Alexandra G. McInturf, PhD
Research Associate, Oregon State University

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, I graduated Cum Laude from Williams College (MA) with degrees (B.A.) in Biology and English in 2015. I received my PhD in Animal Behavior from the University of California, Davis in 2021. I am currently a research associate at Oregon State University’s Big Fish Lab.

My research generally focuses on how marine organisms respond to biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) environmental variables. I use this information to contextualize and predict behavior, movement patterns, and survival. I explore this topic in threatened marine fishes. For my PhD, I studied salmon and sevengill sharks in California and basking sharks in Ireland. I am currently examining the foraging ecology of salmon sharks in Oregon and Alaska (including microplastic ingestion), the distributions of Chinook salmon and their overlap with salmon sharks, the movements of Pacific spiny dogfish, the social lives of sharks generally, and many more species and topics! Please reach out if you are interested in collaborating.

Finally, I am an avid science communicator and have developed and led graduate-level courses on this topic. In addition to my personal SciComm endeavors, I co-coordinate the Irish Basking Shark Group, an outreach, research, and education organization dedicated to basking sharks in Irish waters.