I received my PhD in Integrative Pathobiology from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, in a joint project with University of Tasmania. I have worked in marine, aquatic and terrestrial systems both in the Pacific Northwest, USA, and in Tasmania, Australia. Having founded Wild EcoHealth in 2022, I am now based out of Tacoma, Washington, but work with groups locally and internationally.

My goals are to apply my One Health research background to address public and animal health concerns, improve environmental stewardship/conservation efforts, and address the related socio-economic disparity globally by joining collaborative teams in the public, academic, private, or non-profit sectors.    

I have led/contributed to projects in marine mammal epidemiology, microbiome research in wildlife and food safety, antibiotic resistance research, eDNA, marine mammal diet research, molecular biology, population genetics, novel technology used in methods development, marine mammal necropsies, capture and handling.

I have worked at the intersection of human industries such as aquaculture and fisheries and the wild ecosystem. One of my passions is utilizing new and emerging technology to answer questions for management and conservation. 

Within the scope of Wild EcoHealth, I work collaboratively with government management agencies, academic institutions,  and indigenous communities. I aim to help clients and collaborators answer their scientific questions creatively and thoughtfully. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Victoria Vinecke has worked with Wild EcoHealth since 2024. She is the fearless lab manager who helps make all the work at Wild EcoHealth happen. 

She is also an accomplished research scientist who specializes in eDNA, molecular assay development, and diagnostics. 

Alexandrea is a graduate student at Western Washington University who worked on the GTseq assay development for individual harbor seal identification and applied it to updating the Washington state harbor seal population structure for her Master's in Science.

She is advised by Dr. Erin D'Agnese, Dr. Dietmar Schwarz, and Dr. Alejandro Acevedo on her project. She was also a temporary molecular research technician with us on contract work with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, before leaving Wild EcoHealth to work as a Stranding and necropsy intern with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations.