Caitlin Dudzik
BSc - Aviation Flight Technology | Eastern Michigan University (USA)
MSc - Wildlife and Fisheries Biology | Clemson University (USA)
MSc - Marine Biology | James Cook University
Favourite papers?
Afonso, A.S. & Fidelis, L. (2023). The fate of plastic-wearing sharks: Entanglement of an iconic top predator in marine debris. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 194(A).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115326
Baker, J.D., Johanos, T.C., Ronco, H., Becker, B.L., Morioka, J., O’Brian, K., & Donohue, M.J. (2024). Four decades of Hawaiian monk seal entanglement data reveal the benefits of plastic debris removal. Science, 385(6716), 1491-1495. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ado2834
Hoyos-Padilla, E. M., Casanova-Santamaria, I., Loria-Correa, J. C., & Sulikowski, J. (2023). The successful use of a submersible ultrasound to confirm pregnancy on free swimming bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas, in a provisioned shark site. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, Article 1193563. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1193563
Caitlin’s undergraduate degree in aviation has allowed her to travel to many remote locations. She spent four summer seasons in Antarctica planning, scheduling, and implementing on-continent flights, which enabled scientists to enter the field to conduct their research. She lived and work on Wake Island for three years as a United States Air Force contracted air traffic controller, spending all her free time in the water searching for sharks and developing a training program to have the recreational fishing reinstated to deter illegal fishing practices. The seven months she lived on Johnston Atoll volunteering for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service convinced her to make a career change from aviation to conservation.
At Kure Atoll, Caitlin contributed to seabird habitat restoration, Hawaiian monk seal monitoring and tagging, Laysan duck rehabilitation, and large-scale marine debris removal. Her work in isolated systems informs her current research on shark ecology and ecosystem function.
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Quantifying predation and evaluating drivers of abundance of tiger sharks and albatross fledglings at Kure Atoll, Hawaii
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Evaluating 3 decades of Cairns Underwater Association spearfishing competition data
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PADI AWARE Global Shark and Ray Census
