Oksana Savenko | Fulbright 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’s Fulbright Project is dedicated to the population dynamics and demographics of Antarctic cetaceans under the pressure of rapid environmental change.