I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and have always had a deep abiding love for the misty and mysterious forests and waterways of the Salish Sea.
Applying my love of ecosystems to the sciences came later in life after an unplanned SCUBA diving trip. From my first breath underwater I was hooked, and promptly returned to school for my undergrad degree at the University of Washington, where I became a certified scientific diver conducting subtidal research in the San Juan Islands at Friday Harbor Labs. I went on to get my Masters at the University of British Columbia where I spent several summers at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre in Barkley Sound BC working in subtidal eelgrass ecosystems. I then worked as a dive and field technician for the Hakai Institute and Smithsonian Institution, exploring kelp forests, coral reefs, and mangrove wetlands around the world. Currently I am a PhD student at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology’s Coastal Trophic Ecology Lab studying food webs in kelp communities.
My experiences as a student, teacher, and researcher have reinforced my belief that scientists have a duty to communicate their work with the public, particularly the next generation. The role of scientific outreach and education cannot be underestimated. As such, I strive to share my work with others and take every opportunity to make outreach an integral part of what I do.
Thanks for visiting!
PUBLICATIONS
Galloway AWE, Gravem SA, Kobelt JN, Heady WN, Okamoto DK, Sivitilli DM, Saccomanno VR, Hodin J, Whippo R (2023). Sunflower sea star predation on urchins can facilitate kelp forest recovery. Proc. R. Soc. B. 290:20221897. 20221897. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1897
Harper LM, Lefcheck JS, Whippo R, Jones SM, Folts Z, Duffy JE (2022) Blinded by the bright: How species-poor habitats contribute to regional biodiversity across a tropical seascape. Diversity and Distributions 28:11(2272-2285) https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13632
Whippo R, Fields SA, Aylesworth L (2022). SCUBA Kelp Report. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Resources Program. Newport, OR. https://ecologyreports.oregon marinereserves.com/Data_Files/7.%20Collaborations/SCUBA%20Algal%20Swath%20Report/ODFW_markdown_algae.html
Ritter CJ, Harper LM, Lefcheck JS, Paul VJ, Whippo R, Jones S, Ogburn MB, Duffy JE (2021) Patterns of Consumption Across a Caribbean Seascape: Roles of Habitat and Consumer Species Composition Through Time. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:742907. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.742907
de Pablo, LX, Lefcheck JS, Harper L, Paul VJ, Jones S, Whippo R, Seemann J, Kline DI, Duffy JE. (2021) A doubling of stony coral cover on shallow forereefs at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize from 2014 to 2019. Sci Rep 11, 19185. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96799-2
Whalen, MA, Whippo RDB, (64 other authors), Duffy JE (2020) Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities. PNAS 117 (45) 28160-28166; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005255117.
Whippo R, Knight NS, Prentice C, Cristiani J, Siegle MR, O’Connor MI (2018) Epifaunal diversity patterns within and among seagrass meadows suggest landscape-scale biodiversity processes. Ecosphere 9:e02490.
Staaterman E, Ogburn M, Altieri A, Brandl S, Whippo R, Seemann J, Goodison M, Duffy J (2017) Bioacoustic measurements complement visual biodiversity surveys: preliminary evidence from four shallow marine habitats. Marine Ecology Progress Series 575:207–215.
Lowe AT, Whippo R, Galloway AWE, Britton-Simmons KH, Dethier MN (2015) Sedentary urchins influence benthic community composition below the macroalgal zone. Marine Ecology 36:129–140.
Whippo CV
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