Morgan S. Barnebee, D.Sc. passed away on March 18th, 2011
She was involved in many charities, including the Society of Marine Mammals, World Wildlife fund, Sierra Club, Heifer international, Hebridean Whale and Dolphin trust, Center for Biological Diversity, Orca Network, Osborn Laboratories for Marine Sciences, Puerto Rico Cetacean Survey, Vancouver Aquarium, ASPCA and several others.
Dr. Barnebee was also a member of the DART (Disaster Animal Response Teams) of Orange and Brevard County Fl, where she helped rescue and medically tend injured and endangered wildlife during natural disasters such as wildfire and hurricanes.
She held a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Public Relations, a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology, and a Master's degree in Marine Biology and Animal Sciences. In 2000, she was awarded a Doctorate of Science in Mammal Biology and Behavior with a specialty in Marine Mammals. She did extensive work in the areas of cetacean reproduction sciences and large mammal communication.
She also reviewed and edited documents that have been used by Congress to re-write The Right Whale Protection Act and The Environmental Protection Act. She was also an Academic Member of the Society of Marine Mammals, and judged presentations by pre and post doctoral students during the Society's conference in Vancouver, Canada.
At the time of her passing she was the Director of Cetacean Studies for The Orca Project USA, which was in the process of photo-identifying pods of Orcinus Orca (Killer whales) that make their home in the Western Caribbean as well as documenting the genetic lineage of all orcas currently held in captivity in the United States.
She was the mother of 6 children (Kelcey, Khara, Ashley, Erik, Caitlin and Ian).
The things she found most important in life were her marriage, her children and her work with animals.
She is sorely missed.
