I am a seabird ecologist with the US Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center. I am interested in many aspects of seabird ecology and my current projects are focused on species that inhabit the California Current System (Sooty Shearwater, Cassin’s Auklet, Ashy Storm-petrel, and Black-footed Albatross), Hawaii (Hawaiian Petrel and Black-footed Albatross), and New Zealand (Grey-faced Petrel and Sooty Shearwater). I am motivated to understand how patterns in the ocean environment influence aspects of seabird ecology including distribution and abundance seabirds at sea, movements and foraging behaviors of adults during the breeding season, and the interaction of key seabird prey (krill, larval fishes, sardines) with oceanographic features (eddies, upwelling fronts). My work uses satellite remote sensing of the ocean surface coupled with wildlife telemetry to help describe important seabird habitats off southern California, and throughout the Pacific. I have conducted work with seabirds and marine mammals in many different environments including California, Hawaii, Alaska, and Antarctica. |