The Women in Marine Mammal Science (or WIMMS) initiative was formed to establish a global community of marine mammal scientists whose aim is to help women achieve their full career potential in this field. The WIMMS initiative stemmed from a workshop in 2017, organized in association with the Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, that sought to identify the barriers to success faced by women and to present strategies that individuals and institutions can implement to break these barriers down.
Since that time, the WIMMS organizers have been actively engaged in supporting women in marine mammal science and amplifying their achievements, acknowledging the ways in which the landscape of gender dynamics is changing. The global #metoo movement has highlighted the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault and led to some accountability, including within the sciences. The global movement for racial justice and equality has emphasized the importance of considering intersectionality when talking about the barriers faced by women, which is also being addressed within the scientific community.
In the marine mammal science field, there’s been the formation of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee and a grassroots-led effort to end unpaid positions as the status quo in our field. Despite these advances, substantial progress is needed to allow all women to realize their full career potential in our field. The most recent WIMMS Initiative activity was a webinar in 2022, hosted in collaboration with the SMM D&I Committee, which focused on sharing the experiences of women in marine mammal science and furthering the discussion on progress and change. Please join our growing global community aimed at ensuring women can achieve their career goals in this field!
Since that time, the WIMMS organizers have been actively engaged in supporting women in marine mammal science and amplifying their achievements, acknowledging the ways in which the landscape of gender dynamics is changing. The global #metoo movement has highlighted the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault and led to some accountability, including within the sciences. The global movement for racial justice and equality has emphasized the importance of considering intersectionality when talking about the barriers faced by women, which is also being addressed within the scientific community.
In the marine mammal science field, there’s been the formation of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee and a grassroots-led effort to end unpaid positions as the status quo in our field. Despite these advances, substantial progress is needed to allow all women to realize their full career potential in our field. The most recent WIMMS Initiative activity was a webinar in 2022, hosted in collaboration with the SMM D&I Committee, which focused on sharing the experiences of women in marine mammal science and furthering the discussion on progress and change. Please join our growing global community aimed at ensuring women can achieve their career goals in this field!
Organizers
Dr. Amanda Bradford
Amanda is a Research Ecologist with the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center's Cetacean Research Program, where she focuses on cetacean population assessment, both in the office and out at sea. Her specific research interests are population dynamics and demography, line-transect abundance estimation, mark-recapture parameter estimation, and health and injury assessment. She received her B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University at Galveston and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington.
Dr. Maria Constanza Marchesi
María is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the National Research Council (CONICET) as part of the Marine Mammals lab in Puerto Madryn (Argentina), studying the functional morphology of dolphin vertebral columns by employing geometric morphometrics. Maria got her B.S. in marine biology and her PhD at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. She worked for several years in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) under the mentorship of Dr. Natalie Goodall and has over 9 seasons of experience working with tourists visiting Antarctica, both as lecturer and as expedition leader. Her particular interests comprise marine mammal diversity and the morphological and physiological adaptations of South Atlantic and Antarctic cetaceans.
Dr. Cara Gallagher
Cara is an ecological modeller interested in how energy shapes patterns in ecology and influences species risk under human disturbance. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Potsdam in the BioMove group, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Florian Jeltsch. Her research largely focuses on using agent-based simulation models and physiological theory to understand the emergence of wildlife population and community patterns and predict the impacts of environmental alterations, such as from noise pollution, habitat degradation, and climate change. She is also a graphic art enthusiast who is passionate about using visual media to communicate science. Cara has a BSc in Biological Sciences from California State University East Bay, a MSc in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from San Francisco State University, and a PhD in Bioscience from Aarhus University.
Natalie Mastick
Natalie is a marine ecologist with a research focus on marine mammal behavior, foraging ecology, and parasite ecology. She is a PhD Candidate in the Wood Lab in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, and a Graduate Research Fellow with Oceans Initiative. For her PhD, she is studying the change in risk of parasite infections in marine mammals. Natalie is also a founding member and Research Associate with Sound Science Research Collective, where she researches humpback whale behavior in Southeast Alaska. Natalie received her B.S. in Marine Biology and B.A. in Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and her M.Sc. in Wildlife Science at Oregon State University.
