Jessie Hale is a PhD student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and is advised by Dr. Kristin Laidre of the Polar Science Center. Jessie’s dissertation research examines sea otter population dynamics and longitudinal and spatial patterns of sea otter foraging on the outer coast of Washington. Jessie is using annual sea otter survey data collected over several decades by the U.S. Geological survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to create a Bayesian state-space population model for Washington state sea otters.
Jessie is also in the field several months a year collecting observational data on sea otter foraging on the outer coast of Washington to compare sea otter diets over time, and collaborates with researchers at the Seattle Aquarium to study how sea otter diets vary over space. Her research is supported by the NOAA Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship. Jessie’s past research focused on pinto abalone restoration and invasive bullfrogs in Arizona. She is broadly interested in marine ecology and studying species with conservation need where her research has direct management applications. Her personal website can be found here: http://halejessie.wordpr