Andrea is a California-based marine biologist, with wide experience both in studying whales and dolphins and interpreting their behaviour for the public. With a strong professional interest in geographical information systems, for her Master’s thesis she modelled whale habitat use and shipping, in order to avoid conflict between them. For her undergraduate thesis she studied harbour porpoises in British Columbia. Having also worked for a range of consultancies with birds, freshwater fish, amphibians, reptiles and wildflowers, she is passionate about all wildlife and its conservation and is a rich source of information on the wild places of the western seaboard of North America.