Iliana Ruiz-Cooley

Sperm Whales and Squid: The Prey Size Debate

About the Speaker

Iliana Ruiz-Cooley is a Tenure-track Faculty Researcher at Ensenada Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education in Baja California, and a Research Faculty Member at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, California. She is a Marine Ecologist with expertise in the feeding ecology of cetaceans, cephalopods and marine food webs.  She relies on biochemical tracers (including cutting edge techniques like compound specific stable isotope analysis of amino acids) to investigate the migration and feeding ecology of marine fishes, invertebrates and mammals. Her research focuses on understanding the effect of natural and anthropogenic perturbations on food web structure and habitat biochemistry. She received her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biology (Evolutionary Ecology) from New Mexico State University in 2009, and held two postdoctoral positions: One at the National Research Council/National Academies and another one at the Ocean Sciences Department, University of California Santa Cruz. She has conducted research throughout the Gulf of California, California Current, Eastern Tropical Pacific, Humboldt Current, and Gulf of Mexico.