I study all aspects of Magellanic penguin behavior and ecology. As part of a long-term study, I train new students and volunteers in the field, analyze data, write papers and reports, and write field research protocols. With a background in oceanography, I'm particularly interested in penguin behavior at sea, and have attached various types of tracking tags to penguins to learn what they do in their at-sea lives. I love being in the penguin colony and watching penguin behavior, which always surprises me. I'm inspired by the next generation of seabird scientists.

I study heat stress effects on nesting common eider ducks in the Canadian Arctic by analyzing their heart rate and incubation behaviour in response to weather variables, such as ambient temperature. The goal of my study is to determine a cold-adapted sea duck's vulnerability to rapid warming in the Arctic. This research was performed within the Inuit Nunangat, on the island of Qiqiktakuluk, in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Irniurviit Co-Management Committee of Coral Harbour. After my degree, I hope to continue studying vulnerable seabird populations to help inform policy action!

My PhD focuses specifically on the population dynamics and foraging ecology of Grey-headed Albatrosses at Subantarctic Marion Island and is rooted in statistical ecology, but my broad interest is the conservation of seabirds, including island restoration ecology. I have worked as a field biologist on four expedition teams at Marion and Gough Islands where I mostly collected long-term population monitoring data and deployed tracking devices on seabirds, and worked on the Gough Island Restoration Programme. Recently I became a lecturer and guide on cruise ships in Antarctica and Alaska to educate and enlighten guests about the intricate lives of seabirds.

I research the at-sea distribution of seabirds, specifically how seabirds use ocean habitats, including protected regions, and how their distribution, abundance, and communities are changing with climate change. I also run the Penguano Project, a collaborative program that investigates the ingestion and food web pathways of plastic pollution in Antarctic penguins.

I enjoy researching the ecology and energetics of seabirds and their influence on the marine ecosystems that they inhabit. In my current roles, I am investigating the movement ecology of tropical seabirds and their influence on nutrient transfer and coral reef ecology.

In my current role as a PhD candidate, in close collaboration with the Nunatsiavut Government and Environment and Climate Change Canada, my main focus is researching the sub-lethal impacts of oil spills on seabirds and the links to foraging ecology, bird health, and potential risks to humans through country food consumption. I am passionate about Indigenous-led research, toxicology, food webs, reproductive biology, and movement ecology, and also have a soft spot for seaducks.

My PhD focused on vocal communication in two burrowing petrel species, the Blue Petrel and the Antarctic Prion. I studied the determinism of male calls and their implications for female mate choice using an experimental approach in the field (e.g. playback stimulation, two-choice test, propagation). Results showed that despite the limited vocal repertoire and the simplicity of the call, temporal and frequency features of male calls encode information about the sexual motivation and aggressiveness, some morphological features, and vocal identity of the caller. This information seems to influence females when choosing their life-time partner.

In my current role, I manage a long-term research initiative focused on understanding Adélie penguin population dynamics in the Ross Sea. This comprehensive study involves monitoring penguin populations, tracking their feeding habits, and analyzing the ecological dynamics within their habitat. Our aim is to gain insights into the factors affecting these penguins' survival and breeding, as well as their interaction with the broader marine ecosystem. This project not only contributes to the scientific community's understanding of Antarctic wildlife but also informs conservation strategies to ensure the sustainability of these vital species and their environment.

My PhD project is investigating oceanographic drivers of foraging behaviour and diet in Manx shearwaters. I am using a combination of GPS-tracking to identify foraging behaviour, and DNA metabarcoding to determine the diet of chick-provisioning Manx shearwaters and the consequences for chick growth.

Kia ora! I'm Wednesday, I have a background in marine science and science communication. As a technician, I support a variety of research projects at the University of Auckland, including work on seabirds and cetaceans and how they interact in our big blue backyard. For my MSc, I developed AI tools to help identify seabirds and other marine megafauna from drone footage and studied multispecies foraging associations between seabirds and cetaceans. I am also currently working in the AI space as a research assistant to further develop our AI tool to identify and study coastal species from drone footage. I am a volunteer for Birds NZ and have worked with hoiho (yellow eyed penguins) as part of the BLAKE ambassador programme.

I work with colonial Red-breasted Mergansers to understand whether host Red-breasted Mergansers respond to conspecific brood parasitism by discriminating against parasitic eggs and how conspecific brood parasitism affects incubation behaviour. Using albumen to identify parasitic eggs and data loggers to track incubation activity, I investigated host behaviour in colonial Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator) at Kouchibouguac National Park, NB.

I manage the banding permit and associated data for the USFWS Pacific Remote Islands and Monuments as well as work on a number of projects related to the research and conservation of the bird species that rely on these islands, most of which are seabirds. I also manage a project that is developing a machine-learning tool to speed up monitoring efforts that use drones and other imagery to count colonial waterbirds.