Below the surface: Culture, Genes, Conservation, and the Future of Southern Resident Killer Whales

Who is coming from Raincoast Conservation Foundation?

Senior Scientist and Cetacean Conservation Research Program Director:

Dr.  Valeria Vergara holds a BSc in Biology and a Masters in Behavioral Ecology, both from Trent University in Ontario, and a PhD in Zoology from the University of British Columbia. She co-directs Raincoast’s Cetacean Conservation Research Program.

She is particularly interested in the communicative and perceptual capacities of marine mammals and the conservation implications of such capacities. In the last two decades, she has participated in a diverse array of cetacean field studies, including humpback whales, killer whales, Guiana dolphins, narwhals and beluga whales in various areas of Canada.

Biologist and Wild Salmon Program Director:

Misty MacDuffee is a conservation biologist with a focus on fisheries ecology in salmon ecosystems. For the past 15 years, she has undertaken various types of field, laboratory, technical and conservation assessments in the salmon-bearing watersheds of the BC coast. She has a particular interest in the role of salmon as critical food sources for wildlife and incorporating their needs into salmon management decisions. The application of her work is to implement ecosystem considerations in fisheries management. This often requires engagement with management, dialogue and stakeholder forums that affect fisheries and wildlife policy.

Senior Scientist and Cetacean Conservation Research Program Director:

Dr.  Lance Barrett-Lennard did his PhD in Zoology at the University of British Columbia. After graduating, he worked as a research scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada before serving a 20-year term as head of the marine mammal research program at the Ocean Wise Conservation Association, housed at the Vancouver Aquarium. He is a co-director of Raincoast’s Cetacean Conservation Research Program.