Lauren Wild
Following the arc of humans’ relationship with marine mammals in Southeast Alaska
About the Speaker
Lauren was born and raised in Sitka, in Southeast Alaska. She attended Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts, where she graduated with a B.A. in International and Global Studies, and a minor in Mathematics. During a study abroad semester in Madagascar, Lauren became interested in marine science and whale research, so she began volunteering for Jan Straley, a professor of Biology and whale researcher at the UAS Sitka Campus. In 2009 she returned to Southeast Alaska and was hired by Professor Straley as a research technician on the Southeast Alaska Sperm Whale Avoidance Project (SEASWAP), a collaborative project of fishermen, scientists, and fisheries managers working to better understand sperm whale interactions with commercial longline fishing vessels. With SEASWAP Lauren worked in acoustics, tagging, population dynamics, and diet analysis. She obtained a master’s degree in Marine Mammal Science at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland. SEASWAP also introduced her to the world of marine mammal and fisheries interactions in Alaska, and she became fascinated with the cultural and conservation importance of this field. She went back to school and received her Ph.D. in Fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, graduating in 2020. She is currently an Assistant Professor with the Fisheries Technology program at the University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Campus, where she also conducts research on humpback whales and gray whales in the Gulf of Alaska, specifically focusing on interactions with fisheries resources. In her free time, Lauren can be found hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, boating, playing music with family, friends, and her dog Nysa.