Ph.D. Student, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Costa & Williams Labs, UC Santa Cruz
B.A. Marine Science & Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley
Marine Mammal Neuroscience
Website: jessiekb.com
Email: jkb@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn, ResearchGate Profile, Google Scholar
Research Interests
I am very interested in the inner workings of the marine mammal mind. Specifically, I want to study sleep and brain function in freely diving marine mammals. Sleep is necessary for survival, and for many essential functions such as energy conservation, metabolism, immune function, memory, and learning. Marine mammals must physiologically recharge while sleeping in an environment where they are vulnerable to natural and increasing anthropogenic stressors. In order to fully understand the effect of anthropogenic stressors on marine mammal populations, we must characterize the patterns, function, and sensitivity of sleep in these species. To read more, visit my website.