Mary Anne Bishop, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Mary Anne is a research ecologist with a doctorate from the University of Florida at Gainesville. Her research focuses primarily on migration strategies of birds and fishes and on estuarine ecology, including the shorebirds, estuarine fishes and benthic invertebrates that inhabit the estuarine environment. She has extensive experience studying migratory movements of shorebirds, seabirds, and marine fishes using radio and acoustic telemetry and using light-level geolocator technology. Her current research includes a long-term study of marine bird ecology during the nonbreeding season in Prince William Sound, a study on the annual migration cycle of adult Pacific Herring, a long-term surveillance program for the prevalence and diversity of influenza A viruses circulating in the gull and shorebird population on the Copper River Delta, and a study on postbreeding migratory movements by Tufted Puffins in the Gulf of Alaska. Bishop has overseen the deployment, maintenance, and expansion of underwater acoustic receiver arrays in Prince William Sound including the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (2008-2013) and the Ocean Tracking Network arrays located at entrances to the Sound from the Gulf of Alaska (2013-present). A devoted “craniac”, Mary Anne studied whooping cranes and sandhill cranes for her graduate studies. Additionally, from 1990 to 2009 she worked cooperatively with the International Crane Foundation and Chinese scientists in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region studying the winter ecology and conservation of the endangered Black-necked Crane and the Bar-headed Goose.