Biomedical Studies & Molecular Biology

Before COA

My mother was a scientist, my father was a historian. Both loved birds, wildflowers, and the out-of-doors. I was raised as a Human Ecologist long before i ever heard the term.  I am a New Zealander by nationality, British by upbringing, and have spent time in the UK, Europe, and the American West. I am fascinated by ideas of Wilderness, Wildness, Aesthetics, and our belief in the Holy. I find much of the post-1914 world in extremely bad taste, and deeply resent having missed Charles Darwin by less than a century.

May 1986 to August 1987: Research Assistant, University of Rhode Island Environmental Data Center.

Course Areas

zoology, anatomy, ecology, pre-med/pre-vet studies, behavior

More Information about my Courses

I believe strongly in the mixture of “hands on” and theoretical work, and if I were to lean one way, it would be towards that magical place that we call “The Field”, as in Field Trips, Field Studies, Field Work. many of the mistakes in modern Ecology, Conservation, Public Policy, etc. have come from relying overly much on theory without regard for facts on the ground. To this end, Ken Cline and I teach Great West, an 8 week immersion in traveling through the Western states, listening to people Not Like Us in places Not Like Maine. Offsetting this, in Summers I take students to Great Duck to listen to species Not Like Us and immerse ourselves in this land that we come to call home. I have a deep and abiding interest in both History and Geography, and all my classes are informed by both -sometimes to the annoyance of my students! At the same time I think it critically important if we are to be in truth “Life Changing/World Changing” (silly motto) we need to know When and Where and Who. Then maybe we can talk about What and Why. I also have a deep and abiding love of poetry & that works its way into most of my classes also.

• B.A. University of California, Berkeley, 1979
• M.A. Ecology and Systematic Biology, San Francisco State University, 1982
• Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, 1987

The current focus of my research is on colonial nesting seabirds and island ecology. I am also interested in the application of G.I.S.and remote-sensing technology to landscape ecology and conservation.

At present,  my field research centers around Great Duck Island in eastern Maine. This island supports one of the largest colonies of Leach’s Storm Petrels in the continental United States, it may also be the largest breeding colony of Black Guillemots in the Lower 48. My students and I are looking at habitat utilization by Herring and Black-backed Gulls, Guillemots, and Petrels. In addition, we are examining territoriality and foraging behaviors by gulls and chick survival/mortality in relation to parental investment.We are also examining the impact of bald Eagles and other predators on colonial nesting seabirds.

Working in collaboration with Acadia National Park we have examined the effects of rising sea-level on nesting islands. We also investigate the impact of introduced and native herbivores on island vegetation, and the impact of vegetation change on nesting habitat.

In addition to work at Great Duck I am interested in the intersection between Natural History and Human History, in relation to long-term ecological processes. 

Co-Archivist for the Waterbird Society

Councillor for Waterbird Society

past President of the Society for Human Ecology

1990-1996 Commission Member, State of Maine Governor’s Commission on Oil Spill Preparedness

Anderson, J.G.T. K. R. Shlepr, A.L. Bond, and R.A. Ronconi. 2016. A Historical Perspective on Trends in Some Gulls in Eastern North America, with Reference to Other Regions. Waterbirds 29(sp1):1-9.

Anderson, J. 2015. The potential impact of sea level rise on seabird nesting islands in Acadia National Park. Natural Resource Report NPS/ACAD/NRR—2015/1055. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Anderson, J.G.T. 2014. Forms most beautiful and most wonderful. GNSI Journal of Natural Science Illustration – 2014 no.2:1-5.

 Tewksbury, J.  J.G.T. Anderson, R.E. Ley and C. Martinez del Rio et al.. 2014. Natural  History’s place in science and society.  BioScience 64 (4):300-310

 Anderson, J. G. T. and K Anderson. 2005. An analysis of band returns of the American White Pelican, 1922 to. 1981. Waterbirds 28:55-60.

