All dolphin photography taken under MMPA Permit #21938-03.
May not be used for commercial purposes.
The Cedar Key Dolphin Project would not be successful without the support from the volunteer team!
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Founder, Principle Investigator
Dr. Stefanie Gazda, University of Florida Dr. Stefanie Gazda first came to Cedar Key in 2001 as a Masters’ student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth under the guidance of Richard Connor in order to study a feeding behavior a local fisherman had captured on video. This driver-barrier behavior was the first documented case of a division of labor with role specialization in a marine mammal, and the second one in any mammal. She went on to base her PhD work on the dolphins of the Cedar Key area and established what is now known as the Cedar Key Dolphin Project. |
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Current Graduate Students
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Madyson D'Espies
Mady began working with the Cedar Keys Dolphin Project as a part-time field assistant in 2023 while completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida. She graduated with Honors, earning a degree in Marine Sciences with a minor in Zoology, after completing her thesis on driver-barrier feeding in dolphins. Now pursuing her Master’s in Interdisciplinary Ecology with a specialization in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at UF, Mady is investigating a potential specialized foraging tactic in Crystal River, where dolphins follow a boat at night, feeding on fish illuminated by its lights. Her research involves developing activity budgets for these dolphins and assessing their population structure within the broader region from Crystal River to Cedar Key. Beyond her academic and research pursuits, Mady is an accomplished athlete who trains and competes internationally in karate. She also enjoys teaching fitness and karate classes, blending her passion for science with movement. |
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Suzanna Mickey
Suzanna is a marine mammal biologist whose work blends health research with long-term population monitoring. She first joined the Cedar Key Dolphin Project (CKDP) in 2019, working on the photo-identification catalog, and has remained a collaborator ever since. In 2020, she moved to Cedar Key full-time to join the University of Florida Marine Animal Rescue (UFMAR) as a Stranding Biologist, where she continues to integrate stranding response with CKDP’s ongoing population studies. Suzanna joined the CKDP Board of Directors in 2022 and is especially interested in advancing non-invasive methods for assessing dolphin health. Beginning her Master’s in Fall 2025, she will study the respiratory microbiomes of wild, free-ranging dolphins and investigate the presence of infectious diseases. Her long-term goal is to strengthen the link between health and ecology to better understand and protect dolphin populations. |
Remote Support
Carrie Cramer
Carrie is a 2023 and 2024 Field Assistant returning for her photo ID expertise for the 2025 season! We are thrilled to have her back this summer!
Carrie developed a lifelong passion for marine science and conservation while growing up on the Gulf Coast of Florida. She began her career as a network engineer, but after volunteering in marine mammal stranding response and rehabilitation, she decided to return to school to pursue a career in marine mammal research. Carrie graduated from the University of Washington in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in marine biology. She is particularly interested in using acoustics and other technologies to research marine mammal behavior and communication, so she is thrilled to learn more about these topics as a research assistant with CKDP. In her free time, Carrie enjoys gardening and taking her dog on outdoor adventures.
Carrie is a 2023 and 2024 Field Assistant returning for her photo ID expertise for the 2025 season! We are thrilled to have her back this summer!
Carrie developed a lifelong passion for marine science and conservation while growing up on the Gulf Coast of Florida. She began her career as a network engineer, but after volunteering in marine mammal stranding response and rehabilitation, she decided to return to school to pursue a career in marine mammal research. Carrie graduated from the University of Washington in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in marine biology. She is particularly interested in using acoustics and other technologies to research marine mammal behavior and communication, so she is thrilled to learn more about these topics as a research assistant with CKDP. In her free time, Carrie enjoys gardening and taking her dog on outdoor adventures.
Jolinde Vlaeyen
Jolinde started her work with the CKDP as a research assistant during the 2018 field season, helping to collect and analyze data, before starting her masters in animal behavior at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She came back during the 2019 field season, and in 2020, when COVID-19 made it impossible to return again, she performed a small remote pilot project on signature whistles as part of her masters. Having worked with both primates and cetaceans, Jolinde fostered a particular interest into bridging the gap between both worlds. Now a PhD candidate at Osnabrück University, she managed to find a way to continue this interest, by including the CKDP dolphin population as a chapter of her PhD. She will investigate whether turn-taking – rapid exchanges of alternating, short, and flexible turns between two or more interactants when communicating – is seen in bottlenose dolphins in the Cedar Keys. Additionally, through a comparative approach, she will investigate how similar it is to bonobo turn-taking, and link it back to what we know about human turn-taking. After her PhD, Jolinde would love to continue doing comparative research on both taxa, with a focus on animal communication and cognition.
Jolinde started her work with the CKDP as a research assistant during the 2018 field season, helping to collect and analyze data, before starting her masters in animal behavior at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She came back during the 2019 field season, and in 2020, when COVID-19 made it impossible to return again, she performed a small remote pilot project on signature whistles as part of her masters. Having worked with both primates and cetaceans, Jolinde fostered a particular interest into bridging the gap between both worlds. Now a PhD candidate at Osnabrück University, she managed to find a way to continue this interest, by including the CKDP dolphin population as a chapter of her PhD. She will investigate whether turn-taking – rapid exchanges of alternating, short, and flexible turns between two or more interactants when communicating – is seen in bottlenose dolphins in the Cedar Keys. Additionally, through a comparative approach, she will investigate how similar it is to bonobo turn-taking, and link it back to what we know about human turn-taking. After her PhD, Jolinde would love to continue doing comparative research on both taxa, with a focus on animal communication and cognition.
