Jill Seymour, Ph.D.

Jill is a Marine Mammal Specialist and the Cook Inlet Beluga Recovery Coordinator for
NOAA Fisheries. She also serves as co-coordinator of the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale
Recovery Implementation Task Force and NOAA Fisheries’ regional co-management
liaison to the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee. In addition, Jill is the Region’s primary
point of contact for beluga stranding response, a member of the Region’s oil spill
response team, a NOAA Ambassador, and an Endangered Species Act consultation
biologist.

With over 20 years of experience managing protected species, Jill’s career spans roles
at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and in
private consulting. Her expertise covers a diverse range of taxa, from Sierra Nevada
amphibians and whitebark pine to gray wolves and California condors. Jill holds a Ph.D.
in Marine Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where her research focused
on Pacific walruses, zoonotic disease transmission, and climatic influences on foraging
ecology, as well as a dual B.A. from Mills College in Biology and Electronic and
Computer Music Composition and Technology.

Jill’s professional interests include ecosystem-based management, environmental
policy, collaborative conservation, public education and engagement, disease ecology,
and the application of novel technology to wildlife research and management. When
not at work, Jill is likely hanging out with her dog, dancing, backpacking, paddling on a
river or ocean, or trekking through the deserts of the Southwest.