  Szewczyk, R. J. Polastre, A. Mainwaring, J.  Anderson, and D.  Culler.  2004.  An Analysis of a Large Scale Habitat Monitoring        Application. Pp. 214-226 Proc.  Second ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems

 Polastre, J. R. Szewczyk, A.  Mainwaring,  D. Culler, J. Anderson 2004. Analysis of wireless sensor networks for habitat monitoring   p.329-423 Ci S. Raghavendra, K M. Sivalingam, and  T. Znati  (eds.) Wireless sensor Networks. Springer Science Media. New York.

 Anderson, J.G.T. and C.M. Devlin . 1999. Restoration of a multi-species seabird colony. Biol. Conservation 90:175-181 

   Anderson, J.G.T. 1992. Management and long-term monitoring of a mixed-species tern colony.  Dev. in Landscape Management and Urban Planning 7:261-265. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

Anderson, J.G.T. 1991. Foraging Behavior of the American White Pelican in western Nevada. Col. Waterbirds 14:166-172.

Anderson, J.G.T. and J.K. Anderson. 1975. A lost city rediscovered? Calif. Publications in Classical  Antiquity  Univ. of Calif Press.

Mancinelli, I. K. Cline, and J.G.T. Anderson. 1993.  Computer assisted community  planning and decision-making.  pp 330-335 in S.D. Wright, T. Dietz, R. Borden, G. Young, and G. Guagnano eds. Human Ecology: Crossing Boundaries. Soc. Hum. Eco. Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Anderson, J.G.T. R.J. Borden, I. Mancinelli, and K. Cline. (1994).  Applied Human  Ecology: College-community  cooperation through computer-assisted regional planning and decision making. In H. Ernste (ed.)  Pathways to Human Ecology/Wege zur Humanökologie  Springer Verlag.

Borden, R. and J.G.T. Anderson (1994) Computer assisted regional planning and decision-making: GIS as a tool for collaboration. Sustainable Development: Challenges for the future Proc. IV World Academic Conference on Human Ecology. Merida, Mexico.

August, P.V., S.A. Avazian, and J.G.T. Anderson. 1989.  Evidence for  use of  magnetodetection by homing field mice. J. Mammalogy 70:1-9.

August, P.V. and J.G.T. Anderson. 1987. Mammal sounds and motivational/structural rules: a test of the hypothesis. J. Mammalogy 68:1-9.

Heppner, F. and J.G.T.Anderson. 1985. Leg thrust important in takeoff of domestic pigeon. J. Exp. Biol. 114, 285-288.

Heppner, F., J.L. Convissar, D.E. Moonan, and J.G.T. Anderson. 1985. Visual angle and    formation flight  Canada Geese (Branta canadensis). Auk 102, 195-198.

Heppner, F.H., J.G.T. Anderson, A.E. Farstrup, and N.H. Weiderman. 1985. Reading performance on a standardized test is better from print than from computer display. J. Reading. Jan. 1985, 321-325.

Books and Book Chapters

 Anderson, J.G.T. A. L. Bond, K. R. Shlepr and R. A. Ronconi (eds) 2015. Gulls in Two Worlds: the decline of Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls in the Western North Atlantic. Special Edition, Waterbirds.

 Anderson, J.G.T. 2012 Deep Things Out of Darkness: A History of Natural History. (Univ. of Calif. Press)

 Anderson J.G.T. 2011 Sauntering Towards Bethlehem. Chapter 5 in The Way of Natural History. T. Fleischner (ed.) Trinity Univ. Press.

Drury, W.H. 1998. Chance and Change: Ecology for Conservationists. (J.G.T. Anderson  ed.) Univ. of California Press.

In 2018, Sean completed a project with the Great Courses™. Entitled Life in the Worlds Oceans, this educational series—entirely authored and presented by Sean and in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution—won a Telly award in 2019.

When not obsessed with all things COA and polar, Sean is an avid photographer, luthier, woodworker and guitarist!

