Oceanographic Conditions of Bowhead Whale Habitat

The one time Lisa went missing as a child, her parents knew to call the Coast Guard and not the police. She was fine, just having an extended sail around Martha's Vineyard Sound! Spending summers on Cape Cod allowed Lisa to immerse herself in the natural environment around her, all while pursuing her favorite activities: sailing, windsurfing and scuba diving. She studied Environmental Biology with a focus on marine science at the Southampton Campus of Long Island University. Following college she joined a research team from the Australian Queensland Parkas and Wildlife Service to the Great Barrier Reef with a position studying sea turtles. Upon returning home to Cape Cod she began an environmental career with several government agencies, including the Cape Cod Commission where she served as a biologist and planner. After her children grew into toddlers, and her floating home was hit by a tornado, she moved off of the 45' wooden sailboat that had been home for 7 years, and decided that a career change was in order. Completing her Master’s degree in Education with certifications in Biology, Earth Science, General Science and Elementary Education, allowed her to combine her passion for teaching children with her research and scientific interests. Since then she has taught science at Springs School located in East Hampton New York, where she also lives with her husband Gary and their children Mata and Noah. Lisa is very excited to have her school and community join her in Barrow, Alaska along with Dr. Carin Ashjian from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, on this PolarTREC Arctic research experience.

Dr. Carin Ashjian studies marine biology and ecology with a special interest in the ecology of zooplankton in the Polar Regions, as these ecosystems may be significantly impacted by climate change. Her studies have taken her to both the Arctic and the Antarctic. For the past seven years, she has been working in the ocean near Barrow AK using a research vessel to study how and why this region is a feeding hotspot for bowhead whales during their fall migration from Canada to the Bering Sea. She also has worked from a much larger research vessel, the USCGC Healy, to study zooplankton in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Past research has taken her to the Sea of Japan, the Norwegian Sea, Georges Bank, the Gulf Stream, and the California Current. She is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where she has worked since 1995.