Vanessa J. Mintzer
Research Associate Professor of Marine Mammal Conservation
Contact: vmintzer@miami.edu
Dr. Vanessa J. Mintzer (she/her) is a Research Associate Professor of Marine Mammal Conservation in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School. She is a conservation ecologist who uses interdisciplinary approaches to study the effects of anthropogenic stressors on small cetacean populations and species. Her core knowledge and interests include cetacean biology and conservation, wildlife population ecology, and mark-recapture and spatial modeling. However, her work often takes a broader approach, and she implements methodologies from multiple disciplines by collaborating with social scientists and veterinarians. For over 15 years, she has created, developed, and facilitated small cetacean research projects with a focus on furthering long-term research on at-risk marine mammals. She collaborates with diverse stakeholders to ensure that her research is contemporary and highly applicable to conservation and management needs. Concurrent with her research, she establishes public outreach initiatives and citizen science programs.
Dr. Mintzer’s ongoing projects include the Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program and Amazon River Dolphin Ecology and Conservation. She is currently developing research and participatory science initiatives in South Florida, with the goal of better understanding public perception of marine mammals in the region and involving local citizens directly in her lab projects.
Dr. Mintzer holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Florida (SNRE-UF), a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University, and a B.S. in Environmental Science from SNRE-UF. Dr. Mintzer was born and raised in Colombia and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 17. Since then, she has lived and conducted research in multiple locations in the United States and South America.