Before COA

Sean grew up on the outskirts of London, England, son to parents heavily involved in the music industry. Many of Sean’s first babysitters were sound engineers— whenever he accompanied his father on a gig into London. He is a graduate of Whitgift High School, where he learned to love rugby and mountaineering/rock climbing. Sean did his undergraduate degree at the University College of North Wales, where he also expanded his experience as an leader in climbing and hiking expeditionS, and where he also qualified as a Lead Dive Instructor in SCUBA under the British Sub Aqua Club.

Sean then turned to Newfoundland, Canada, for his graduate degrees at Memorial University of Newfoundland under Dr. Jon Lien, one of the most respected whale scientists in Canada. Under Jon’s mentorship Sean learned the importance of engaging all stakeholders in conservation management, and that science was not the be-all end-all way of knowing. These experiences were the perfect pre-adaptation for his career at College of the Atlantic, working as a transdisciplinary human ecologist.

Course Areas

Marine Mammalology, Biology, and Oceanography

• Ph.D. Biopsychology, Memorial University, 1998
• M.Sc. Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland
• B.Sc. University College of North Wales, UK

Sean came to College of the Atlantic in 1998 and serves as part of the marine science faculty; he believes strongly in placing students in the field environment to provide the best possible experiential education. This includes numerous field trips on the ocean and visits to the Colleges offshore islands.

As a researcher, Sean is involved in several projects as a principal investigator. Studies include: photo-identification and biopsy of finback and humpback whales, working at sites that vary from the remote field site of Mount Desert Rock, located 25 miles offshore in the Gulf of Maine, to the Antarctic Peninsula; bioacoustic assessments of whale-shipstrike interactions; passive acoustic monitoring; and examinations of baleen whale and pinniped foraging ecology using stable isotopes. He directs Allied Whale, as well as the Marine Mammal Stranding Response Program at College of the Atlantic.

Much of Sean’s background is in the field of fishery-marine mammal interactions. He spent 10 years in Newfoundland as part of the Whale Disentanglement team, a group that releases large entangled whales from fishing gear. In Maine he is trained as part of a first response team that performs a similar function, coordinated by the Center for Coastal Studies, and regularly consults with the federal and state governments on disentanglement activities. He has worked on several projects that successfully designed alarms for fishing gear that reduce marine mammal entanglements. 

In Maine he works principally in the field of foraging ecology, using stable isotope science to understand the shifting diet of whales under the selective pressure of a rapidly changing oceanographic environment. Within Sean’s near 30-year tenure at the college, the Gulf of Maine has increased in temperature over 4°F, a massive swing within the context of biological oceanography.

Sean started work as wildlife guide in 1995, escorting groups such as BBC: Blue Planet and Scientific American Frontiers to find whales to film. Towards the end of his graduate career at Memorial he was leading trips for tourists to subpolar destinations such as southern Labrador to find wildlife. Since coming to COA, he has extended his field of operations to the Antarctic Peninsula, the Canadian High Arctic, Greenland, Norway, Svalbard, Iceland, and Alaska as well as warmer climes such as the Gulf of California and the Kimberly coastline of the Northern Territories of Australia.

He has held polar guide certification for over 25 years, and has 22 seasons-worth of experience working in the Arctic and Antarctica. He also holds a USCG Master certification for vessels up to 25 tons in nears coastal environments, as well as a Royal Yachtsman Association Power Boat II certificate, and a Wilderness First Responder certificate. He has worked for a variety of expedition tourism companies, including Abercrombie and Kent, Hapag Lloyd, Ponant and Silver Seas, but for the past 13 years has worked exclusively for Seabourn, and was part of the inaugural team that created one of the first luxury expedition products for Antarctica; he also assisted in the launch of two new purpose-built expedition vessels, MS Venture and MS Pursuit. Aboard these vessels Sean has instigated a citizen science project that encourages guests to submit images of whale tails to the catalogs that Allied Whale curates.

Many of Sean’s travels and encounters with wildlife have been recorded through his camera; photography is a hobby he has retained since his teens. As a scientist, his camera remains an essential part of his research equipment.

