Lauren joined the Pacific Whale Foundation as a Marine Naturalist in 2021, later moving into the Education department as an Education Specialist in 2022. From a young age, Lauren has been passionate about nature and outdoor spaces, specifically the ocean, after watching movies Finding Nemo and Free Willy as a child. This love continued, leading … Continued
Brian joined Pacific Whale Foundation in 2023. As a research technician based in Hawai’i, Brian is responsible for UAS (drone) field operations, data processing, and analysis. He has a MSc degree in Biology from California State University Long Beach (CSULB) and a BSc degree in Biology with Emphasis in Marine Biology from San Diego State … Continued
Grace Olson is a research biologist based in Hawaiʻi and curates our dolphin photo-identification catalogs. Grace has substantial experience working with dolphin photo identification of both marine and freshwater cetaceans and during her studies she initiated identification catalogs for Amazon river dolphins in Brazil and Peru. Grace’s graduate research focused on sound patterns of social … Continued
Dr. Cristina Castro is an Ecuadorian researcher and principal investigator for our research studies in Ecuador. Dr. Castro has been leading PWF’s field studies on humpback whales in Machalilla National Park since 2001. Our Ecuador research started as a continuation of the population monitoring project that Dr. Castro implemented for her dissertation research and has … Continued
Jens Currie is the Chief Scientist at Pacific Whale Foundation, directing research activities across Hawai‘i, Australia, Ecuador, and Chile. His work focuses on understanding the ecological and physiological responses of whales and dolphins to environmental and human-induced stressors, with the goal of informing conservation strategies. His recent research has explored whale-watching impacts and guidelines to … Continued
