Whale Wise THE TEAM
The Team
Protecting whales can never be achieved through solo efforts alone. It requires a team with diverse background and skills, with a shared passion for marine conservation. Luckily, Whale Wise is run by a group of people with experience in whale research, conservation action, public engagement and media. Together, we are committed to making this earth a better place for all of its inhabitants.
We are also fortunate to work with several institutions, who together provide us with the resources and expertise needed to realise our goals. Read about our partners here.
2019 field team
Tom Grove
After graduating with a degree in Natural Science (University of Cambridge, UK), Tom has spent the last two years working for various marine research and conservation groups, with a focus on whales. As part of this, he spent a summer working for the University of Iceland in Húsavík, contributing to photo-identification and behavioural research. During this time, he formed the idea of promoting a more sustainable whale watching industry in Iceland and beyond. This idea has now transformed into Whale Wise, with the broader aim of reducing human disturbance to whales. Whale Wise will form part of Tom’s PhD with the University of Edinburgh.
Alyssa Stoller
Alyssa grew up in California, spending much of her childhood at the beach and on the ocean. Inspired by her family, she knew from a very young age that she wanted to devote her life to whales and the ocean. Alyssa obtained her BS in Marine Environmental Science from Western Washington University, in the hope of better comprehending the issues that are affecting marine wildlife. She then spent four years as a research assistant (2016 and 2017 as head research assistant) for Cook Islands Whale Research based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, primarily studying humpback whales. In 2018 Alyssa began working with Whale Wise, with the aim of minimising human disturbance to marine life.
Abigail Robinson
Abigail is from New Zealand and has always felt a draw to the ocean. Growing up in a family that spent summers fishing and diving, meant that she encountered cetaceans from a young age, and has always scanned the horizon for them ever since. While studying a BAppSc. in Biodiversity Management (Unitec, Auckland), she spent a season in 2016 in the Cook Islands working along side Alyssa as a research assistant for Cook Islands Whale Research. This was when she learned to fly a drone, and capture humpbacks from an angle that offers many new research opportunities. Currently she works as a Biosecurity Officer in New Zealand.
Flordespina Dodds
Flo graduated from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) with a Bachelors in Biology, with a concentration in marine biology and a minor in natural history. A class on marine mammals in the Bay of Fundy made her the whale enthusiast she is today. She is currently completing a Masters degree in Marine Systems and Policies at the University of Edinburgh. This has led to her dissertation project focusing on using aerial imaging to study humpback and blue whale body conditions. She hopes to go on to a career in whale conservation in eastern Canada. Her favorite whales are humpbacks and right whales because they are krilling it!
Beverly Tan
Beverly is a final year Ecological and Environmental Sciences undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh, and is interested in the use of technology such as unoccupied aerial vehicles in conservation, environmental and ecological sciences. She has dabbled in marine conservation back home in Singapore: from work with Conservation International’s manta tracking program, to research on scleractinian corals, to volunteering with intertidal and seagrass monitoring groups. Combined with her love for the ocean, conservation, the outdoors and the environment, Whale Wise is an exciting next step for her. Her favourite animals are whale sharks (close enough!), and her favourite whales are narwhals – none of which she’ll see in Iceland, but she’s only ever seen one whale in her life, really far in the distance, so she’s extremely excited to embark on this upcoming journey with Whale Wise, and fall in love with these magnificent creatures of the sea.
Amelie Laute
After graduating from high school, Amelie travelled to various countries for three years, gaining an understanding of the world’s beauty, problems and associated solutions little by little. She has learnt from and contributed to different marine research groups along this journey. While working for two seasons with Cook Islands Whale Research, she realised the importance of whale conservation. Getting to know Tom and Alyssa during this project therefore led to collaboration in Iceland with Whale Wise, now and in the future. Amelie is now studying marine biology in Kiel University, Germany, developing theoretical background knowledge to be able to support ocean conservation in a professional way.
Lucie Weber
Being half-way through her Bachelors in Biology at LMU Munich, Lucie is still fascinated by the complexity and beauty of our planet and spent several weeks in the field both in Germany and Saskatchewan (a province in Canada with cool prairie lakes!). She discovered her love for the ocean while living in Halifax, Canada, during her semester abroad. Here, she also got into chemical oceanography, environmental sciences and climate change research, as well as outdoor sports and the cheerful East Coast lifestyle. Understanding and protecting all the invaluable and vulnerable ecosystems and species from further damage through human activity is Lucie’s passion.
Other team members
Mark Romanov
A freelance wildlife film-maker, Mark has extensive experience in flying and building drones for filming purposes, including whales and other marine life. He has produced and contributed to various films and documentaries, including Blue Planet II- see his work at www.markromanov.com. Now, he puts his skills to the test for our blow sampling project, which uses drones to collect samples of exhaled breath from humpback and blue whales. Mark also uses his experience in media to produce videos and shape online media platforms for Whale Wise.
Danny Kosiba
Danny went to Hope College (USA) where he received a bachelor’s degree in biology. Throughout Danny’s studies and research experience he has worked on ecological and marine biology based projects. His passion for conservation, the environment, and making a difference in the lives of others led him to contribute to this project to have an impact on a positive relationship between humans and the ocean.
Katy Maleta
Katy graduated with a bachelor degree in natural science from the University of Puget Sound (USA). Her passion for the environment and science has allowed her to be involved in various research projects that are focused on changing the relationship between humans and nature. This is why she became involved with marine conservation : without the ocean, we would not be here today.
