Selected Media Appearances:
In addition, I have been interviewed as an expert reference by: The Washington Post, Hakai Magazine, BBC Earth, NPR, Gizmodo, and National Geographic.
Scientific Presentations:
Selected Oral Presentations
Poster Presentations
Selected Outreach Presentations
- Dead fin whale poses research potential. 10 December 2022. Work featured in the Monterey Herald.
- The Whalenerd's Podcast, Episode 119. 5 August 2022.
- Why whales matter. 19 April 2022. Business Daily on the BBC World Service.
- Microplastics: from the beach to your blood. 18 April 2022. The Stanford Daily.
- The battle to decrease microfibers flowing into the ocean. 11 December 2021. Research featured in the Monterey Herald.
- Baleen whales eat much more than we thought — and fertilize the oceans doing it. 5 November 2021. Interview on CBC’s Quirks & Quarks.
- The biggest whales can eat the equivalent of 80,000 Big Macs in one day. 3 November 2021. Interview on NPR’s All Things Considered.
- Hopkins Marine Station researcher shares work with microplastics. 15 June 2021. Research featured in the Monterey Herald.
- Why does whale feeding behavior matter? 27 April 2021. American Museum of Natural History outreach video.
- Stanford lab develops high-tech tools to study whales in the wild. 15 July 2020. Stanford News feature.
- Selling without selling out: How to communicate your science. 29 May 2019. Science webinar panelist.
- Can whales secret lives unlock the future of the sea? 25 February 2019. Interviewed by Kait Parker on The Weather Channel's Warming Signs podcast.
- Thousands of golf balls found off Pebble Beach. 4 February 2019. Research featured on ABC news investigative report.
- Teenage Diver Finds Tons Of Golf Balls Rotting Off California. 17 January 2019. Interview on NPR’s All Things Considered.
- Golf ball scavengers. 31 July 2018. Featured in segment on HBO's Vice News Tonight.
- Fish are eating our rubbish. 18 August 2017. Interview on Radio New Zealand’s Afternoons.
- Why do fish eat our trash? Because it smells yummy. 17 August 2017. Interview on on KQED Sacramento.
- Do plastics in the ocean smell like food to ocean seabirds? 1 May 2017. Guest on KWMR’s Ocean Currents radio show.
- California's force for research innovation. 17 April 2017. Profile for the University of California’s Graduate Research Advocacy Day.
- Plastic and seabirds: a lethal combination. 6 April 2017. Interview on Radio New Zealand’s Our Changing World.
- Why are our seabirds eating plastic? 10 December 2016. Interview on Radio New Zealand’s This Way Up.
- Why seabirds love to gobble plastic floating in the ocean. 10 November 2016. Interview on NPR’s All Things Considered.
In addition, I have been interviewed as an expert reference by: The Washington Post, Hakai Magazine, BBC Earth, NPR, Gizmodo, and National Geographic.
Scientific Presentations:
Selected Oral Presentations
- Savoca, M.S. 10 January 2020. Foraging behavior and physiology of baleen whales: implications for past and present oceans. Animal Behavior Graduate Group Seminar Series. UC Davis.
*Invited lecture - Savoca, M.S., Kahane-Rapport S.R., Cade, D.E., Czapanskiy, M.F., Fahlbusch, J.A., Segre, P.S., Calambokidis, J., Nowacek D.P., Johnston, D.W., Bierlich, K.C., Dale, J., Hazen, E.L., Friedlaender, A.S., and J.A. Goldbogen. 22 October 2019. Rorqual ingestion estimates for the Eastern North Pacific based on direct measures of feeding rates and prey quality. PICES 2019 Annual Meeting.
