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Jacquline Rich is a Ph.D. student. Her research interests include sperm and reproductive biology of marine mammals. In the future, she hopes to apply her research findings to marine mammal conservation.
Eliza Mills is an M.S. student. She earned her B.S. in Marine Science/Biology from Eckerd College, where she completed a senior thesis studying the spatial distribution of bottlenose dolphin behavior in Boca Ciega and Tampa Bay, Florida. In addition, Eliza was awarded a NOAA Hollings Scholarship and conducted a project analyzing the diet of harp and gray seals in the U.S. Northwest Atlantic. She is interested in movement and migration patterns, behavior, and the spatial ecology of marine megafauna. Eliza’s current research focuses on tracking bottlenose dolphin movement and behavior in relation to vessels in the Corpus Christi ship channel in Port Aransas, TX.
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Makayla Guinn is a M.S. student. She earned her B.S. in Biology from Baylor University where she studied stress and reproductive endocrinology in baleen whales. Her current research is focused on the stress and health of bottlenose dolphins in the Texas Coastal Bend, and she hopes to pursue non-profit marine mammal endocrine research in the future.



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CURRENT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

  • Emily Cano (Honors/LSAMP): 2021-present
  • ​Ally Wilkins (Honors/LSAMP): 2021-present
  • Anya Ocampos (Honors/LSAMP): 2022-present
  • Austin Willson (Honors/LSAMP/McNair): 2022- present
  • Leala Punjabi (Honors): 2022-present
  • Maddy Licker (Honors): 2022-present
  • Lauren Labonte (Honors): 2023-present
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FORMER TAMU-CC UNDERGRADUATE

​STUDENTS

  • Caitlynn Partin (Honors): 2020-2022. Thesis: Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) spatial dispersion and orientation in groups
  • Madeleine Deel (Honors): 2021-2022: Thesis:  Using computed tomography to assess copulatory fit in orcas (Orcinus orca)
  • Audra Clute (Honors): 2020-2022
  • Brianna Hurst (BS, McNair Fellow): 2020-2021. Thesis: Salinity effects on scarring in Tursiops truncatus and its impact on photo-identification studies
  • Zoie Bright (Honors): 2021
  • Alyssa Trickey (BS 2020; Honors): 2020.  Thesis: Male dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) mating behaviors affect copulation rates and durations
  • Kelsey Pavelick (Honors): 2020
  • Samantha Huron (LSAMP): 2020
  • Auria Avalos (Honors): 2020

*Dr. Orbach has supervised over 125 additional undergraduate students from various institutions prior to her tenure at TAMU-CC

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