Research interests

I am a behavioral ecologist with expertise in bioacoustics, sensory ecology and acoustic communication. I work broadly to understand how social animals function - how they forage individually and in groups, how they communicate and coordinate motion and activity with conspecifics, and how increasing anthropogenic activities such as underwater noise or marine development affects such life functions in the Anthropocene.
My research has a particular focus on echolocating toothed whales, but I have active research projects spanning across many taxa from communication and acoustic monitoring of fish and invertebrates to large-scale collective behavior and acoustic information flow in spotted hyenas.
I leverage a range of animal-borne high-resolution biologging tags to record and quantify in-situ animal behavior and to take experiments out of the lab and into the wild. I develop new data processing algorithms to extend the capabilities of existing tags, and I collaborate with engineers to develop the next generation of biologgers and smart tags with onboard event detection algorithms to answer new and pressing questions about how animals function and how they are impacted by human activities.
I am keenly interested in science-based conservation and management. I seek to provide data for improved management through research on the effects of anthropogenic noise on marine animals. I am interested in improving acoustic monitoring and density estimation efforts through increased knowledge of marine animal sounds and improved animal detection algorithms.

Appointments
2021-now
Syracuse University, Biology Department
Research Assistant Professor
2019-2021
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department
Visiting Investigator
2018
University of St. Andrews
Associate Lecturer
2016-2018
Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies
Assistant Professor
2014-2016
Princeton University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department
Postdoctoral Fellow
2011-2014
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department
Postdoctoral Fellow

Education
2011
PhD in Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Department of Animal Physiology
2009
MSc in Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark
2006
BSc in Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark

Recent News

February, 2020

Presentation at
Ocean Sciences 2020

At the Ocean Sciences meeting in February 2020, I presented new methods for rapidly assessing vocal repertoires of sonic fish and invertebrates. Collaborative work with Aaron Rice, Aran Mooney and David Mann and funded by NSF.
January, 2020

Risso's dolphin biosonar adjustment

In a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, we show that deep-diving Risso's dolphins do not use a gradual biosonar gain control when approaching and capturing prey, unlike shallow-water delphinids. Read full paper here.
December, 2020

Why whales are big but not bigger

In a new collaborative paper led by Dr. Jeremy Goldbogen and published in Science, we used tags and in-situ prey assessment to investigate the drivers and ecological limits of cetacean gigantism. Read full paper here.