Present Students:

Anna-Marie Laura

Jenny Burgman

CEM Profiles: Where are they now?

Amanda Johnson (formerly Amanda Kozuck), Protected Resources Division, Northeast Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, Gloucester, MA

Part of my work involves furthering the goals of Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act by developing new and overseeing existing agreements between NMFS and state agencies for the conservation of endangered and threatened species. In addition, I assist with activities involving both the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan. Recently, I began overseeing the research grants and contracts program for projects that aim to reduce entanglement risk to large whales, as well as projects submitted by state agencies that strive to reduce anthropogenic effects on right whales by furthering state conservation programs. The skills I learned in the Coastal Environmental Management (CEM) Program were extremely helpful in making me a competitive candidate for my current position. My office environment is dynamic and managers must make policy decisions that frequently involve contentious issues.

Charlotte Hudson (formerly Charlotte Gray), Senior Program Associate, Pew Charitable Trusts, DC

As a senior program associate at the Pew Charitable Trusts, I work on the Lenfest Ocean Program.  We support scientific research on living marine resources that will help decision makers both understand the causes and consequences affecting the global marine environment, and design and implement policies that will sustainably manage ocean ecosystems.  Understanding the intersection between science and policy, and building relationships with individuals conducting the research as well as implementing the policies are skills I learned in the CEM program.  The instruction I received and relationships I built at Duke have been invaluable to me in my career, and hopefully have helped save some marine critters.

Joel Bell, Marine Protected Species Biologist, Naval Facilities Engineering Command

I assist the Fleet Forces Command (FFC) and the Atlantic Fleet of the Navy with concerns regarding marine mammals and sea turtles. Most of my work focuses on assessing different training operations, determining potential impacts to protected species and advising the Navy on their risks. I also prepare compliance documents that are required by federal law such as Biological Assessments, MMPA Letters of Authorization and Essential Fish Habitat assessments. The Navy depends on my knowledge and training to advise them and I have steered training exercises away from sensitive areas many times. It is essential for me to have a solid technical base and strong analytic skills but I also need to understand the laws and regulations that protect the marine environment. The CEM program helped me to appreciate that important interface between science, policy and management.

Erin Burke, Protected Species Specialist, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Gloucester , MA

My job is to oversee the conservation and management programs for protected species in Massachusetts state waters.  This mainly entails managing the Commonwealth's Right Whale Conservation Program, which includes several different projects ranging from fixed-gear research to right whale aerial surveys to acoustic monitoring of right whales in Cape Cod Bay.  My job also involves working closely with the Massachusetts Sea Turtle Disentanglement Network to mitigate and manage sea turtle interactions with fishing gear. The CEM program was an invaluable experience.  The analytical, policy, and economic coursework at Duke provided me a solid academic foundation.  And the contacts I made served as fantastic mentors.  I definitely would not be where I am now without the CEM program. 

Past Students:

Elia Herman (2008)
Bycatch and Biomass:  Mitigating dolphin bycatch while maintaining fish catch in the Virginia Beach pound net fishery

Stacie Koslovsky (2008)
Wandering Whale Watches: Their Effectiveness as a Platform of Opportunity for Data Collection

Pamela McCarthy (2008)
Cruiseline Wastewater Discharge in the Caribbean Region

Beth Pike (2008)
Tidal influence on diel movement of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in the Bay of Fundy

Sarah Rider (2008)
Incorporating passive acoustic monitoring data in to OBIS-SEAMAP: A strategy to enhance marine mammal conservation

Sarah Harvey (2007)
Close Encounters with Wild Animals: Evaluating a New Form of Wildlife Tourism

Ellen Bolen (2007)
Can the Endangered Species Act keep the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) out of hot water?

Brendan Hurley (2007)
Assessment of spatial overlap of fixed fishing gear and right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, in the Gulf of Maine.

Wendy Dow (2006)
Digital atlas of seal haut-out sites in Maine: 1981-2001.

Vanessa Jordan (2006)
Stomach contents of mass-stranded whales from North Carolina.

Erin LaBrecque (2006)
Assessing the Importance of Frontal Zones on the Distribution of Upper Trophic Level Predators off Cape Hatteras

Liz Wexler (2006)
An analysis of the United States Navy’s proposed Undersea Warfare Training Range

Nancy Young (2006)
Guidelines for developing a potential biological removal (PBR) framework for managing sea turtle bycatch in the Pamlico Sound flounder gillnet fishery.

