Chelsi is a PhD student in the Thorne Lab within the Ecology and Evolution program at Stony Brook University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Pace University and gained experience working with science and conservation organizations before joining the lab. Her time as a whale watch naturalist sparked a passion for whales, which ultimately shaped her research focus. In the lab, she studies the health and conservation of humpback whales in the New York Bight. She uses drone photogrammetry to assess body condition of New York Bight humpback whales inter-annually and across foraging grounds, and to model the growth relationship between body length and age. Additionally, she’s using AIS data to examine how the risk of vessel strike to humpback whales on the East Coast has changed in both space and time. Outside the lab, she enjoys doing crosswords, making pasta, hiking, and reading.

Zach is a Master’s student using bioenergetics to assess how surfacing rates in baleen whales impact their risk of ship strikes. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from Gettysburg College in 2023, where he participated in a butterfly restoration project in and around Gettysburg National Military Park, and aquatic plant research during his semester abroad in Uganda. During his senior year, he led an independent study comparing bird bioacoustics, via nocturnal flight calls, to weather radar in quantifying the fall migration. Through this experience, Zach became fascinated with using emerging technologies to answer ecological questions, and subsequently found himself at the Thorne Lab. Outside of the lab, Zach enjoys playing video games with friends, climbing, and disc golfing.

Maddy is a PhD student studying giant petrel movement and habitat use in relation to wind. She received her B.S. in environmental sciences from the University of Washington in her hometown of Seattle. After graduating, she worked several field jobs, including a season doing avian point count surveys in Nevada, forestry work in Washington and Oregon, and fire ecology research in the Longleaf Pine forests of Georgia. She then went on to receive her M.A. in applied ecology at Stony Brook in Dr. Heather Lynch’s lab, writing her capstone on the distribution and abundance of Macaroni penguins in the Antarctic Peninsula region. She is broadly interested in wildlife conservation with a large taxonomic focus on birds, but has a love for all animals. When she isn’t thinking about birds, she enjoys playing video games, listening to lots of rock and indie music, rock climbing, and spending time with her cat Rufus.

Emma is a Master’s student in the Thorne Lab and is interested in studying marine predator movement and ecology. She received her B.S. in biological sciences and sustainability from the University of Notre Dame in 2024, where she studied the impacts of a stream restoration project on aquatic insect diversity in a local waterway. Emma also completed a summer REU program at the Ohio State University Stone Laboratory in 2023, researching how turbidity particles and predator presence within Lake Erie influence boldness and foraging behaviors in an invasive prey fish. Outside of the lab, Emma loves running, hiking, yoga, and traveling. In her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, you can find her spending time with her family, including her golden retriever, Atlas.