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Contractor |
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(831)-459-3112 |
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National Marine Mammal Laboratory |
Current Activities
Kimberly is interested in identifying physical, biological, and anthropogenic factors that relate marine mammal distribution to the environment. She is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she plans to focus her dissertation on developing methods for predictive habitat modeling of marine mammals facing vastly different environmental conditions.
Kimberly is a member of the aerial survey team – flying surveys over Cook Inlet, Alaska to determine the distribution and abundance of beluga whales. Most recently, she is also co-managing the aerial survey component of the bowhead whale feeding ecology study based out of Barrow, Alaska. She provides data management and database design for both beluga and bowhead aerial surveys. Kimberly enjoys field work and takes every opportunity to participate in aerial as well as shipboard surveys.
Background
Kimberly joined the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program in 2005. Earlier that same year, she completed her Master’s degree in Environmental Management with a specialty in Geographic Information Systems at Duke University. Her thesis focused on modeling summer habitat preferences of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska. In 2001, Kimberly received her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a certificate in Neuroscience and Behavior. Before focusing her research on marine mammals, Kimberly worked as an entomologist, conducting genetic and behavioral analyses on several species of tropical ants, butterflies, and arachnids.
