Jenna Malek, Ph.D.

Jenna joined NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division (PRD) as a Marine Mammal Specialist in 2019. She wears many hats for PRD, including: Endangered Species Act consultation biologist, co-management representative, North Pacific Right Whale Recovery Coordinator, Arctic Ringed Seal Recovery Coordinator, and harbor seal lead. Jenna first came to Alaska as a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow with the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission in 2016 to visit rural communities and work with marine mammal subsistence hunters. This experience led to Jenna moving to Alaska in 2018 to study co-management of marine mammals, eventually leading her to her current role in PRD. 

Jenna has a B.S. in Marine Science from the University of Maine, a M.S. in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a PhD in Ecology from the University of Georgia. Despite currently working on marine mammals, Jenna’s graduate research focused on host-parasite interactions in oysters and how these interactions may be influenced by environmental factors. When she’s not helping protect Alaska’s marine mammals, Jenna spends time adventuring with her husband and their two village mutts.