Kate Wynne
Marine Mammal Specialist
Professor, UAF
Phone: 907.486.1517
Fax: 907.486.1540
E-mail: kate.wynne@alaska.edu
118 Trident Way
Kodiak, AK 99615
Focus, Experience, and Expertise
Kate Wynne is the Marine Advisory Program's marine mammal specialist and a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She lives and works in Kodiak, Alaska, but has been involved in the documentation and mitigation of marine mammal interactions with humans throughout the United States for more than two decades. Since 1988 she has been involved in monitoring marine mammal stocks and documenting their interactions with humans throughout Alaska. She has actively collaborated with a variety of state, federal, and academic researchers to monitor population trends, mortality, and diets of pinnipeds and cetaceans that most directly interact with Alaskan fisheries. Her current research focuses on assessing prey use by pinnipeds and whales in the Kodiak area, their dietary overlap, and potential for competition with coastal Alaskan fisheries. In addition to her research involvement, Kate sees outreach and education as key to mitigating marine mammal–human conflicts. She wrote the Guide to Marine Mammals of Alaska and Guide to Marine Mammals and Turtles of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to increase public awareness and ability to accurately identify marine mammals.
Affiliations
Kate is currently a member of the following advisory committees:
- NMFS Steller Sea Recovery Team
- NMFS' Alaska Scientific Review Group
- NOAA's Marine Fishery Advisory Committee
Education
- B.S. Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, December 1977
- M.S. Wildlife Management, University of Maine, Orono, August 1981
Current Projects
- Assessing population trends and dietary intake of Steller sea lion populations along the Western Alaska Peninsula
- Sightings and samples: a community-based research effort
- Addressing scientific and coastal community information needs relating to Steller sea lions
- Gulf Apex Predator-Prey Project: diets and distribution of marine mammals
- Humpback whale photo-identification and foraging ecology near Kodiak Island
- Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance, and Status of Humpbacks in the North Pacific—Steering committee member for western Gulf of Alaska effort
What I do for fun
Fieldwork (working directly with seals, sea lions, and whales), skating, hockey, carpentry
