Current Lab Members

Interested in joining the Thorne Lab? Check out our opportunities here.

Kimberly Lato

kimberly(dot)lato(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

Kim is PhD student in Thorne Lab studying seabird ecology. She obtained her B.Sc. from Binghamton University in New York and has worked for numerous conservation non-profits prior to coming to SoMAS. She has most recently worked as a research assistant in Costa Rica, studying the nesting polymorphism of Olive Ridley sea turtles. Her dissertation focuses on the foraging ecology and urban habitat use of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and great black-backed gulls (Larus marinus) using GPS tracking data and stable isotope analyses. Her work is driven by the overarching objective of understanding the human-wildlife interface and impacts of human pressure on animal populations.

In her free time, Kim enjoys hiking, kayaking, and baking!

Nathan Hirtle

nathan(dot)hirtle(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

Nathan is a PhD student in the Thorne lab using 3D models to accurately represent humpback whale morphology and identify broad scale patterns in delphinid morphology. His future efforts will focus on using quantitative methods to explore predator-prey interactions at the highest trophic levels in relation to climate change. Nathan earned a B.Sc. at Salisbury University in Maryland, where he led a water quality analysis program and studied trends in nutrient data in the Wicomico River. He also explored forage fish ecology using acoustic imaging at Chesapeake Biological Laboratories, which led to his interest in food web dynamics. Before joining the Thorne Lab, Nathan served as an AmeriCorps member in the Education Department of the Salisbury Zoo, where he developed teaching modules to inspire ecological interest in students within the local community. Nathan tries to maintain a healthy work-life balance by listening to music, playing games with friends, and exercising. He can sometimes be found exploring the island running, longboarding, or biking, and likes pretending that he knows how to cook, make coffee, and play guitar.

Chelsi Napoli

chelsi(dot)napoli(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

Chelsi is a PhD student in the Thorne lab, as part of the Ecology and Evolution program at Stony Brook University. She will be studying cetacean body condition and population in the NY bight. She earned her Bachelors degree in Biology at Pace University, and has worked for science and conservation organizations before joining the lab. Most recently, she worked as a naturalist for the New England Aquarium whale watch where her passion for whales and dolphins evolved into her research focus. Her interests are in the population demographics and behavioral ecology of marine mammals. Outside of the lab, you can find her doing crosswords, making bagels, hiking and reading.

Esther Nosazeogie

esther(dot)nosazeogie(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

Esther is a Ph.D. student, who will be studying seabird ecology in the Thorne Lab. She obtained her B.Sc. in Animal and Environmental Biology from the University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria, and her MSc. in Conservation Biology from the A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, University of Jos, Nigeria. She was a research officer at the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research and studied coastal waterbirds before coming to SoMAS. She is generally interested in understanding how bird ecology can inform the conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems.

When she is not studying birds, Esther is doing one of these: trying to get everyone else informed and excited about the natural world, soaking in the outdoors, or enjoying music, literature, and other forms of art.

Check out Esther’s website at naturestorynigeria.com. She’s also on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ENosazeogie, and Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/esther_nosazeogie/.

Ian Maywar

ian(dot)maywar(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

Ian is a Master’s student in the Thorne Lab studying albatross movement. He graduated from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY with majors in Biology and Mathematics and worked alongside Dr. Corey Freeman-Gallant to research the community of plasmodium infecting local Common Yellowthroats. He then worked as a research assistant for the Kartzinel lab at Brown University studying the diet and microbiome patterns of large ungulates in Yellowstone National Park. Ian is generally interested in the intersection of mathematics and ecology and its application to conservation and sustainability solutions. He is also interested in figuring out how many plants he can fit in his room. Ian loves backpacking and bikepacking, music, movies, basketball, and volleyball.
 

Taylor Evans

taylor(dot)c(dot)evans(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

Taylor is a postdoc in the Thorne Lab studying the environmental drivers of North Atlantic Right Whale habitat use in Southern New England. She earned her PhD at Georgetown University with the Shark Bay Dolphin Research Project investigating the stability, vertical transmission, and fitness consequences of socio-ecological strategies in bottlenose dolphins. Further back in time, Taylor earned a B.S. in Biology from UCLA studying everything from sea anemone personality to roadkill ecology. She then worked for the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife collecting data on recreational fisheries and for the Ocean Conservation Society studying cetaceans in Santa Monica Bay. Her research interests center on longitudinal, individually based datasets and the interaction between behavioral phenotypes, population dynamics, and the environment. Outside the lab, you can generally find her adventuring with her dog Barley and/or taking pictures of birds.
 

Josh Meza-Fidalgo

joshua(dot)meza-fidalgo(at)stonybrook(dot).edu

Josh is a research associate in the Thorne Lab and is primarily responsible for leading and coordinating marine mammal and seabird surveys. Broadly interested in cetacean behavior and ecology, he earned a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University in 2023. For his master’s project, he utilized photo-identification and GIS to study the movements of common bottlenose dolphins that forage in association with commercial shrimp trawlers. Prior to graduate school he worked on whale watching boats in California as crew, naturalist, and eventually USCG licensed Captain, was a blue whale photo identification intern with the Aquarium of the Pacific and was a research assistant for Gray Whales Count. In 2012 he earned his B.Sc. in biology from James Madison University. When he’s not working Josh enjoys spending time with his wife and dog, photographing wildlife, reading and watching football.     
 

Zach Hoffman

zachary(dot)k(dot)hoffman(at)stonybrook(dot).edu

Zach is a master’s student in the Thorne Lab studying marine mammals. Zach is interested in using emerging technologies for studying ecology and management. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in environmental studies from Gettysburg College in 2023, where he participated in butterfly and aquatic plant research. During his senior year, he led a study assessing the ability of BirdVox, a machine learning program, to identify nocturnal flight calls in birds using bioacoustics data. Outside of the lab, Zach enjoys video games, playing guitar, disc golfing, and working out.
 

Maddy Hallet

madeline(dot)hallet(at)stonybrook(dot).edu

Maddy is a PhD student, and will be studying albatross energetics in response to changing wind patterns. 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 tons of rock and indie music, going outdoors, and spending time with her cat Rufus.
 

Katie Gallagher

katherine(dot)l(dot)hudson(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

Katherine (Katie) Gallagher is a senior postdoctoral associate in the Thorne Lab. She will be building habitat suitability models for whale species on the Mid Atlantic bight with glider and passive acoustic data. She earned her B.S. in marine biology from Northeastern University in 2017. Katie received her PhD in oceanography from the University of Delaware in 2022, where she used glider and model data to study biophysical coupling within an Antarctic biological hotspot. Broadly, Katie’s interests lie at the intersection of physical and biological oceanography, and how biophysical interactions drive the distributions of prey, their predators, and marine pollutants. Beyond the lab, you can find Katie playing video games, reading, baking, or hiking.

 

Dylan Sinnickson

dylan(dot)sinnickson(at)stonybrook(dot)edu

 

Dylan is a senior postdoctoral associate in the Thorne lab studying the body condition and food web ecology of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the New York Bight.  His academic career began at Middlebury College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in conservation biology.  He later received his master’s in fisheries management and conservation at the University of Miami, where he investigated trends in eutrophication and fish population densities in estuaries throughout the Gulf of Mexico.  Dylan received his PhD from the University of Florida in fisheries and aquatic sciences, where his research focused on assessing responses of estuarine fish populations to changes in freshwater inputs within the Suwannee River Estuary.  Much of his research has employed the use of quantitative models to assess broad-scale ecological changes in aquatic systems