Marine Science & the Coast

Kate Stafford on the ice in Alaska, holding a hydrophone to record underwater sound. 

Kate Stafford is an associate professor and principal investigator of the Marine Mammal Bioacoustics and Ecology Lab, part of the Marine Mammal Institute at Hatfield Marine Science Center. Her research focuses on the use of passive acoustic monitoring in the ocean to study marine mammals, at the intersection of animal behavior and biological and physical oceanography. She spends part of each year in the northernmost tip of Alaska. 

Taylor Hersh taking a photo while doing field work on an unrelated project near Dominica. Photo by Ellen Jacobs. 

Oregon State University researcher Taylor Hersh has been named one of five women in science awardees by L’Oreal USA for 2024, a recognition that also comes with a $60,000 grant to pursue further research and public engagement.

Mauricio Cantor, center, with a large group of students and researchers at the University of Kerala. 

Mauricio Cantor is an assistant professor in the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. He is a behavioral ecologist who studies mutually beneficial interactions between human fishers and dolphins in southern Brazil and is now expanding that research to India.