Campus Directory

Division Graduate Studies Division

Department/College/Unit Ocean Sciences Department

Title M.S. in Marine Science

Affiliation Graduate

Primary Office Location Long Marine Lab Ocean Health Building
OHB 149

Mail Stop Long Marine Lab

Biography, Education and Training

B.S. UCSD (2010) in General Biology - a pre-med student before changing gears to pursue my academic passions

M.S. in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Labs (2020).  I developed analytical tools to 1) detect when California sea lions catch prey using 3-axis accelerometer data, and 2) calculate their body density (fat %) and energetic expenditure of propulsion every 5 seconds during foraging dives, then 3) showed that accelerometry can predict that energy expenditure. 

I am currently a Ph.D. student in the Bio-Telemetry and Behavioral Ecology Lab under Dr. Ari Friedlaender.  I use biologging (tagging) techniques to study the behavior, foraging, and energetics of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.  Combining these data with 7-15 years of archived tag and drone data, my research investigates the effects of the highly variable and rapidly changing polar climate on humpback whales.  

Summary of Expertise

Ecological inference from biologging of (currently marine) megafauna.  This includes accelerometry and propulsive energy expenditure, animal movement modeling, behavioral state classification, hydrodynamic glide analyses (physics-based body density inference from near-vertical, gliding portions of dives), physiology (e.g. heart rate tags), and relationships of any/all of these metrics or variables to environmental covariates or other drivers. 

Also, ecological habitat restoration. Build an understanding of the ecosystem/habitat to restore, including hydrology, soils, and plant, animal, and fungal communities.  Assess current habitat state and potential threats (disturbances, noxious weeds, etc), build a comprehensive revegetation an management plan, and adapt as necessary. 

Research Interests

- The effects of places on animals.  Particularly, what makes some specific locations such good foraging hotspots, or stopover locations, or breeding grounds? 

- How does a variable and directionally changing climate affect these animals?  How does this interact with (favored) locations, and why?

- Mainly from the perspective of megafauna, how do animals, plants, and fungi (etc etc) affect each other ecologically? 

- Many animals exhibit behavioral flexibility in response to ephemeral or variable prey.  In a rapidly changing world, how does behavioral flexibility buffer or affect animals' ability to successfully forage, reproduce, and impact the ecosystem around them?

Selected Publications

Cole, M. R., McHuron, E. A., Costa, D. P., Ponganis, P. J., & McDonald, B. I. (2025). Acceleration metrics predict propulsive power at within-dive temporal scales in California sea lions. Animal Biotelemetry, IN PRESS (as of 10/6/25).

Cole, M. R., Ware, C., McHuron, E. A., Costa, D. P., Ponganis, P. J., & McDonald, B. I. (2023). Deep dives and high tissue density increase mean dive costs in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). Journal of Experimental Biology, 226(14), jeb246059.

Cole, M. R., Zeligs, J. A., Skrovan, S., & McDonald, B. I. (2021). Head-mounted accelerometry accurately detects prey capture in California sea lions. Animal Biotelemetry, 9(1), 44.

Student Phone Number 9257367623