Team

Will Oestreich (Principal Investigator)

Will explores the behavior of animals (both non-human & human) in dynamic & changing ecosystems. He seeks to understand how biophysical ecosystem variation & information interact to shape individual & collective behavior. Will pulls from his diverse disciplinary background in this work, integrating approaches from behavioral ecology, oceanography, conservation science, bioacoustics, & more.

Will is an incoming group leader at the University of Zurich (UZH). He completed his PhD in Biology at Stanford University, as well as MSc & BSc degrees in Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. Will held postdoctoral fellowships from the US National Science Foundation & the Packard Foundation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) & the University of Washington (UW). He also previously worked in research & policy roles with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution & the Natural Resources Defense Council, respectively. 

Science is fun, but for more fun, Will likes to surf, swim, make music, & search for wildlife.

Jill Metzger (MSc Student)

Jill's interests lie at the intersections of ecology, animal behaviour, & wildlife conservation. She completed her BSc in Biology at the University of Zurich (UZH) & will join the group as a MSc student in Biodiversity, also from UZH. Jill's MSc thesis research will focus on social information & predator-prey interactions in the deep sea, using long-term acoustic data from the California Current System to investigate the foraging behaviour of sperm whales. Outside of academia, Jill likes to ski, hike, bake, & observe wildlife.