Meagan Jones

Meagan Jones is a doctoral candidate in Environmental Studies at Antioch New England Graduate School. For the last ten years, her career has focused on linking marine science with education programs. As education director for a Hawaii based non-profit, Meagan created, developed and taught marine education and interpretation programs for schoolchildren, teachers, naturalists, college students and the general public. In 1997, she received a national award from the National Marine Educator's Association for her work in marine education in Hawaii. Since then, her professional work has focused more on scientific research related to threatened populations of humpback whales. To date, she has worked on cetacean research projects in Hawaii, Alaska, Australia, Africa, Canada and French Polynesia. For the last five years, she has worked on a long-term project studying the social function of humpback whale song. Results of this project inspired her to initiate a dissertation study investigating female reproductive strategies in humpback whales. Having worked in both scientific research and environmental education, Meagan is committed to bridging these distinct yet interrelated disciplines. Her desire to merge marine science with education and conservation programs led to the founding of Whale Trust, a non-profit organization based in Hawaii, where she currently serves as the acting executive director.