National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - NOAA
I'm a natural resources specialist with NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Regional Office, where I coordinate recovery of endangered large whales, including North Atlantic right whales and Rice's whales. From 2004 to 2023 I was a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and led field efforts to collect skin samples from recently born right whale calves along the Southeast U.S. coast each winter. These samples enable Dr. Frasier and his team to determine each calf's sex and age, and often their parentage. When combined with photo-ID sighting histories, this detailed information helps to improve the precision of population models that are critical for ongoing efforts to save this imperilled species.