Sean serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for The Shaw Institute, and is a member of the board for the Ellsworth Community Music Institute. He is also a member of the Maine Coalition for the North Atlantic Right Whale

Allen, K., Petersen, M. L., George V. Sharrard, G. V., Wright, D., and Todd, S. K. 2012. Radiated noise from commercial ships in the Gulf of Maine: Implications for whale/vessel collisions. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 132(3) EL229-EL235.

Bort, J., Van Parijs, S., Stevick, P., Summers, E., and Todd, S. K. 2015. North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) vocalization patterns in the central Gulf of Maine from October 2009 to October 2010. Endangered Species Research 26:271-280.

Davis, G., Baumgartner, M. F., Bonnell, J. M., Bell, J., Berchok, C., Bort-Thornton, J., Brault, S., Buchanan, G., Charif, R. A., Cholewiak, D., Clark, C., Corkeron, P., Delarue, J., Dudzinski, K., Hatch, L., Hildebrand, J. A., Hodge, L., Klinck, H., Kraus, S., Martin, B., Mellinger, D., Moors-Murphy, H., Nieukirk, S., Nowacek, D., Parks, S., Read, A., Rice, A. N., Risch, D., Sirovic, A., Soldevilla, M., Stafford, K., Stanistreet, J., Summers, E., Todd, S. K., Warde, A., and van Parijs, S. 2017. Long-term passive acoustic recordings track the changing distribution of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) from 2004 to 2014. Nature Scientific Reports 7: 13460.

Davis, G. E., Baumgartner, M. F., Corkeron, P. J., Bell, J., Berchok, C., Bonnell, J. M., Bort Thornton, J., Brault, S., Buchanan, G. A., Cholewiak, D. M., Clark, C. W., Delarue, J., Hatch, L.T., Klinck, H., Kraus, S.D., Martin, B., Mellinger, D. K., Moors-Murphy, H., Nieukirk, S., Nowacek, D. P., Parks, S. E., Parry, D., Pegg, N., Read, A. J., Rice, A. N., Risch, D., Scott, A., Soldevilla, M. S., Stafford, K. M., Stanistreet, J. E., Summers, E., Todd, S. K., and Van Parijs, S.M. 2020. Exploring movement patterns and changing distributions of baleen whales in the western North Atlantic using a decade of passive acoustic data. Global Changes in Biology 26(9):4812–40. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15191.

Delarue, J., Todd, S. K., Van Parijs, S. M. and Di Iorio, L. 2009. Geographic variation in Northwest Atlantic fin whale songs: implications for stock structure assessment. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 125(3):1774-1782.

Handel, S., Todd, S. K., and Zoidis, A. 2009. Rhythmic structure in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) songs: Preliminary implications for song production and perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 125(6): EL225-EL230.

Handel, S. K., Todd, S., Zoidis, A. 2012. Hierarchical and rhythmic organization in the songs of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Bioacoustics 21(2):141-156.

Haverkamp, H., Chang, H.Y., Newcomb, E., Doughty, L., Walk, D., Seton, R., Jones, L., Todd, S., and Cammen, K. (in press). A retrospective socio-ecological analysis of seal strandings in the Gulf of Maine. Marine Mammal Science 1– 19. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12975

Hill, A. N., Karniski, C., Robbins, J., Pitchford, T., Todd, S. K., and Asmutis-Silvia, R. 2017. Vessel collision injuries on live humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, in the southern Gulf of Maine. Marine Mammal Science 33(2):1748-7692.​

Jones, L. S., Stephenson, T. A., Zoidis, A. M., & Todd, S. K. 2022. Drone Observations of a Mother–Calf Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Pair Synchronous Feeding in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Aquatic Mammals, 48(6), 716-719.

Lien, J., Barney, W., Todd, S. K., Seton, R., and Guzzwell, J. 1992. The effects of adding sounds to codtraps on the probability of collisions by humpback whales. In Marine Mammal Sensory Systems. Edited by Thomas, J.A., Kastelein, R.A., and Supin, A.Y. Plenum Press, New York. pp. 701-708. Invited chapter.

