Stephanie Vlachos
As the lab services facilitator for MMRP, it is Stephanie's privilege to support the current marine mammal researchers “behind the scenes”. Navigating the University of Hawaiʻi’s administrative system is just one of the many facets necessary for successful fieldwork, data collection and analysis.
Biography
Stephanie was able to start her animal training and husbandry career as she finished high school. While completing a B.S. in Psychology, she honed her marine mammal training skills. She also took an eager interest in the husbandry and rehabilitation of marine mammals and seabirds. Over the years she has been fortunate to work with a variety of cetacean and pinniped species. Her experience also includes field work in the NW Hawaiian Islands with the Hawaiian monk seal program. From 2004-2015 she was on the animal care and training team here at MMRP. While working with graduate students, post docs and visiting researchers, data was collected on the hearing and echolocation capabilities of our three dolphins and a false killer whale. The cetaceans were superbly trained for their tasks and greatly contributed to the body of publications in marine mammal science over the years. Once it was time for the animals to move away, her time at MMRP came to an end. Fast forward six years to 2021 and she is back again as the lab services facilitator and admin support.