Kathleen Gill

I was born and raised in Alaska, where I spent most of my time outdoors in nature hiking, camping, kayaking, and tide pooling. I moved to the Pacific Northwest to attend the University of Washington in Seattle. I graduated with a B.S. in Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation, and a Minor in Marine Biology. One of my favorite experiences as an undergrad was getting to study marine mammals at Friday Harbor Labs, where I conducted an independent research project on harbor seals. While out in the field observing these seals, I regularly saw killer whales, harbor porpoises, California sea lions, Steller sea lions, and river otters. This experience inspired me to pursue research with marine mammals to better understand their ecology. I am especially interested in sub-Arctic and Arctic marine mammals and understanding how global changes in their environment are shifting their predator-prey interactions. I hope to gain marine mammal research techniques from this internship that I can then apply to studying these marine mammals in a graduate program.