Our Research Team

A note from Greg Kaufman,
Chief Scientist and Founder of Pacific Whale Foundation
Blogs by Greg

I began studying whales in the 1970s using benign research techniques. My life’s work has focused primarily on humpback whales using photo-identification techniques, aerial and acoustical surveys. I first visited Australia in 1979 when I was en route to London to represent the Kingdom of Tonga as their Scientific Advisor to the International Whaling Commission. As my plane approached the coastline of east Australia I stared out the window in awe of this expansive coastline. It carried on for thousands of kilometers, and I soon learned why Australians call it ‘ginormous’. It was then I made up my mind to return and study the endangered humpbacks off Australia. “Here,“ I thought, “is where we can unlock the secrets to their migration, mating, breeding and perhaps feeding, all in one long study area.” We began our research off Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island (some 30 kilometers east of Brisbane, Queensland), in June of 1984. It was cold, windy and the seas were rough. We had to launch through the surf each day on one of Australia’s most famous surfing beaches. At the end of the first year we identified fewer than 40 whales. As we head down for our 27th season of research, we now have identified over 5,600 individual whales. Our research is the backbone of knowledge for breeding humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere. Our findings are being used by the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee in their ongoing comprehensive assessment of east Australia and Oceania humpback stocks. Thanks for joining us on our 2010 research expedition. Sit down, hold on -- the next three months should be a wild but informative ride!

Cristina Paola Castro A.
Research Director, Ecuador
Pacific Whale Foundation Ecuadorian Research Program
Blogs by Cristina

Cristina received her B.A. degree in Biology and Chemistry in the Central University of Ecuador in 1996, and was granted a doctorate in Biology from the Central University of Ecuador in 2001. Her research interests are in management and conservation of marine mammals in Ecuador. Since 1997 her studies have focused on the breeding grounds of humpback whales in the Machalilla National Park, Ecuador. Cristina has also directed programs of marine mammal environmental education programs, written books on environmental education for indigenous children living in the Ecuadorian jungle and coast.

Itana Freire Silva
Research Assistant

Blogs by Itana

Itana graduated with Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2009. She is passionate about marine mammals and conservation. Originally from Brazil, she developed this passion through her experience as an intern with the Aquatic Mammals Institute in her home country between 1997 and 2000. Itana was involved in the collection of behavioral data on the gray dolphin and on South Atlantic Humpback whales. She also participated in the recovery and rehabilitation of cetaceans and pinnipeds, and in educational programs involving fishermen, communities and schools. These were valuable experiences that defined her career aspirations.

Since Itana moved to Hawai‘i in 2000, she worked with a variety of marine research and conservation organizations such as the Maui Ocean Center curatorial department and the DLNR-Division of Aquatic Resources as an intern, the Zoology Department at UH Mānoa Zoology as a research assistant, the Hawaii Wildlife Fund and the HIHWNMS-NOAA Water Quality monitoring program as a volunteer. She was also part of the NOAA-PIRO Marine Mammal Response Network/HPU Marine Mammals Stranding Team, participating in Hawaiian Monk seal monitoring, response to cetacean strandings and marine mammals necropsies. She also worked for The Dolphin Institute, assisting with Humpback whale and Spinner dolphin photo-identification catalog maintenance, field work and data entry and analysis and with Hawai‘i Pacific University/Cascadia Research Collective as an undergraduate research assistant, analyzing Hawaiian melon-headed whale photographs to create a photo-identification catalog for the study of population size and structure.

Itana is currently part of the Researcher on Board program at PWF. She is also responsible for the false-killer whale photo-identification catalog.

Dominique Richardson
Research Assistant

Blogs by Dominique

Dominique graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007. During her undergraduate career, she was fortunate enough to conduct conservation biology and animal behavior research in the field in Laikipia, Kenya on Gunther’s dik-dik. While living in the field, she had several close encounters with terrestrial, charismatic megafauna.

In 2010, Dominique graduated with a Master of Science degree in Environmental Sciences from California State University, Los Angeles. While completing her Master’s, she conducted research on intertidal ecology in Vancouver, Canada and on the behavior of Pacific seahorses in Southern California. As part of her degree she also created environmental education programs for local aquariums to encourage school children and the public to conserve ocean creatures and their environment.

