Rachael Orben

Rachael Orben is an Assistant Professor (Senior Research) in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences, affiliated with the Marine Mammal Institute. She holds a PhD in Ocean Science from UC Santa Cruz (2014) and a BS in Biological Sciences from Cornell University (2002).

Her research investigates animal movement patterns, migration ecology, foraging strategies, species-habitat relationships, food web dynamics, biologging applications, marine spatial planning, and seabird-fisheries interactions. She leads the Seabird Oceanography Lab and collaborates with the GEMM Lab, conducting field research in Alaska, the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, and the Falkland Islands.

Current projects include fine-scale albatross-vessel interactions, animal movement methodology development (Residence in Space and Time), seabird flight height measurements for wind turbine risk assessment, Oregon coast seabird distributions, year-round Western Gull tracking, and red-legged kittiwake carry-over effects. She serves as Regional Representative for Oregon & Washington with the Pacific Seabird Group (2019-2021).

Orben's publications demonstrate expertise in marine predator tracking, seabird-fishery interactions, and conservation technology applications. Recent work emphasizes disease ecology connections to animal movement and innovative biologging approaches. No scientific awards or student advisees are documented in the provided profile.