Students

Jessica Hughes

Jessica Hughes

 

 

 

 

I graduated from Eckerd College, Florida, in the spring of 2025 with a B.S. in Marine Science and Animal Studies. During my time at Eckerd, I volunteered for the FWC Marine Mammal Pathobiology Lab rescuing, recovering and assisting with necropsies of manatees, worked on a student-led horseshoe crab research project, and interned at Clearwater Audubon Society before serving on their Conservation Committee. In my junior and senior years, I completed my undergraduate thesis on aggressive behavior in male black skimmers under the guidance of Drs. Tim Bransford and Beth Forys. While completing my undergraduate thesis, I was able to quantify the aggressive behavior of the males over different stages in the nesting season. After observing black skimmers on public Florida beaches, I grew concerned with the considerable amount of plastic pollution in their habitat and decided to document the concentration of microplastics in the gizzard and proventriculus of black skimmer carcasses. These two projects allowed me to observe black skimmers for over 260 hours in situ.

I started at the Vertebrate Ecology Lab in Fall 2025. My undergraduate experiences gave me the desire to pursue a graduate degree that focused on studying the physiology and/or behavior of marine organisms. I have always been interested in marine mammals, sea turtles, and birds and I am incredibly excited to be advised by Gitte and be surrounded by and learn from lab members who share my passion. I have already learned so much about local marine mammals as a responder for the MLML Stranding Network and am thrilled to take over as the Data Manager next year. My thesis research will focus on conducting a diet analysis of the harbor seals in Elkhorn Slough. I am having a great time at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and cannot wait to grow as a scientist.

Aside from learning more about marine vertebrates, my hobbies include SCUBA diving, birding, figure skating, and exploring the outdoors!

This bird was banded under Beth Forys’ Master Banding Permit: 24258, Florida state permit LSSC-21-00034.

Aleah Corbo

Aleah Corbo

 

 

 

I graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology. During my undergraduate experience I was a research intern for the California State Lands Commission where I helped conduct research on renewable energy and the potential impacts on marine mammals, to help aid policy makers in making sound environmental decisions. In my time at UCSC I started volunteering at a non-profit organization known as Sea Otter Savvy, that focuses on fostering awareness and stewardship in central California to help mitigate the effects of human disturbance on sea otter populations. I also started taking marine conservation and marine mammal classes that help develop my love for marine mammal research and conservation. In my gap year I became a volunteer at The Marine Mammal Center in San Luis Obispo and learned to care and handle sick and injured wildlife in an effort to rehabilitate and release them.
Through my experiences in my undergraduate career I developed a deep love for marine conservation, specifically the disturbances that occur and disrupt natural behaviors in marine organisms. Ultimately my experiences have led me to the Vertebrate Ecology Lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. I started at the lab in the fall of August 2024 and my research focuses on studying seasonal fluctuations in sea otter raft sizes in both Monterey Bay and Elkhorn Slough through the use of drone-based surveys. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here at MLML so far and I am excited to continue to support research, outreach, and management efforts.

 

Sage Patchett

Sage Patchett

I am originally from the Chicago area (Evanston, IL), got my undergrad degree in biology (and a minor in studio art) from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and took a few years post-grad to get some work experience before grad school. While studying abroad my junior year of college in Scotland (at the University of Glasgow), I got to take a marine biology course and conduct studies on toxic algal blooms (at the Field Studies Council Millport), which got me particularly excited about marine research. My first job after graduating college was a temporary position studying wolf predation on beavers in Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. I worked for a master's student at the University of Minnesota and got to assist in editing a paper presenting novel findings in Ecology and Evolution. Then I worked as a laboratory technician and project manager at an environmental sample analysis company called Pace Analytical in Minneapolis. I have always loved animals and am excited to get back into fieldwork and research as a member of Gitte's vertebrate ecology lab through SJSU. My potential thesis will investigate foraging ecology in emperor penguins by examining features using stable isotope analysis.

Sarah Perryman

Sarah Perryman

I graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) in the spring of 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. I have experience studying the impact of anthropogenic climate change on grasslands through Dr. Melinda Smith’s Lab at CSU, working in natural resource policy through the Public Lands Policy Group at CSU, studying cryptic species like the Wolverine and Lynx through Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and exploring Marine Mammal research through my internships with the Alaska Whale Foundation and the Marine Mammal Research Program at the University of Hawaii.
During my time at CSU, I worked in Dr. Courtney Schultz’ lab, the Public Lands Policy Group (PLPG), a research group focused on producing work that informs natural resource management. Working with Dr. Schultz was largely influential to my research goals. While working with PLPG, I assisted MS candidate, Ms. Breidenbach, in her work with the Climate Adaptation Partnership, which focused on interdisciplinary approaches to climate issues. I also assisted in and reviewed confidential interviews with stakeholders, and discussed ways to improve political practices in Colorado, Wyoming, and Washington.
With the experiences I had, I understood I wanted to do work that was conscious of the intersection of science and policy and knew that I wanted to explore Marine Biology. Therefore, I became an intern on PhD candidate Martin Van Aswegen’s project for the Marine Mammal Research Program at the University of Hawaii. Mr. Van Aswegen’s project utilizes drones to estimate the cost of climate change on migration and reproduction in humpback whales. Originally, my work consisted of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) data entry and analysis. I have progressed to be involved in the field work during breeding and foraging seasons. Therefore, I am also interning at the Alaska Whale Foundation during foraging season field work. Through this work, I have gained a skillset in UAS, photo identification, data collection and analysis, Matlab, and necropsy.
Working on a marine mammal project has illuminated my passion for climate adaptive research in marine biology. My background has encouraged me to strive to produce work that is mindful of the intersection between science, stakeholders, and policy. Therefore, I aim to produce research that is approached from an interdisciplinary perspective, utilize my stakeholder involvement skills to ensure the consideration of unique needs, and apply my writing and translational skills so that my work may successfully transition into management.
Email: sarah.perryman@sjsu.edu

