Maren Anderson

Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by the underwater world. I began my love of Marine Science in high school when I was certified to SCUBA dive in Belize. Since then, my passion has continued in my studies and my work. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Colorado at Boulder, in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a focus in Tropical Marine Ecology in 2007. I have had the opportunity to perform health assessments of coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Oceans, as well as assist in cognitive research of Atlantic bottlenose dolphin and the rehabilitation of West Indian manatees. I joined Cetos Research in 2012 as a research assistant for the Humpback Behavior Project focusing on the interactions between mother and calf pairs. I have participated in vessel- and land-based visual and acoustic towed array surveys, assessing the abundance, density and distribution of marine mammals. These included locations such as Hawaii, the Mariana Islands, and the California coast, where she has studied pilot whales, spinner and bottlenose dolphins, Risso's dolphins, beaked whales, harbor porpoise, California sea lions and harbor seals. On land, I serve as a research assistant and consultant for various government agencies in managing marine resources, specifically in marine mammals and coral. Much of my day-to-today work is taken up as a high school teacher at Drew School in San Francisco, teaching Ecology/Genetics/Evolution and Marine Biology; as well as leading experiential education programs for students around the world.

January 2016