You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Dr. Katherine McHugh

Staff Scientist

Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP)

Today's Research for Tomorrow's Oceans
View All Staff

Contact:

kmchugh@mote.org

(941) 388-4441, ext. 450

Biography:

Katie McHugh is a Staff Scientist employed by the Chicago Zoological Society, and based at Mote Marine Laboratory as part of a partnership to engage in dolphin research, education, and conservation action. With a lifelong interest in marine wildlife conservation, Katie began studying wild dolphins with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program as a Mote intern in 2000 while completing B.S. and M.S. degrees in Earth Systems at Stanford University. After a short detour that included assisting with small cetacean research in the Bahamas and New Zealand and a yearlong fellowship working on marine protected area and fisheries management at Environmental Defense, Katie returned to the SDRP as a graduate student researcher in 2004, completing her Ph.D. in animal behavior at the University of California Davis studying juvenile dolphin behavior and the effects of harmful algal blooms on dolphins. After completing her Ph.D., Katie has remained with the SDRP working on research aimed at understanding and mitigating adverse human-dolphin interactions, and she is also responsible for overseeing behavioral research as well as coordinating training programs for undergraduate interns and international trainees. Since 2012, Katie has also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New College of Florida.

Education:

Ph.D. in Animal Behavior, University of California Davis (2010)
M.Sc. in Animal Behavior, University of California Davis (2006)
M.Sc. in Earth Systems, Stanford University (2002)
B.Sc. in Earth Systems, Stanford University (2001)

