Jennifer Susan Hunter is an American mammalogist and Resident Director at the Hastings Natural History Reservation.
Early life and education
Hunter was an undergraduate at the
University of Washington, where she studied wildlife sciences and statistics. For her graduate studies she moved down the West Coast, joining the
University of California. Hunter completed her doctoral degree at the
University of California, Davis.
As part of her doctorate she worked on the
University of California reserves.
After graduating, Hunter volunteered with
Audubon California's Landowner Stewardship program.
Research and career
Hunter studied the carnivorous animals of the Americas. As part of these efforts, Hunter showed that, unlike other mammals, skunks did not have strategies to avoid predators.
Instead, skunks have an abrupt discrimination of dark and light colouring, which warns predators of their noxious scent.
In 2012 Hunter joined the
Monterey Bay Aquarium, where she studied
mahi-mahi
The mahi-mahi () or common dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus'') is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado (not to be confused with ''Salminus brasil ...
,
Cobia and
Spanish mackerel.
In 2014 Hunter returned to the
University of California, joining
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
as project coordinator for the Eel River Critical Zone Observatory at
Angelo Coast Range Reserve. The laboratory investigates the interaction of abiotic and biotic factors with the near-surface environment.
Hunter was appointed Director of the Hastings Natural History Reservation in
Carmel Valley, which is one of the oldest field stations in the world. The reserve is 2,500 acres and home to three seasonal creeks.
Personal life
Hunter is married with two children.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Jennifer
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
University of Washington alumni
University of California, Davis alumni
21st-century American women scientists