Liah is a PhD student focused on the behavior, ecology, and conservation of cetaceans, with an emphasis on using novel technologies to address key questions in marine mammal science. In August 2023, she defended her master’s thesis on the abundance and demographic parameters of spinner dolphins off Oʻahu’s Waiʻanae Coast, providing the first systematic estimates for this population and important data for long-term monitoring and management. Building on this foundation, her PhD research investigates the ecology, population dynamics, and bioenergetics of Eastern North Pacific gray whales in Sitka Sound, Alaska and across their migratory range. She works closely with the Alaska Whale Foundation as a graduate fellow.
Find Liah on Google Scholar and ORCID:
Liah McPherson
Liah's Research Aims
Liah's doctoral research investigates the ecological and energetic dynamics of Eastern North Pacific gray whales, with a particular focus on their emerging use of Sitka Sound, Alaska. Through an integrated approach combining drone-based photogrammetry, bio-logging technologies, abundance and distribution surveys, and spatial analyses, her work aims to:
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Characterize gray whale occurrence in Sitka Sound by quantifying both their spatial and temporal association with spawning Pacific herring and their seasonal change in body condition
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Estimate the intra- and inter-annual abundance of gray whales in Sitka Sound and investigate their migration phenology to assess how whales use this region within the broader migratory cycle.
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Evaluate the energetic costs, requirements, and trade-offs of ENP gray whales across breeding grounds, foraging grounds, and major life-history stages
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Assess biomass removal of Pacific herring eggs by gray whales in Sitka Sound, linking foraging behavior to ecosystem impacts and implications for local fisheries and management.
Biography
Liah hails from the cozy beach town of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where she began assisting local bottlenose dolphin research efforts in 2009. She earned dual bachelor's degrees in Biology and Animal Behavior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2019, and a master's degree in Marine Biology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2023. She has collaborated with numerous research organizations to study a number of cetacean species from the Bahamas to the Antarctic, and throughout the Hawaiian Islands. An avid freediver, photographer, boat captain, and science communicator, Liah is passionate about exploring and protecting marine ecosystems.