Lien, J., Todd, S. K., and Guigné, J.Y. 1991. Inferences about perception in large cetaceans, especially humpback whales, from incidental catches in fixed fishing gear, enhancement of nets by “alarm” devices, and the acoustics of fishing gear. In Sensory Abilities in Cetaceans; Laboratory and Field Evidence. Edited by Thomas, J., and Kastelein, R. Plenum, New York. pp. 347-362. Invited chapter.

Lubansky, T., Jones, L., Stephenson, T., Taylor, J., Todd, S. K., and Mashintonio, A. In press. Long-term opportunistic sightings reveal shifting optimal habitat locations for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Gulf of Maine. Marine Mammal Science.

Maloney, M., Todd, S. K. Dendanto, D. and Davis, M. M. 2025. First Documentation of Predation on a Porbeagle Shark (Lamna nasus) by a Gray Seal (Halichoerus grypus). Northeast Naturalist 32(2): N5-N11.

McCordic, J. A., Todd, S. K., and Stevick, P. T. 2013. Differential rates of killer whale attacks on humpback whales in the North Atlantic as determined by scarification. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 94(5): 1311-1315.

Mullen, K. A., Petersen, M. L., and Todd, S. K. 2013. Has designating and protecting critical habitat had an impact on endangered North Atlantic right whale ship strike mortality? Journal of Marine Policy 42:293-304.

Napoli, C., Hirtle, N., Stepanuk, J., Christiansen, F., Heywood, E., Grove, T., Stoller, A., Dodds, F., Glarou, M., Rasmussen, M., Lonati, G., Davies, K., Videsen, S., Simon, M., Boye, T., Zoidis, A., Todd, S. and L. Thorne. (in press). Drone-based photogrammetry reveals differences in humpback whale body condition and mass across North Atlantic foraging grounds. Frontiers in Marine Science.

Newcomb, E., Walk, D., Haverkamp, H., Doughty, L., Todd, S. K., Seton, R., Jones, L., and Cammen, K. 2021. Breaking down “harassment” to characterize trends in human interaction cases in Maine’s pinnipeds. Conservation Science and Practice 3(11):1-13.

Todd, S., Allen, K., Mahaffey, C., Damon, J., Peterson, M., Hamilton, P. and Kenney, R. 2009. An acoustic mysticete shipstrike mortality risk assessment for the Gulf of Maine. Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics 2009.

Todd, S., Lien, J., and Verhulst, A. 1992. Orientation of humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) whales to acoustic alarm devices designed to reduce entrapment in fishing gear. In Marine Mammal Sensory Systems. Edited by Thomas, J.A., Kastelein, R.A., and Supin, A.Y. Plenum Press, New York. pp. 727-739. Invited chapter.

Todd, S. K., Ostrom, P., Lien, J., and Abrajano, J. 1997. Use of biopsy samples of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) skin for stable isotope (d¹³C) determination. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Science 22:71-76.

Todd, S., and Nelson, D.L. 1994. A review of modifications to the webbing and setting strategies of passive fishing gear to reduce incidental by-catch of cetaceans. In Annex F of Gillnets and Cetaceans. IWC Spec. Pub. 15. Edited by Donovan, G., Perrin, W.F., and Barlow, J. IWC, Cambridge. pp. 67-69.

Todd, S., Robbins, J., Weinrich, M.T., Pastor, N., Dendanto, D., Palsbøll, P. and A.M. Zoidis (2025). Examination of Isotopic Signals to Determine Trophic Dynamics and Diet of Gulf of Maine Mysticetes prior to an Oceanographic Regime Shift. Aquatic Mammals 51(1).

Todd, S., Rosen, D.A.S., Tollit, D. and Holm, B. 2010. Stable isotope signal homogeneity and differences between and within pinniped muscle and skin. Marine Mammal Science 26(1):176-185.

Todd, S., Stevick, P., Lien, J., Marques, F., and Ketten, D. 1996. Behavioural effects of exposure to underwater explosions in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 74:1661-1672.