleagues on a suite of conservation issues for whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and sea turtles. I help supervise the scientists and managers in the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. The program coordinates and oversees the agency’s nationwide emergency response efforts to rescue marine mammals in distress, and investigates the health and health trends of marine mammal populations. I also work closely with our regional offices to develop and promote safe and responsible marine wildlife viewing practices. We encourage the public to learn about the animals in the wild without disturbing or harming them.
Tell us about your educational and career journey.
I was born and raised in Washington, D.C., so I am a city kid by birth but an ocean kid at heart. In my early years, I spent many weekends on the Chesapeake Bay and summer vacations at Atlantic coast beaches, which instilled a strong affinity for the ocean in me. I first became enamored with marine mammals at a very young age after visiting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and experiencing the life-size models of whales and dolphins in the Ocean Hall. At the time, the museum had one of the few life-size models of a blue whale that existed in the world, and it was awe-inspiring to behold, especially as a small child.
I received my undergraduate degree from Boston University where I majored in Biology with a specialization in Marine Science and minored in Italian Studies. The Marine Science curriculum included a year at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It was amazing to live on Cape Cod in a community so dedicated to marine science and conservation. I began volunteering at the New England Aquarium on weekends during my junior year of college. I assisted the wonderful curators who worked with the marine mammals in human care and responded to stranded animals. I volunteered for many years at the Aquarium and that experience opened numerous doors for me. I worked for several years for the pioneering marine mammal scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). I then worked at the Chicago Zoological Society/Dolphin Biology Research Institute on a suite of research projects investigating marine mammal behavior, acoustics, life history, and natural history.