CERF People - Lei Lani Stelle

Coastal Ecosystems Research Foundation - Crew pages

Lei Lani Stelle

Research Biologist and Vice-President

B.Sc., California (Santa Cruz); M.Sc., UBC; Ph.D., California (Los Angeles)
Lecturer, UCLA (2001-2002)
Visiting Assistant Professor, RIT (2002-2004)
Assistant Professor, RIT (04-08)
Assistant Professor, URedlands (08-)

Mailing Address
Tel:
Email: cerf@cerf.bc.ca
Homepage: http://cerf.bc.ca/stelle/index.html

Biography

Lei Lani is an Assistant Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. Her PhD research at UCLA was focused on the relationship between the grey whales’ feeding behaviour and the population dynamics of their primary prey in our study area, swarming mysid crustaceans. She found that the whales choose feeding sites based on the size of the individual mysids rather than the density of swarms or overall abundance. She spent several years at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in New York, teaching undergraduate biology and studying river otters. Now returned to the west coast, she will be taking a renewed active role in our grey whale research.

Current Research

Behavioural ecology of grey whales
:Details

Biodiversity, distribution and abundance of mysids on the Central Coast of BC
:Details

Movements of toxins through the food chain from mysids to grey whales
:Details

Selected Publications

Stelle LL, Megill WM, Kinzel MR (2008) Activity budgets and diving behavior of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in feeding grounds off coastal British Columbia. Mar Mamm Sci 24(3): 462-478

Stelle LL, Blake RW, Trites A, Rosen D (2000) Hydrodynamic drag in Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus).. Journal of experimental Biology 203: 1915-1923.

Stelle LL (1997) Drag and energetics of swimming in Steller sea lions.. Masters thesis. Dept. of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Conference Presentations

Maud JL, Stelle LL, Megill WM (2008) A "switching" predator in a changing ocean: Is predator-prey cycling in grey whales feeding near Cape Caution, BC, sustainable?. Poster presented to the annual meeting of the American Cetacean Society, Monterrey CA, November 2008

Stelle LL, Megill WM, Kinzel MR (2008) Activity budget, diving behavior, and foraging ecology of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) off coastal British Columbia. Poster presented to the annual meeting of the American Cetacean Society, Monterrey CA, November 2008

Kinzel M, Scott-Ashe J, Stelle LL, Megill WM (2006) Using GIS to examine marine processes: Whales and El Nino. Paper presented to the 26th Annual ESRI International User Conference, San Diego

Bethany M, Stelle LL (2005) Remote viewing systems: Using video cameras to observe river otter (Lontra canadensis) behavior in wester New York and British Columbia. Poster presented to the 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, San Diego

Kinzel M, Megill WM, Stelle LL (2005) Managing marine resources with the aid of GIS. Paper presented to the 25th Annual ESRI International User Conference, San Diego

McElwee B, Casey J, Stelle LL (2005) Use of GIS to compare river otter (Lontra canadensis) habitat preferenec in inland and coastal populations. Poster presented to the 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals

Skyer M, Stelle LL (2005) Assessing dietary differences of river otters (Lontra canadensis) living in marine versus freshwater habitats - Which environment provides optimal foraging opportunities?. Poster presented to the 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, San Diego

Stelle LL, Megill WM (2001) Feeding behavior of gray whales on mysid swarms: prey selection based on body size.. Paper presented to the 14th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Vancouver, BC.

Megill WM, Stelle LL, Kinzel MR, Randall DA (1999) El Nino-induced changes in grey whale residency patterns on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada: Possible ecosystem shift?. Poster presented to the 13th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Wailea, HI, November 1999.

Stelle LL, Megill WM (1999) Feeding ecology of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in British Columbia.. Poster presented to the 13th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Kihei, HI, November 1999

Stelle LL, Blake RW, Trites A, Rosen D (1998) Drag and energetics of swimming in Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus). Poster presented to the 12th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Monaco, January 1998.

Reports

Megill WM, Stelle LL, Woodward B, Winn J (2003) Surveys for gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus, near Cape Caution, British Columbia, Summer 2003. Report prepared for the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Seattle WA

Megill WM, Stelle LL, Muise J (2001) Grey whales of British Columbia: 2000 field report.. Report prepared for the Center for Field Studies at Earthwatch, Maynard, MA