Dominique spent several years working as a naturalist in Southern California introducing guests to local wildlife while helping to collect data on various cetaceans including blue whales, fin whales, humpback whales, gray whales, common dolphins, and bottlenose dolphin. During this time she had several close encounters with aquatic, charismatic megafauna.

Dominique is currently a part of the Researcher on Board program, collecting data on “surprise encounters” with humpback whales, gathering opportunistic photographic identification data on resident odontocetes, and looking at interspecies interactions in local waters.

Rob Rankin, M.Sc.

Data Analyst

Robert is an ecologist from Muskoka, Ontario, with a particular interest in community ecology and quantitative tools. He has been involved with a variety of coastal environmental projects in the non-profit, academic and government sectors. Previously, he served as a wildlife analyst for a binational Great Lakes wetland monitoring programme, and as a coordinator for marine-based community development projects in the Grenadines. He has an enduring passion for coastal ecosystem research, having worked with seabirds in the Canadian High-Arctic, shorebirds in Sweden and Alaska, as well as having volunteered with various marine-mammal projects. He has studied marine-biology in Sweden and the Mediterranean, earning a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, and an M.Sc. in Biology from Lund University, Sweden.

Sarah Bade

Sarah Bade was born in San Diego, California and grew up in southern California. Her family, consisting of parents, two younger sisters, one insane dog, and countless fish, currently lives in Colorado. She is a junior at Brigham Young University in Utah, and is studying Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation. She came to work for the Pacific Whale Foundation because marine biology has always been a passion of hers (and because she didn’t want to get stuck surveying sagebrush). She enjoys photography, Shotokai karate, and newfound hobbies diving and surfing.

Lindsay Veazey

Intern

"I wake up every day so happy to be in Maui pursuing what I love. Practicing malama 'aina as a PWF intern is such an awesome way to spend my time; I've been eco-cruising with the company since I was 6 years old, and I think that early exposure to a culture of dedicated environmentalism really impacted the course of my studies and activities. I'm currently utilizing my skills as a statistical programmer to create a script for the computer to process some of our data, like anomalies in sea surface temperature near the Tasman Sea, or the range of a variety of cetaceans around Maui Nui. Our goal is to mathematically analyze these data in order to further our understanding of the spatial distribution, social habits, and feeding patterns of marine life all around the Pacific Ocean. My days include a lot of computer time in the office, but if I ever need a quick reminder about why I do what I do, I grab my gear and head to a nearby reef for a swim. I know it's true: love what you do, and you'll never really work a day in your life."

Michelle Viengkone, B.S.

Intern

Michelle originates from Ontario, Canada where she attended and received her undergraduate degree from Queen’s University (Kingston). From a young age, wildlife and conservation have been strong passions of hers. She gained experience in the facets of biology throughout her undergraduate studies by being involved in a molecular ecology lab, field courses, and actively participating in academia.

She hopes to pursue graduate studies in the future, but for now she is enjoying her internship working on two projects involving the Maui Spinner Dolphins and the annual event, The Great Whale Count. She considers herself fortunate to be on Maui and to be a part of the research team here at Pacific Whale.

Jayda Guy

I was born in a small town in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Since I was young, I have always been fascinated by nature and the outdoors. I graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Science Honors and have had a wide range of experiences in the field. I have been very fortunate to have had research assistant experience counting Varroa mites in honeybee hives in the Kootenays and collecting DNA samples from the Massasauga Rattlesnake in Ontario. For my undergraduate thesis, my project focused on microhabitat selection of two small temperate snakes where I had the opportunity to organize and collect my own data from the field. I have also worked for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency setting up invasive insect traps in my home town. I have always been intrigued by marine wildlife and I feel so lucky to be a research intern here at the Pacific Whale Foundation in Maui. I am currently helping on the Sea Turtle project where I am investigating feeding habitat characteristics and sea turtle abundance as well as continuing our sea turtle identification catalog.

Notes from the Field - Australia is written during our field research season in Australia. Experience the life of a whale researcher by clicking here.

Notes from the Field - Ecuador is also starting you can follow us by clicking here.