Oksana Savenko | Visiting Research Scholar – Ukraine

Oksana is a PhD candidate, research scientist, and coordinator of marine mammal studies at the National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine. She participated in the four Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions, including two year-round. Oksana initiated multi-year year-round monitoring of cetaceans at the Ukrainian Antarctic Akademik Vernadsky station. Among the first significant results are photo-identification data and biopsy samples of humpback whales collected during austral winters at their Antarctic feeding ground of the West Antarctic Peninsula. Oksana was a former Fulbright scholar in the lab between 09/2022-02/2023 and is continuing her work with the BTBEL lab as a visiting research scholar. Oksana's project is dedicated to the population dynamics and demographics of Antarctic cetaceans under the pressure of rapid environmental change.