Isabella Garfield

Bella Garfield received a Marine biology B.S. from the University of California Santa Cruz. Her
research experience there encompassed Hawaiian monk seal conservation, northern elephant
seal biology, biological thermal imagery collection via drones, and coho salmon stress indicators
in otoliths. Her senior thesis project analyzes fine-scale philopatry within the Año Nuevo northern
elephant seal colony. She conducted her 2023 NOAA Hollings Scholarship project with
NEFSC’s Passive Acoustic Research Branch characterizing the soundscape of Australia’s
Southwest marine park. After graduation, Bella worked as a full time field technician collecting
avian acoustic data in the Peruvian Amazon for three months. She returned to the Passive
Acoustic Branch in 2024 to help build the lab’s regional and national manuals.