Rachael Orben
Assistant Professor (Sr. Research)
Assistant Professor (Sr. Research)
Research Interests: Rachael is a quantitative ecologist who’s research focuses on factors that influence how marine animals (especially seabirds) move across and use the sea-scape to forage. Her recent research efforts include fine-scale albatross fisheries encounters, migrations of short-tailed albatross fledglings, and carry-over effects on red-legged kittiwake reproduction. As part of the Cormorant Oceanography Project she aims to enhance our basic understanding of cormorant movement ecology, develop cormorants as indicators of the near shore environment and investigate how physical conditions influence cormorant foraging behavior.
Project Roles: PI responsible for developing collaborations, permitting, field logistics, data management, data sharing, outreach & communications.
Expertise:
Animal movement, migration, seabird foraging ecology, species–habitat relationships, food web dynamics, biologging, marine spatial planning, seabird-fisheries interactions
Education:
Ph.D. – Ocean Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, 2014
B.S. – Biological Sciences, Cornell University, 2002
Seabird Oceanography Lab