The Juneau Whale HEALTH team, a collaboration of whale biologists in Juneau, is monitoring the community of whales that occurs in the summertime waters near Juneau. They are using drones to obtain a variety of data and samples that are difficult or impossible to obtain otherwise, including (1) photogrammetry measurements of whale body condition, (2) overhead video recordings of group behaviors, and (3) sampling of whale blow for hormone analysis. In summer 2025, I joined the team as their current primary drone pilot, preparing the drones and the team for boat-based drone operations, and then successfully collecting sets of data for all three drone-based objectives over the course of the summer. Beyond the field operations, I have also helped manage, process, and back-up our data, metadata, and related media from our field efforts, and curated various examples and social media materials for the team.

The seabird team at Prince William Sound Science Center is monitoring several colonies of seabirds in the gulf along the north coast of the Gulf of Alaska,  many of which were impacted by the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, as well as recent marine heatwaves and overall environmental shifts in the gulf. However, many of these colonies had not previously been surveyed for many years. The team is now using a drone to complement boat-based seabird counts to maximize coverage of these colonies among their complex, rocky terrain and cliff-faces. In summer 2025, we visited some of these sites using the PWSSC research vessel New Wave, surveying the sites with drone flights and photography from the boat. As a collaborator and drone pilot, I helped the team obtain a drone and prepare it for field use, planned the drone missions to meet the team's survey objectives and permit criteria, trained teammates and practiced for boat-based drone launches and recoveries, piloted drone operations at the field site during the multi-day field effort, and organized data, metadata, and report products at the conclusion of this first pilot field season.