Erin Burke (2005)
The effect of acoustic deterrent devices on bottlenose dolphin depredation in the Spanish mackerel gillnet fishery

Kim Goetz (2005)
Summer habitat preference of beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas ) in Cook Inlet , Alaska

Kate Sandemeyer-Swails (2005)
Patterns of seal strandings and human interactions on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Cherie Jenkins (2004)
A procedural review of the mass pilot whale stranding in the Florida Keys, 2003.

Amy Whitt (2004)
Striving towards responsible viewing: An evaluation of dolphin-watch ecotour operations in Clearwater, Florida.

Jessica Weiss (2004)
Foraging ecology and maternal transmission of foraging specializations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

Mandy Shoemaker (2004)
Estimating the lower temperature limit of bottlenose dolphins along the North Carolina coast.

Erika Zollet (2004)
Preliminary observation of depredation by bottlenose dolphins on the king mackerel troll fishery in Florida.

Amanda Kozuck (2003)
Implications of historical changes in fixed fishing gear for large whale entanglements in the Northwest Atlantic

Elizabeth Griffin (2003)
The cost of U.S. cetacean bycatch reduction measures as a reason for supporting international action.

Erin Vos (2003)
Exhibit design at The Gaskin Museum of Marine Life, New Brunswick, Canada.

Melissa Mooney (2003)
Entanglement of humpback whales in fishing gear: Description of injuries and entanglement patterns.

Gaia Meigs-Friend (2003)
Manatee winter distribution in Kings Bay, Crystal River, FL and its application to the design of manatee speed zones and sanctuaries in the Bay.

Jessica Maher (2003)
Characterization of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops trunactus) use of restricted areas in the Pamlico Sound, NC.

Jennifer Atchley (2002)
Comprehensive assessment of manatee non-wintering habitat in northwest Florida.

Sarah Hagedorn (2002)
Depredation by bottlenose dolphins on gill nets in Dare County, North Carolina.

Jennifer Janowitch (2002)
Public perceptions of marine mammals and the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the Hilton Head area of South Carolina.

Jennifer Latusek (2002)
Impact of boat traffic on bottlenose dolphins in Core Creek, NC, with a case study of dolphin-watch activities and consumer perspectives.

Ya-jung Lin (2002)
The whale watching industry in Taiwan: a preliminary evaluation of its impacts on local communities.

Andrew LoSchiavo (2002)
Rockweed: marine resource management under scientific uncertainty.

Jacob Asher (2001)
The North Carolina stop net fishery: a case study of conflicts between fisheries and bottlenose dolphins.

William Barnhill (2001)
A look towards Antillean manatee conservation in the 21st century: evaluating the progress of the Caribbean Environment Programme's 1995 Regional Management Plan.

Rachel Franks (2001)
Analysis of harbor porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, strandings in North Carolina (1977-2000).

Heather Peterson (2001)
Whale behavioral responses and human perceptions: an assessment of humpback whales and vessel activity near Juneau, Alaska.

Leigh Torres (2001)
Improving management of overlapping bottlenose dolphin ecotypes through spatial analysis and genetics.

Joel T. Bell (2000)
Characterization and analysis of artificial warm-water refugia and their use by the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latisrostris, on the east coast of Florida.

Carrie Brownstein (2000)
Considering other consumers: consumption of Atlantic herring by marine mammals in the Gulf of Maine.

Carl Gouldman (2000)
Characterization of the acoustic behavior of pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides

Katie Moore (2000)
Take Reduction Process Handbook: reducing marine mammal by-catch associated with commercial fisheries.

Kate Colborn (1999)
Interactions between humans and bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, near Panama City, Florida.

Elizabeth De Santo (1999)
The effectiveness of the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas.

Caroline Good (1999)
A conservation plan for protecting sea turtle nesting beaches at the East End of St. Croix.

Charlotte Gray (1999)
A spatial analysis of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, and shrimp trawling activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jessica Kester (1999)
The development of an interpretive center at Lime Kiln Point State Park, WA.

Kimberly Murray (1999)
Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in bycatch rates of harbor porpoises in the Gulf of Maine: implications for the design of marine reserves.

Kristopher Smith (1999)
Changing traditions: an economic comparison between the Norwegian whaling and whale-watching industries.

Emily Gooding (1998)
Transboundary management of the Sundarbans: including a case study on the Ganges river dolphin, Platanista gangetica.

Cheryl Braunstein (1997)
Developing a community-based habitat management plan for the striped bass population of the Roanoke River system, North Carolina.

Cathy Eisele (1997)
An analysis of the Take Reduction Process for Atlantic Offshore Cetaceans.

Tara Cox (1996)
An index of potential development related threats to coastal ecosystems: an application to North Carolina.