I use a transdisciplinary research framework to understand the ecological and ecophysiological factors driving wildlife spatiotemporal distributions, foraging interactions, and community ecology, and to identify species and ecosystem conservation concerns. My research bridges collections-based approaches, field biology, and laboratory methods to address questions in two broad areas: i) advancing fundamental ecological and ecophysiological knowledge of wildlife distributions and movement patterns, habitat and resource use, and population structure; and ii) understanding anthropological and environmental drivers of marine conservation concerns. During my postdoc at URI, I will use stable isotopes to reconstruct historical-to-modern baleen whale migratory patterns, and explore changes in these patterns with respect to anthropogenic factors such as climate change. When not in the lab, I enjoy spending time with my dogs, being in nature, reading, and traveling.

Education:

B.S. Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, Galveston TX, 2008

M.S. Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 2012

Ph.D. Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 2020

Contact Information:

Email: smithkerrij@uri.edu

Website: https://kerrijsmith.wordpress.com/

@ScienceGirl_KJS