Marine Biologist; Quantitative Ecologist

During her master’s research in Newfoundland, Julia deployed GPS tags on common murres to study their foraging behavior.

Julia Gulka, M.S.

Marine Biologist, Quantitative Ecologist
julia.gulka@briwildlife.org
207-839-7600

Julia works on projects related to offshore wind energy development. These projects include organizing and developing technical programs for stakeholder meetings, conducting literature reviews, making scientific recommendations based on the available literature, and conducting offshore wildlife surveys.

Julia is currently working on projects funded by the New York Energy Research and Development Authority, including a study of marine bird movement and habitat use in relation to forage fish abundance and distribution. She also provides technical support for the New York Environmental Technical Working Group, including managing work groups to identify key research priorities to better understand cumulative biological impacts from offshore wind development.

Education & Certifications

  • M.Sc. Biological Sciences. University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. 2018.
  • B.A. Conservation Biology. Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, USA. 2013.

Research Interests & Expertise

Research Interests

Julia is interested in marine bird movement, behavioral ecology, trophic relationships, and conservation; wildlife impacts from offshore wind
energy development; marine contaminants and plastic pollution; and marine spatial planning.

Expertise and Experience

  • Extensive seabird research including:
    • GPS, geolocator, and satellite tagging
    • Behavioral observations
    • Population censusing (point counts, transects, and occupancy counts)
    • Sample collection (blood, feathers, and diet)
    • Boat-based surveys for abundance and distribution
  • Mist-netting and banding songbirds
  • GIS analysis in R
  • Hydroacoustic fish surveys

Journal Articles

Lescure, L., J. Gulka, & G. K. Davoren. 2023. Increased foraging effort and reduced chick condition of Razorbills under lower prey biomass in coastal Newfoundland, Canada. Marine Ecology Progress Series 709: 109-123.
Brunbauer, M., K. McClellan Press, K. A. Williams, B. K. Dresser, J. Gulka, & G. Lampman. 2023. Effective stakeholder engagement for offshore wind energy development: The state of New York's Fisheries and Environmental Technical Working Groups. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 15: e10236.
Adams, E. M., J. E. Gulka, Y. Yang, M. E. H. Burton, D. A. Burns, V. Buxton, L. Cleckner, C. R. DeSorbo, C. T. Driscoll, D. C. Evers, N. Fisher, O. Lane, H. Mao, K. Riva-Murray, G. Millard, N. R. Razavi, W. Richter, A. K. Sauer, & N. Schoch. 2023. Distribution and trends of mercury in aquatic and terrestrial biota of New York, USA: A synthesis of 50 years of research and monitoring. Ecotoxicology 32: 959-976.
Friedland, K. D., E. M. Adams, C. Goetsch, J. Gulka, D. C. Brady, E. Rzeszowski, D. P. Crear, S. Gaichas, A. B. Gill, M. C. McManus, E. T. Methratta, J. L. Morano, & M. D. Staudinger. 2023. Forage fish species prefer habitat within designated offshore Wind Energy Areas in the U.S. Northeast shelf ecosystem. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 15.
Gulka, J., A. M. Berlin, K. D. Friedland, A. T. Gilbert, C. Goetsch, W. A. Montevecchi, M. Perry, I. J. Stenhouse, K. A. Williams, & E. M. Adams. 2023. Assessing individual movement, habitat use, and behavior of non-breeding marine birds in relation to prey availability in the US Atlantic. Marine Ecology Progress Series 711: 77-99.
Goetsch, C., J. Gulka, K. D. Friedland, A. J. Winship, J. Clerc, A. Gilbert, H. F. Goyert, I. J. Stenhouse, K. A. Williams, J. R. Willmott, M. L. Rekdahl, H. C. Rosenbaum, & E. M. Adams. 2023. Surface and subsurface oceanographic features drive forage fish distributions and aggregations: Implications for prey availability to top predators in the US Northeast Shelf ecosystem. Ecology and Evolution 13.
Maynard, L. D., J. Gulka, Jenkins E., & G. K. Davoren. 2022. At-colony behaviour of Great Black-backed Gulls (Larus marinus) following breeding failure. Marine Ornithology 50: 197-204.
Patterson, A., H. G. Gilchrist, S. Benjaminsen, M. Bolton, A. S. Bonnet-Lebrun, G. K. Davoren, S. Descamps, K. E. Erikstad, M. Frederiksen, A. J. Gaston, J. Gulka, J. Hentati-Sundberg, N. P. Huffeldt, K. L. Johansen, A. L. Labansen, J. F. Linnebjerg, O. P. Love, M. L. Mallory, F. R. Merkel, W. A. Montevecchi, A. Mosbech, O. Olsson, E. Owen, N. Ratcliffe, P. M. Regular, T. K. Reiertsen, Y. Ropert-Coudert, H. Strøm, T. L. Thórarinsson, & K. H. Elliott. 2022. Foraging range scales with colony size in high-latitude seabirds. Current Biology 32: 3800-3807.e3.
Irvine, A. L., J. Gulka, & G. K. Davoren. 2021. Hatching success of Common Murres (Uria aalge) is linked to the number of neighbours and resource availability. Marine Ornithology 49: 229-240.
Maynard, L. D., J. Gulka, E. Jenkins, & G. K. Davoren. 2021. Different individual-level responses of Great Black-backed Gulls (Larus marinus) to shifting local prey availability. PLOS ONE 16: e0252561.

Research Reports

BRI Scientific Communications

Grants, Awards & Fellowships

  • Young Explorers Grant. National Geographic, 2017-2018
  • Student Travel Award. American Ornithological Society Conference, 2018
  • Best Student Paper Award. Pacific Seabird Group Conference, 2018, 2017
  • Student Travel Award. Pacific Seabird Group Conference, 2018
  • G. Vlad Presentation Award. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, 2018
  • Manitoba Graduate Scholarship. University of Manitoba, present
  • University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship. University of Manitoba, declined
  • International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship. University of Manitoba, present