Dr. Frances Robertson
Frances is a marine wildlife biologist with over 15 years of marine mammal research experience. She is currently the Marine Project Manager for San Juan County in Washington State. Frances' research interests cover animal behavior, foraging ecology, and how marine mammals respond to human activities and anthropogenic noise. She is Co-PI on a long-term study of minke whales in the Northeast Pacific, and also writes about the importance of whales to Washington State coastal tribes. Frances earned her Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia and her MRes and B.Sc Hons from Aberdeen University, Scotland. Frances lives on San Juan Island in Washington State with her family, including two young kids whom she hopes will share some of her passions for the oceans one day.
Dr. Mridula Srinivasan
Mridula is a behavioral ecologist with research interests in predator-prey interactions, risk effects, effects of climate variability on seabirds and marine mammals, and international marine mammal research, including marine mammal health and stranding response and capacity building. She is currently Director of the Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, at NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Here, she oversees a program to conduct and support NOAA Fisheries marine mammal, sea turtle, coral, ocean acoustics, and climate research and development activities. She has a B.Sc (Honors) and M.Sc in Zoology/Molecular Biology from University of Delhi, a MS in Environmental Management from Florida Tech, and a PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University.
Dr. Karen Stockin
Karen is an Associate Professor in Marine Biology at Massey University, Zealand where she holds a Royal Society Te Aparangi Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (2019-2023). Formerly she was based at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and Plymouth University, England where she studied cetacean behavior for her MSc and BSc, respectively. Her current research examines the synergies between the scientific disciplines of conservation biology and animal welfare science, with particular reference to human-wildlife interactions. As the inaugural Standings Coordinator of the IWC Stranding Initiative, Karen now serves on their expert panel and engages across various international committees and government organizations.
Clarissa Teixeira
Clarissa is an ecologist with a research focus on the integration of different biomarkers on biological tissues with other available information (e.g., photo-id, tracking data) to better understand how living organisms respond to increasing anthropogenic activities. Originally from Brazil, Clarissa received her PhD from Federal University of Santa Catarina, working with the trophic ecology and habitat use of small coastal cetaceans in the Brazilian coast. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University – Marine Mammal Institute in the Whale Habitat, Ecology & Telemetry (WHET) Lab, under the supervision of Prof. Daniel Palacios. During this period, she will assess the effects of the DeepWater Horizon oil spill in sperm whales from the Gulf of Mexico by combining bulk stable isotopes, individual amino acids and hormone analysis. Finally, Clarissa is a graphical art apprentice that likes creating (basic) illustrations to provide uncomplicated visual summary of scientific research to the general public.
Naomi A. M. Tuhuteru
Naomi is a spatial ecologist at DHI Denmark. Her work focuses on marine mammal habitat distribution modelling, agent-based modelling and underwater noise impact assessments. Additionally, she works on business development and project management. She has a background in Applied Biology and a master´s degree in Marine Mammal Science from the University of St Andrews, where she studied the foraging ecology of killer whales. Throughout her work she has always been passionate about illustrating and graphic design and integrating this in her work. In her free time, she loves to sew and play a bard in Dungeons & Dragons.
Alumni
Dr. Erin Ashe
Erin is the Executive Director and co-founder of Oceans Initiative, a marine research and conservation non-profit based in the Pacific Northwest. Her research is motivated by a desire to use science to make tangible conservation impacts. Erin’s research interests include mark-recapture, ecology, conservation biology, demography, acoustics, population viability analysis, and marine protected areas. She studies the ecology of Pacific white-sided dolphins in the Pacific Northwest using photo-identification and acoustics to learn more about the conservation status of these fascinating dolphins. Erin received her PhD and MRes from St. Andrews University in the Sea Mammal Research Unit, and her B.Sc from Western Washington University.