Gussie's Research Aims

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Gussie’s doctoral research integrates emerging technology and methods to better quantify the fine-scale energy dynamics of humpback whales across ages, locations, and behaviors. Her research is integral to developing empirical large scale models to predict the individual and population health of the North Pacific population in the face of climate change. For humpback whale mothers and calves on the Hawaiian breeding ground, her aims are to:

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• Quantify energy expenditure across behavioral states and scale up to estimate the daily energy expenditure of humpback whale mothers and calves

• Predict the consequences of vessel disturbance on the energy transferred from mother to calf through nursing

• Investigate the bioenergetic reproductive consequences of decreasing maternal length across the North Pacific population

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For adult humpbacks foraging in Southeast Alaska, she aims to:

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• Compare the daily energetic costs and benefits of three foraging tactics: cooperative bubble-net feeding on herring, solitary bubble-net feeding on krill, and lunge feeding on krill

 

 

Biography

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Gussieʻs interest in science started during the summers she spent backpacking in the Black Mountains of North Carolina. She earned her B.A. in Biology from Amherst College in 2019, and while studying away at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, and at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, she solidified her interest in whale behavioral research. Gussie graduated with an MSc in Marine Mammal Science for the University of St. Andrews in 2020. She analyzed DTAG data from pairs of tagged whales for her master's thesis research on the acoustic communication behavior of male sperm whales. She loves living on Oʻahu where she can hike, play ultimate frisbee, and go to the beach year-round.