*Best Oral Presentation, Biological Oceanography Section - Savoca, M.S. 21 October 2018. On polymer seas: The rising tide of plastic in the ocean and what to do about it. The Great Scientific Exchange, The Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies, Atlanta, GA
*Invited keynote lecture - Savoca, M.S. 29 August 2017. Something smells fishy: The science of how and why marine wildlife eat plastic. Monterey Bay Aquarium Seminar Series, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA
- Savoca, M.S., Ebeler, S.E. and G.A. Nevitt. 8 April 2016. Olfaction as a mechanism for plastic debris ingestion by marine wildlife. Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium. University of California – Davis. Davis, CA
*Chancellor's Grand Prize for Best Oral Presentation* - Savoca, M.S., Wohlfeil, M.E., Ebeler, S.E. and G.A. Nevitt. 20 February 2015. Marine plastic debris as an olfactory trap for procellariiform seabirds. 42nd Annual Meeting, Pacific Seabird Group. San Jose, CA
*Honorable Mention, Outstanding Student Paper Award* - Savoca, M.S. and G.A. Nevitt. 12 August 2014. Can a marine infochemical facilitate a tritrophic mutualism between primary producers and top predators? 99th Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Sacramento, CA.
- Savoca, M.S., Wohlfeil, M.E., Ebeler, S.E. and G.A. Nevitt. 15 February 2014. Marine plastic debris as an olfactory trap for procellariiform seabirds. 7th Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Ecology. University of California – Davis. Davis, CA
*Voted Best Student Presentation* - Savoca, M.S. and G.A. Nevitt. 18 February 2012. Evidence for a marine tri-trophic interaction mediated by an induced defense: examining 50 years of diet data in a Southern Ocean seabird assemblage. 5th Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Ecology. University of California – Davis. Davis, CA
*Voted Best Student Presentation*
Poster Presentations
- Savoca, M.S., Hazen, E.L., Bograd, S.J., Hoover, A.L. and L. Benaka. 12 February 2018. Evaluating US fisheries' capacity for uptake of dynamic ocean management. 19th Ocean Sciences Joint Meeting. Portland, OR
- Savoca, M.S., Van Alstyne, K.L., Ebeler, S.E. and G.A. Nevitt. 24 February 2014. Marine plastic debris as an olfactory trap for procellariiform seabirds. 17th Ocean Sciences Joint Meeting. Honolulu, HI
*Outstanding Student Presentation Award* - Savoca, M.S. and G.A. Nevitt. 17 and 18 August 2012. Evidence for a marine tri-trophic interaction mediated by an induced defense: examining 50 years of diet data in a Southern Ocean seabird assemblage. 5th North American Ornithological Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia, CA
- Savoca, M.S., Bonter, D.N., Ellis, J.C., Zuckerberg, B. and Dickinson, J.L. 28 April 2010. Nesting density an important factor affecting chick growth and survival in the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). 25th Cornell Undergraduate Research Board’s Spring Forum. Cornell University. Ithaca, NY
Selected Outreach Presentations
- Savoca, M.S., Brandon, A.M. and Hamilton, G. 1 March 2022. The Future is Not Plastics. Woods Institute Grad Student/Postdoc Workshop Series, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment (held virtually)
- Savoca, M.S. 6 October 2018. My search for inspiration in a sea of debris. The Ocean Plastic Pollution Summit, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Pacific Grove, CA
*Invited keynote lecture - Savoca, M.S. 14 November 2017. Something smells fishy: The science of how and why marine wildlife eat plastic. Friends of Hopkins Lecture Series. Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University. Pacific Grove, CA
- Savoca, M.S. 22 January 2017. Pollution stinks: Why do marine animals eat our plastic trash? TEDxUCDavis. Davis, CA
- Savoca, M.S. 22 April 2016. What the nose knows: smell explains why marine animals eat plastic. University of California Grad Slam final round. San Francisco, CA
- Savoca, M.S. 4 April 2016. Adventures (and misadventures) of foraging on the high seas: the sensory ecology of tube-nosed seabirds. Oakland Museum of California advanced docent training. Oakland, CA
- Savoca, M.S. 21 February 2015. Using sensory ecological theory to investigate the cause of plastic debris consumption in marine wildlife. NOAA Marine Debris Program. San Francisco, CA
- Savoca, M.S. 22 April 2014. Living in a plastic prison - Causes and effects of plastic ingestion in marine organisms. Earth Day Symposium on: Ecological Effects of Global Anthropogenic Change. Folsom Lake College, Folsom, CA
Photography:
I also enjoy photography, primarily wildlife and landscape. Some of my favorite photos are below.
I also enjoy photography, primarily wildlife and landscape. Some of my favorite photos are below.
If you want to see more pictures, check out my Flickr page!