For over 20 years, I have enjoyed working with large teams and using complex biogeographic data to better understand marine megafauna for conservation. My research has focused on analyzing species distributions, spatial and temporal patterns, linkages among animals, fisheries effort and bycatch, and relationships between protected species and the environment. My most recent roles were to serve as the Marine Life Program Coordinator and the Animal Telemetry Network (ATN) Coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service, U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Program Office (IOOS). I coordinated several activities for both programs, which also included working towards a better integration of animal tagging efforts into the larger IOOS Marine Life Program. Previous to my time as a civil servant as a Marine Biologist at NOAA, I was an Associate in Research with Duke University’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, led by Pat Halpin, where I contributed to the Ocean Biogeographic Information System – Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations (OBIS-SEAMAP), State of the World’s Sea Turtles (SWOT), and Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO) initiatives. Prior to Duke University, I worked with the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Biogeography Branch to develop a geographic information system (GIS) decision support tool for NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) to evaluate sea turtle bycatch. I received a Biology BS and Environmental Studies BS from Binghamton University, SUNY, and a Marine Biology MS from the College of Charleston.