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Researcher Information

Biography

My research interests are focused on identifying physical, biological, and anthropogenic factors that relate marine mammal distribution to the environment. For my dissertation, I will be studying the foraging and diving behavior of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in relation to factors such as frontal systems, currents, bathymetry, and other oceanographic features to develop a predictive habitat model. Such a model will be useful in devising conservation and management practices and in determining the potential impacts of global warming on an ecosystem. Obtaining information on how Weddell seals respond to annual variation is necessary to predict how seal populations are likely to respond to shifting environmental conditions associated with global climate change.

Before entering the Ph.D. program at UCSC, I spent four years working at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) in Seattle. As part of the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program (CAEP), I participated in aerial surveys for beluga and bowhead whales in Alaska. In addition, I provided data management, database design, as well as GIS and programming support. Immediately prior to working at NMML, I completed my Master’s degree in Environmental Management with a specialty in Geographic Information Systems at Duke University. My thesis focused on modeling summer habitat preferences of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska.

In 2001, I received my Bachelor’s degree in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology (EPOB) from the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) with a certificate in Neuroscience and Behavior. Although I had little research training in marine ecology as an undergraduate, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to work on numerous ecological projects. In the summer of 2000, I worked with CU faculty in conjunction with the City of Boulder Open Space Department to gain an understanding of the causal mechanisms of suburban-grassland edge effects on avian diversity, abundance, and reproductive success. In addition, I spent my last semester researching the mutualistic relationship between a plant and its ant inhabitants and later continued this research at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. I spent the next several years working as an entomologist, conducting genetic and behavioral analyses on several species of tropical ants, butterflies, and arachnids.

Title

Graduate Student

Selected Publications

Shelden, K.W., D. Rugh, K. Goetz, C. Sims, and L. Brattstrom. 2009. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 2009. NMFS report. 18 pp.

Goetz, K., D. Rugh, J. Mocklin. 2008. Aerial surveys of bowhead whales in the vicinity of Barrow, Alaska, August-September 2008. NMFS report. 26 pp.

Shelden, K.W., D. Rugh, K. Goetz, L. Brattstrom, B. Mahoney, and B. Smith. 2008. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 2008. NMFS report. 19 pp.

Shelden, K.W., K. Goetz, C. Sims, B. Mahoney. 2008. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, September and October 2008. NMFS report. 9 pp.

Shelden, K. Goetz, L. Brattstrom, B. Mahoney, M. Migura, and B. Stewart. 2008. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, August 2008. NMFS report. 11 pp.

Goetz, K., D. Rugh, A. Read, and R. Hobbs. 2007. Summer habitat preferences of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 330:247-256.

Goetz, K., D. Rugh, J. Mocklin. 2007. Aerial surveys of bowhead whales in the vicinity of Barrow, Alaska, August-September 2007. NMFS report. 26 pp.

Rugh, D., K. Goetz, C. Sims, J. Mocklin, B. Mahoney, and B. Smith. 2007. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 2007. NMFS report. 16 pp.

Shelden, K.W., K. Goetz, and J. Mocklin. 2007. Aerial surveys of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, August 2007. NMFS report. 10 pp.

Rugh, D., K. Goetz, and C. Sims. 2006. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, May 2006. NMFS report. 8 pp.

Rugh, D., K. Goetz, C. Sims, K.W. Shelden, O. Shpak, B. Mahoney, and B. Smith. 2006. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 2006. NMFS report. 17 pp.

Rugh, D., K. Goetz, C. Sims, and B. Smith. 2006. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, August 2006. NMFS report. 8 pp.

Rugh, D., K. Goetz, B. Mahoney, B. Smith, and T. Ruszkowski. 2005. Aerial surveys of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 2005. NMFS report. 17 pp.

Rugh, D. and K. Goetz. 2005. Cook Inlet beluga surveys. AFSC Quarterly Report Apr-May-Jun 2005. pp 18-19.

Rugh, D., K. Goetz, and B. Mahoney. 2005. Aerial survey of belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska, August 2005. NMFS report. 8 pp.

Goetz, K., C. Sims, and D. Rugh. 2005. Cook Inlet beluga calf survey. AFSC Quarterly Reports Jul-Aug-Sep 2005.

Goetz, K. 2005. Cook Inlet beluga habitat analysis. AFSC Quarterly Report Oct.-Nov.-Dec. 2005. pp 21-22.

Affiliations

UCSC