Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 3 pm Pacific Time
Dr. Giles is the Science and Research Director at the non-profit Wild Orca. She received her PhD from the University of California Davis in 2014. Her dissertation was focused on the federally listed (endangered and threatened) Southern Resident killer whales. Giles is currently a resident scientist and lecturer at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, where she teaches a course called Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea.
Since 2009, Giles has alternated between being the vessel captain and the dog handler for the non-invasive conservation research program utilizing a scat detection dog to locate floating killer whale scat to monitor the physiological health of southern resident killer whales. Beginning in 2021, this killer whale health assessment program is a program of her non-profit Wild Orca. Giles is also a killer whale scientific adviser for the Orca Salmon Alliance, a program advisor for Killer Whale Tales, and she is the co-founder of the San Juan Island Naturalist Program.
DIVE IN with Liz and Sylvia is a casual, free-flowing, and educational conversation and encourages ocean and nature enthusiasts of all ages to join.