Job Type
Research
Natural Resource Management
Subject Area
Biological Oceanography, Marine Ecology
Fisheries, Aquaculture
Activities
Dr. Karin Forney is a Research Biologist with the Marine Mammal and Turtle Division at NOAA’s Southwest
Fisheries Science
Center. Since 1987, she has conducted research on the
abundance, distribution, ecology, fishery bycatch, and status of over 20
species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and pinnipeds (seals and
sea lions) in the eastern and central North Pacific Ocean,
with special emphasis on harbor porpoise, false killer whales, and other small
cetaceans. She has also collaborated on studies of endangered leatherback
turtles off California. Research interests include 1) ocean
variability and its effect on marine mammals and other marine vertebrates, 2) habitat-based
predictive models of cetacean distribution and abundance, 3) assessment and
mitigation of human-caused mortality and injury of protected species, and 4) the
development of improved methodology for estimating marine animal abundance and
evaluating population trends. Results of
her studies have been published in scientific journals and technical reports,
and presented at national and international scientific conferences. Additional responsibilities include writing
or co-authoring annual Stock Assessment Reports for Pacific Marine Mammals, and
conducting field research in small aircraft and aboard oceanographic research
vessels.
