Dr. Alexandra McInturf

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, I graduated Cum Laude from Williams College (MA) with degrees (B.A.) in Biology and English in 2015. I received my PhD in Animal Behavior from the University of California, Davis in 2021. I am currently a CICOES postdoctoral fellow at Oregon State University’s Big Fish Lab.

My research generally focuses on how marine organisms respond to biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) environmental variables. I use this information to contextualize and predict behavior, movement patterns, and survival. I explore this topic in threatened marine fishes. For my PhD, I studied salmon and sevengill sharks in California and basking sharks in Ireland. I am currently examining the foraging ecology of salmon sharks in Oregon and Alaska and its relative impact on local salmon populations.

Finally, I am an avid science communicator and have developed and led graduate-level courses on this topic. In addition to sharing my SciComm endeavors, I co-coordinate the Irish Basking Shark Group.

September 2016