Congrats on advancing to candidacy!

Kali Prescott

Congratulations to VEL student Taylor Azizeh for advancing to candidacy!

Taylor's thesis will focus on investigating the foraging ecology of late chick-rearing emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) off Cape Crozier, West Antarctica. Specifically, Taylor will use machine learning to identify potential foraging events from biologging data. By combining foraging attempt and dive data, Taylor can estimate what potential costs and benefits of different foraging strategies might be. Ultimately, Taylor hopes that her work will offer novel information to the seabird ecology world, and that eventually, this work can be used in management strategies to better protect ice-obligate species like penguins.

 

 

Sebastian Caamaño

 

Sebastian Caamaño

Upon graduating from the University of California Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Marine Biology, I got involved with the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory System's Lab where I had my first experience working with marine mammals. Here I started as an intern contributing to the daily care and training of the resident seal and sea lion species. Simultaneously, I was able to assist in several of the research projects being collected here between the animals and researchers. These opportunities ranged from hearing tests with a California Sea Lions to physiological work with two arctic seals and even developing some human trials along the way.
This volunteership, and the skills I learned from it, led me to the Alaska SeaLife Center where I continued my behavior and physiology work with arctic seals as a Research and Animal Care Technician. This position allowed me to take on a larger role in the physiology project I had been assisting on, learning several new physiological techniques while continuing to work with these understudied species.
Ultimately, these experiences led me to the research being conducted at the Vertebrate Ecology Lab here in Moss Landing. Since joining, I have enjoyed working for the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and hope to continue working on the physiology of marine mammals.

Vicky Ooi

Vicky Ooi

My endless curiosity towards wildlife led to my pursuit of a dual bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and Zoology from the University of Queensland, Australia, where I accomplished my dream of studying on the Great Barrier Reef. 

Following completion of my undergraduate studies, I entered an honors research year investigating dugongs along the coast of Southeast Queensland with Drs. Janet Lanyon and Lee McMichael. During this period, I successfully pioneered a fecal DNA extraction protocol that allowed amplification of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from free floating dugong feces. This development enabled single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be amplified from dugong scats, representing a breakthrough for non-invasive population genetic studies in this species. 

I relocated to the United States around mid-late 2022 to reunite with my husband, and later completed an internship program at Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute (Species Preservation Lab) with Karen Steinman, where I further acquired laboratory skills on semen quality assessments, cryopreservation, enzyme immunoassays, and hormone analyses. As of Fall 2023, I have begun working with Dr. Birgitte McDonald on a research project, focusing on the foraging ecology of emperor penguins in Antarctica. Simultaneously, I am working part-time as a naturalist on the Sea Goddess whale-watching cruise.  

Welcome to the VEL!

Taylor Azizeh

Welcome to the Vertebrate Ecology Lab, Sebastian and Vicky!

Sebastian Caamaño graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Marine Biology. He also worked with the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory System's Lab where he got to experience working with marine mammals for the first time. Working as an intern, he got to contribute to the daily care and training of the resident seal and sea lion species. Simultaneously, he assisted in several of research projects. These opportunities ranged from hearing tests with a California Sea Lions to physiological work with two arctic seals and even developing some human trials along the way. This volunteership, led him to the Alaska SeaLife Center where he continued his behavior and physiology work with arctic seals as a Research and Animal Care Technician. Ultimately, these experiences led him to the Vertebrate Ecology Lab here in Moss Landing. Since joining, he has enjoyed working for the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and hope to continue working on the physiology of marine mammals.

Vicky Ooi completed her bachelor's degree in Marine Science and Zoology from the University of Queensland, Australia. She then entered an honors research year investigating dugongs along the coast of Southeast Queensland with Drs. Janet Lanyon and Lee McMichael. During this period, I successfully pioneered a fecal DNA extraction protocol that allowed amplification of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from free floating dugong feces. This development enabled single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be amplified from dugong scats, representing a breakthrough for non-invasive population genetic studies in this species.

She relocated to the United States around mid-late 2022, completing an internship program at Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute (Species Preservation Lab) with Karen Steinman, further acquiring laboratory skills on semen quality assessments, cryopreservation, enzyme immunoassays, and hormone analyses. Her thesis will focus on the foraging ecology of emperor penguins in Antarctica, simultaneously working part-time as a naturalist on the Sea Goddess whale-watching cruise.