Summer 2025 Field Assistants
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Isabella Haddad
Isabella just graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's in zoology. Growing up in Daytona Beach, she has always loved marine life, especially dolphins. In her junior year she combined her interests and illustrated activity books for the USGS to get elementary age kids excited about science. The following summer she had a sea turtle rehabilitation internship at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet, FL. She is excited to now have a chance to study wild dolphins and support their conservation! |
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Celeste Laraway
Celeste is a native Floridian and current UF undergraduate student studying WEC with a minor in Anthropology to become a wildlife biologist, with dreams of becoming a National Geographic Explorer. Before UF, she transferred from Santa Fe College and did a term of Florida Conservation Corps. Her dad was a veterinarian, so she grew up with many pets, including exotic animals such as bearded dragons--and hermit crabs, which makes her partial to marine life. Her childhood fostered my love of various animals, and drive to protect imperiled species. She does not have a specific area of focus at the moment, other than conservation, but wanted to explore the marine side of conservation and research as most of her experience has been on land. Her hobbies include repurposing furniture, hiking, and photography. She is interested in photo identification but is excited to learn anything related to protecting our marine wildlife! |
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Chloe Lynn Chloe is a fourth-year biology major at the University of Florida. She grew up observing dolphins and manatees in the Indian River Lagoon and is eager to pursue this passion working with the Cedar Key Dolphin Project this summer. She plans on going to graduate school to continue her studies and hopes to work in museum curation in the future. In her free time, Chloe enjoys birdwatching, fishing, and oil painting. |
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Summer 2024 Field Assistants
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Mira Johnson
Mira recently graduated from Lawrence University with a major in biology and minors in film studies and studio art. In 2021, her experience conducting research on the reefs of Bonaire as part of Lawrence University’s Marine Biology program solidified her interest in Marine Biology. In her sophomore year, she worked with the Wisconsin DNR Snapshot program where she conducted research using camera traps to study wildlife populations. Following her junior year, she worked as a Lawrence Summer Research Fellow at the Center for Limnology Trout Lake Station where she conducted a study using Infrared videography of freshwater zooplankton migration patterns in northern WI lakes. She is very excited to apply her skills in photography/videography and animal behavior to the research of dolphins. |
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Summer 2023 Field Assistants
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Meher (Nemo) Datta
Born and raised in the coastal city of Mumbai, Meher has been passionate about the oceans since her early childhood. She made the journey to the United States to pursue marine biology and discovered her passions for marine mammal bioacoustics while working as an assistant researcher with the Eckerd College Dolphin Project. Meher is graduating in 2023 with a degree in Environmental Studies and aspires to go to graduate school to study the impacts of anthropogenic noise pollution on cetacean communication. |
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Summer 2022 Field Assistants
Faith Dunlap Faith is a rising senior at the University of Florida with a major in zoology. She's always wanted to get involved in marine mammal research and after she graduates, she is interested in continuing her education, researching wildlife and marine biology. This summer she's excited to learn more about dolphin behavior and communication! |
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Jaiere Harlow
Jaiere is a second-year master’s student studying Environmental Science at Tuskegee University, and on track to graduate at the end of April. She received her bachelor’s degree in animal science at Tuskegee University as well and is very interested in and passionate about marine conservation and cetacean behavior. She is excited and eager to gain so much more knowledge on a plethora of topics that the Cedar Key Dolphin Project will be focusing on this summer! |
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Summer 2021 Field Assistants
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Abigail Coffey
Abby Coffey joined our team in June of 2021, participating as a field assistant over this last year. From photo ID, recording behavior, and frantically attempting to capture shots of leaping dolphins for our social media, Abby has been a regular member of our team. While she is completing her online graduate certificate through Oregon State University, she is accompanying our team on our visits out to Cedar Key to collect data. Abby is also completing a Capstone project on the re-evaluation of dolphin stocks off the West Coast of Florida, utilizing data collected throughout CKDP's history. Abby is going to be attending law school in the fall at the #1 law school in both Environmental and Animal Law, Lewis and Clark College (Northwestern). |
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Amanda Wichterman
Amanda is a recent graduate of the University of Florida, where she obtained a Bachelor of Marine Sciences degree in May 2021. During her time as an undergraduate, she worked with the CKDP during the summers of 2020 and 2021 where she was a field assistant intern. Amanda is currently working as a veterinary technician during her gap-year and will be attending veterinary school this upcoming fall! Following veterinary school, Amanda is interested in pursuing a specialization in aquatic veterinary medicine. |
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Summer 2020 Field Assistants
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Leslie Medina
Leslie is from Puerto Rico and graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao from Coastal Marine Biology. Her interest has always been marine mammals and for that reason she graduated from the Marine Mammal Science MPS in the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). During 2020 she worked with Cedar Key Dolphin Project, specifically creating a project using Geographic Information System (GIS) software to answer some questions about the Cedar Key dolphin population's habitat use. |
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Emma Wright
Emma recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Microbiology. While her undergraduate research focused on soil microbiology, she was excited to pursue a career in marine research and conservation. She is especially interested in behavior, bioacoustics, and climate change research and hopes to one day work with arctic species. In her free time, Emma enjoys reading, ice dance and synchronized skating, and embroidery. |
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