Current Publications

Patton, P. T., Cheeseman, T., Abe, K., Yamaguchi, T., Reade, W., Southerland, K., Howard, A., Oleson, E. M., Allen, J. B., Ashe, E., Athayde, A., Baird, R. W., Basran, C., Cabrera, E., Calambokidis, J., Cardoso, J., Carrol, E. L., Cesario, A., Cheney, B. J., Corsi, E., Currie, J., Durban, J. W., Falcone, E. A., Fearnbach, H., Flynn, K., Franklin, T., Franklin, W., Galletti Vernazzani, B., Genov, T., Hill, M., Johnston, D. R., Keene, E. L., Mahaffy, S. D., McGuire, T. L., McPherson, L., Meyer, C., Michaud, R., Miliou, A., Orbach, D. N., Pearson, H. C., Rasmussen, M. H., Rayment, W. J., Rinaldi, C., Rinaldi, R., Siciliano, S., Stack, S., Tintore, B., Torres, L. G., Towers, J. R., Trotter, C., Tyson Moore, R., Weir, C. R., Wellard, R., Wells, R., Yano, K. M., Zaescmar, J. R., Bejder, L. (2023). A deep learning approach to photo-identification demonstrates high performance on two dozen cetacean species. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 00, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14167
Stephanie M. Rosales, Lindsay K. Huebner, James S. Evans, Amy Apprill, Andrew C. Baker, Cynthia C. Becker, Anthony J. Bellantuono, Marilyn E. Brandt, Abigail S. Clark, Javier del Campo, Caroline E. Dennison , Katherine R. Eaton, Naomi E. Huntley, Christina A. Kellogg, Mónica Medina, Julie L. Meyer, Erinn M. Muller, Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty, Jennifer L. Salerno, William B. Schill, Erin N. Shilling, Julia Marie Stewart and Joshua D. Voss (2023). A meta-analysis of the stony coral tissue loss disease microbiome finds key bacteria in unaffected and lesion tissue in diseased colonies. ISME Journal, 3, 19. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-023-00220-0
Shikha Grover, Thao Pham, Anna Jones, Cristina Sinobas-Pereira, Marina Villoch Diaz Maurino, Evan C. Garrad, Nyasha J. Makoni, Antanisha Parks, Ryan J. Domalewski, Gabriel Riggio, Hannah An, Kunhua Chen, Michael R. Nichols (2023). A new class of monoclonal Aβ antibodies selectively target and trigger deposition of Aβ protofibrils. Journal of Neurochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.15817
Dr. Kenneth Hoadley, Grant Lockridge, Audrey McQuagge, K. Blue Pahl, Sean Lowry, Sophie Wong, Zachary Craig, Chelsea Petrik, Courtney Klepac, Erinn Muller (2023). A phenomic modeling approach for using chlorophyll-a fluorescence-based measurements on coral photosymbionts. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, 379. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1092202
Lu, Haiyan; Toyoda, Jennifer H.; Wise, Sandra S.; Browning, Cynthia L.; Speer, Rachel M.; Croom-Perez, Tayler J.; Bolt, Alicia; Meaza, Idoia; Wise, Sr., John Pierce (2024). A whale of a tale: whale cells evade the driving mechanism for hexavalent chromium-induced chromosome instability. Toxicological Sciences, 199(1), 49-62. https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfae030
James V. Locascio, Christopher C. Koenig, Christopher R. Malinowski (2023). Absolute Abundance Estimates of Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara) on Spawning Aggregation Site. Fishes, 8, 394-407. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8080394
Patrick Kiel, Nathan Formel, Mike Jankulak, Andrew Baker, Ross Cunning, David Gilliam, Carly Kenkel, Chris Langdon, Diego Lirman, Caitlin Lustic, Kerry Maxwell, Alison Moudling, Amelia Moura, Erinn Muller, Stephanie Schopmeyer, Scott Winters, Ian Enochs (2023). Acropora cervicornis Data Coordination Hub, an open access database for evaluating genet performance. Bulletin of marine science of the gulf and carribbean, 99(2), 119-136. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2022.0064
Benjamin M. Binder, Guillaume Rieucau, James V. Locascio, J. Christopher Taylor, Kevin M. Boswell (2023). Active acoustic surveys reveal coastal fish community resistance to an environmental perturbation in South Florida. PeerJ, 11(e14888), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14888
Schwacke, L. H., Thomas, L., Wells, R. S., Rowles, T. K., Bossart, G. D., Townsend Jr, F., Mazzoil, M., Allen, J. B., Balmer, B. C., Barleycorn, A. A., Barratclough, A., Burt, L., De Guise, S., Fauquier, D., Gomez, F. M., Kellar, N. M., Schwacke, J. H., Speakman, T. R., Stolen, E. D., Quigley, B. M., Zolman, E. S., Smith, C. R. (2023). An expert-based system to predict population survival rate from health data. Conservation biology, e14073. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14073
Benjamin Young, Olivia Williamson, Nicholas Kron, Natalia Andrade Rodriguez, Lys Isma, Nicholas MacKnight, Erinn Muller, Stephanie Rosales, Stephanie Sirotzke, Nikki Traylor-Knowles, Sara Williams, Michael Studivan (2024). Annotated genome and transcriptome of the endangered Caribbean mountainous star coral (Orbicella faveolata) using PacBio long-read sequencing. BMC Genomics, 25(226), 226. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-024-10092-w

Additional Publications

Baker, I., O'Brien, J., McHugh, K., Berrow, S. (2018). Female reproductive parameters and population demographics of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland. Mar. Biol., 165(15). doi:10.1007/s00227-017-3265-z

Baker, I., O'Brien, J., McHugh, K., Ingram, S.N., Berrow, S. (2018). Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) social structure in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland, is distinguished by age- and area-related associations. Mar. Mamm. Sci., 34(2), 458-487. doi:10.1111/mms.12462

Balmer, B., McDonald, T., Hornsby, F., Adams, J., Allen, J., Barleycorn, A., Clarke, P., Cush, C., Honaker, A., McHugh, K., Speakman, T., Wells, R., Schwacke, L. (2018). Long-term trends in a northern Gulf of Mexico common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) population in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. J. Cetacean Res. Manage., 18, 1-9.

Fahlman, A., McHugh, K., Allen, J., Barleycorn, A., Allen, A., Sweeney, J., Stone, R., Trainor, R.F., Bedford, G., Moore, M.J., Jensen, F.H., Wells, R. (2018). Resting Metabolic Rate and Lung Function in Wild Offshore Common Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, Near Bermuda. Front. Physiol., 9, 886. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.00886