Dr. Kelly Benoit-Bird received a B.S. with Honors in Aquatic Biology from Brown University, where she was named a Hughes Fellow for her undergraduate research work. Dr. Benoit-Bird obtained a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is now a post-doctoral fellow at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. She also sits on the Education Committee for the Society of Marine Mammalogy and the Animal Bioacoustics Technical Committee for the Acoustical Society of America. Dr. Benoit-Bird’s current work uses acoustics to explore the foraging behavior of fishes and dolphins in the ocean.

1. How did you first become interested in science?
2. What is the focus of your research and why did you choose this field of study?
3. What have been some of the recent discoveries in the foraging behavior of spinner dolphins and deepwater snappers?
4. How do you use acoustics to study foraging behavior?
5. What challenges have you faced when studying the behavior of animals that forage beneath the sea surface?
6. What has most surprised you about the foraging behavior of spinner dolphins?
7. What skills are important in your area of research?
8. What are the opportunities in studying foraging behavior? Can people without PhD's participate in some way in this type of research?
9. What is the greatest impact/relevance of your research?
10. What continues to inspire you about your work?
11. What advice would you give a high school student who expressed interest in pursuing a career in your field?