I have a PhD in Fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean sciences, and a Master's in Marine Mammal Science from the University of St. Andrews. I am an assistant professor with the fisheries technology program at the University of Alaska Southeast where I teach classes in fisheries and oceanography. My research work focuses on interactions with fisheries and marine mammals, specifically sperm whale-and-longline fisheries interactions in the Gulf of Alaska. I have been working with the Southeast Alaska Sperm Whale Avoidance Project (SEASWAP), based out of Sitka, Alaska since 2009. This project, founded in 2003, is a collaborative effort between commercial fishermen, researchers, and fisheries managers to understand sperm whale depredation of commercial longline fishing gear in the Gulf of Alaska, and work to minimize this interaction. My work with SEASWAP is broad-based including bio-acoustics to study foraging and communication, analysis of diet using stable isotopes, and movement and habitat analysis using satellite tags.