RWSC Workshop: Oceanographic Modeling and Data Needs to Support Marine Life and Ecosystem Assessment in the Gulf of Maine
Quantitative marine ecologist and postdoctoral researcher specializing in the estimation of ecological fields from sparse, irregular, and effort-limited observations. Seven years of experience separating the observation process from the ecological process — detectability, survey effort, and multi-resolution data fusion — in models that directly inform decision-making around endangered species and environmental management. Skilled in applied statistical learning and spatiotemporal modeling (R, Python, MATLAB), with repeated testing of model transferability across new time periods, climate scenarios, and documented regime shifts.
Education
Ph.D. in Oceanography — University of Maine, Orono, ME · May 2025 Darling Marine Center, School of Marine Sciences Dissertation: Modeling North Atlantic right whales and their prey
B.A., Environmental Computation — Colby College, Waterville, ME · May 2020 Honors thesis: Projecting regions of North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, habitat suitability in the Gulf of Maine in 2050 Awards: Phi Beta Kappa · Magna Cum Laude · Presidential Scholar · Dean’s List · Environmental Computation Award · Distinction in Environmental Computation · Honors in Environmental Studies · Buck Prize for Environmental Writing
Sea Education Association, S285: Oceans and Climate — Woods Hole, MA · Spring 2019 Research project: Baroclinic instability and zonal fronts along the Chatham Rise, NZ, and in the southwestern Pacific Ocean
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Sea Change Semester — Fall 2018 Research project: Physical factors affecting North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, habitat preference in the Gulf of Maine
Research and professional experience
Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, Walpole, ME · January 2026 – present In partnership with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Marine Mammal Research Division.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate (full time, June 2026 – present)
- Research Associate (contract, January 2026 – June 2026)
Analysis and integration of historical and ongoing datasets of large whales, zooplankton prey, and oceanographic variables collected under differing survey designs and sampling frequencies.
Associate Research Scientist II, Spatial Ecology, Mapping, Assessment, and Photogrammetry (EcoMAP) — Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA · January 2024 – January 2026 Analyzed North Atlantic right whale aerial survey data to build density surface models, modeling detectability and survey effort explicitly alongside the ecological signal.
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME · September 2018 – December 2023
- Research Associate, Tandy Center for Ocean Forecasting (Jan 2023 – Dec 2023) — tested potential improvements to North Atlantic right whale density surface models
- Research Technician, Tandy Center for Ocean Forecasting (June 2020 – Jan 2023) — modeled right whale prey aggregations in the Gulf of Maine from spatially and temporally patchy ship-based sampling
- Research Intern, Computational Ecology Lab (July 2019) — species distribution models of right whale habitat suitability, present-day and under future climate scenarios
- Sea Change Semester independent research (Sept – Dec 2018) — correlation between Lagrangian coherent structures and right whale sightings in the Gulf of Maine
Computer Programming Intern — Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA · June 2019 Species distribution models of bowhead whales in the Chukchi Sea and North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of Maine.
Research Assistant, Environmental Studies Department — Colby College, Waterville, ME · September 2016 – May 2020 Georeferenced nautical charts in ArcGIS to reconstruct historical kelp coverage in California; transcribed ICCAT data to track bluefin tuna fishery sustainability; examined the correlation between farm-to-school programs and sustainable fisheries.
Computational and field skills
Observation-process and sampling-design modeling — detectability modeling from line-transect survey data; density surface modeling with explicit treatment of survey effort; quantifying how survey coverage and design constrain achievable inference; propagation of observation uncertainty into management-facing estimates
Time series and spectral analysis — multi-decadal oceanographic and biological time series; Fourier transforms and periodograms, coherence between series, filtering, and autocorrelation structure, applied to tidal signal analysis (MATLAB); quantifying the effect of a documented oceanographic regime shift on model-derived density estimates
Programming — expertise in R, Python, git, bash/Unix shell scripting, and Linux; experience with MATLAB, Java, and ArcGIS; working knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL
Analysis and visualization — species distribution modeling, density surface modeling, generalized additive models, large dataset management; training artificial neural networks from scratch, including CNNs for image classification, video processing algorithms, and natural language processing; R Shiny and Leaflet mapping
Remote sensing and data sources — satellite-derived oceanographic and climate products including Copernicus Earth Observation and NASA EarthData (chlorophyll concentration, sea surface temperature); ocean physics model output (HYCOM, GLORYS, FVCOM, and internal Fisheries and Oceans Canada models); aerial and vessel survey data; oceanographic sampling cruises
Field and sampling methods — deploying CTD and Niskin rosettes; zooplankton sampling using bongo nets; marine mammal spotting
Publications
In review
Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2026)
Endangered Species Research, 58, 67–84 (2025)
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 13(1), 00044 (2025)
Endangered Species Research, 56, 1–17 (2025)
Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Research Document, 2024/039, v + 71 p. (2024)
Maine Policy Review, 32(2), 20–28 (2023)
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 703, 1–16 (2023)
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 9(1), 00058 (2021)
Selected presentations
A full list of 21 conference presentations, invited seminars, and workshops is on the talks page.
The effects of an oceanographic regime shift on U.S. North Atlantic right whale density estimates
The right whale to save: how can models aid endangered species management?
MOCEAN Workshop: Nature-Inclusive Design in Offshore Wind
Modeling North Atlantic right whales and their prey
The right whale to save: a look at using prey fields in management models
Incorporating prey information into North Atlantic right whale density surface models used in decision support
Incorporating prey information into North Atlantic right whale management tools
Teaching, mentoring, and outreach
Guest Lecture, Ocean Forecasting January Term Course
Guest Lecture, Introduction to Marine Biology Course
Guest Lecture, Ocean Forecasting January Term Course
Conservation Lesson, Second Grade Class
Guest Lecture: Predicting Right Whales
Public Outreach Talk: North Atlantic Right Whales and Their Food
Guest Lecture and Lab Instruction: Species Distribution Modeling
Facilitator, Girls Who Code
Mentor, Zooplankton Species Distribution Modeling Project
Teaching Assistant, Intro to R Class
Teaching Assistant, Coding Office Hour
Species Distribution Modeling in R Tutorial
Teaching Assistant, Research Experience for Undergraduates Coding Hour
Media
Selected interviews and features are listed on the media page.
Software
Eight public R packages supporting this work are described on the code and data page.
Committees, working groups, and society memberships
- Habitat and Ecosystems Subcommittee Member, Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC) — 2024–present
- North Atlantic Right Whale Transboundary Species Distribution Modeling Working Group — 2022–present
- Organizing Committee Member, Ocean Hack Week — 2024
- Member, Society for Marine Mammalogy — 2024–present
- Member, Ecological Forecasting Initiative — 2022–present
References
Available on request.