WOMEN IN SEABIRD SCIENCE
Joanne Morten
she/her
Marine Science Officer
BirdLife
International
Discipline
Behaviour, Conservation, Migration & Movement Ecology
Regional Focus
Global
Years Active
11-15 years
Species Focus
Albatrosses (Diomedeidae), Gulls and Terns (Laridae), Petrels and Shearwaters (Procellariidae), Storm-Petrels (Hydrobatidae & Oceanitidae)
Tell us about your work with seabirds.
Joanne is a seabird ecologist who specialises in using tracking data to understand behaviours and identify potential conservation threats. After completing her doctorate on the foraging and migratory behaviours of arctic terns and Eurasian oystercatchers at the University of Exeter, she joined the BirdLife Marine Science Team. There Joanne has been using seabird tracking data from across the world to identify marine flyways to inform ocean basin scale conservation.
What advice would you offer to individuals aspiring to pursue a career as seabird scientists?
I am very lucky to work with seabirds, and the work is so rewarding (even coding has its moments!) It isn't always a straight path; I encountered many years of set-backs, but it has definitely been worth persevering as I love my job!
Joanne Morten releasing an arctic tern carrying a GPS logger at a colony on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland. The tern has a temporary orange mark around its neck so that it could be easily monitored over the following few weeks
Email:
Website:
Twitter:
@joanne_morten
Instagram:
@joanne_morten