PhD Student
Marine Mammal Stress
Tiffany is a PhD student in the Aquatic Animal Health Program with more than 10 years of experience as a veterinary technician for small animals and zoo and aquatic species. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Delaware and an AAS in veterinary technology from Northern Virginia Community College. She worked as a marine mammal and sea turtle stranding response technician for several years where she developed an enthusiasm for aquatic animal forensics. She then earned a master’s degree in wildlife forensic science from UF in 2022 and worked as a marine mammal and sea turtle subject matter expert for offshore wind development before beginning her PhD with the Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine Department.
Tiffany’s research is focused on marine mammal biochemistry, endocrinology, and metabolic consequences of chronic stress. This research is necessary to help biologists and resource managers understand the individual health and potential population-level implications of increasing anthropogenic sound in the ocean. Tiffany’s PhD is funded by the Aquatic Animal Health Program at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. She hopes to use her research to develop novel postmortem diagnostic techniques to derive antemortem health data from stranded marine mammal carcasses.
Publications:
Zorotrian, T., Stern, A. W., Costidis, A., Harms, C. A., Gao, H., Fontaine, C., & Adams, H. R. Delphinid postmortem vitreous humor biochemistry as proxy for antemortem blood analyte concentrations. Marine Mammal Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13157
Zorotrian, T., Stern, A., Gao, H., Costidis, A., Fontaine, C., Deming, A., Harms, C., and Adams, H.R. (2023). Precision of the Abaxis VetScan VS2 for Postmortem Biochemical Analysis of Delphinidae Vitreous Humor. Marine Mammal Science, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13014
Costidis, A.M., Epple, A.L., Daniel, J.T., Zorotrian, T.J., Barco, S.G., Swingle, W.M. 2021 Virginia Sea Turtle and Marine Mammal Stranding Network 2020 Grant Report. Final Report to the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, NOAA CZM Grant NA19NOS4190163, Task 49. VAQF Scientific Report 2021-01, Virginia Beach, VA, 29 pp.