About Me

I enjoy using novel acoustic technologies to answer applied ecological questions. I am particularly interested in using autonomous platforms, such as gliders, as survey tools for passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals.

I am currently a Cetacean Survey Scientist with Ocean Associates, Inc., contracted to the Cetacean Research Program, Protected Species Division, NOAA NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. I lead the Longline Acoustic Monitoring Project where we collaborate with local fishing vessels to deploy passive acoustic recorders on longline fishing gear to better understand their interactions with false killer whales. Additionally, I am part of a collaborative team (with Oregon State University) assessing the feasibility of using passive acoustic gliders in the Pacific Islands Region and the potential to increase glider efforts in the Region to augment NMFS's existing ship-based and passive acoustic cetacean survey approaches. This work includes development of agate (Acoustic Glider Analysis Tools and Environment), a MATLAB-based toolbox for working with passive acoustic Seagliders. More info on agate can be found at sfregosi.github.io/agate-public

I am also a part-time Postdoctoral Research Associate at Southall Environmental Associates (SEA) where I help with various field and analysis efforts looking at the responses of different cetacean species to anthropogenic sound exposure.

My dissertation research (with the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies at Oregon State University) focused on comparing gliders and autonomous deep-water floats to traditional stationary underwater recorders and developing density estimation methods for these dynamic systems.

My favorite non-science things to do are hike with my partner Mike and our dogs, Piper and Murphy, take in local baseball games, taste good wine, and spend time in the mountains.


Education

  • Ph.D. in Wildlife Science, Oregon State University, June 2020

  • M.Sc. in Wildlife Science, Oregon State University, June 2015

  • B.A. in Marine Science, University of San Diego, May 2009

Research Projects

Passive Acoustic Gliders

Applications of mobile autonomous technologies like gliders for passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals


More Info

Effects of Noise

Field studies of the behavioral responses of cetaceans to naval sonar with Southall Environmental Associates, Inc


More Info

Active Acoustic Tag

Development and evaluation of an acoustic playback tag as a tool for studying marine mammal responses to stressors


More Info