Staff

When Susan was ten years old her biologist grandparents took her on a research trip to the tropical islands of the West Indies where she fell in love with the sea and all its creatures.

She grew up, went to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, became a successful professional photographer and took thousands of painstakingly art-directed photos of food for magazines, restaurants, cookbooks, and clients such as the New York and Los Angeles Times food sections, Julia Childs with Microsoft, Alaska Airlines, Starbucks and Holland America. In addition, she studied communications and did course work in graphic design at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle.

Susan now lives on an island near Seattle with her writer husband Ken, two Australian shepherds, and a crazy loveable little mutt that thinks she’s the boss of the other two dogs. Susan and Ken have a deep love of the outdoors and spend a lot of time exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest by foot and kayak. Over the last ten years, Susan has taken several marine naturalist courses from the Whale Museum and the Center for Whale Research, both on San Juan Island. She now takes photos of orcas and volunteers her time and talents working with several environmental organizations. She enjoys helping with public events and talking to school kids about the plight of salmon and Southern Resident Orcas.

Ali has 20 years of experience in marine conservation, including 2 years as Executive Director of the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea. Working with Wild Orca since 2019, she helps reach a wide audience of wild advocates, using inspirational stories and translational science to promote action for change. Ali first met these whales in 2012, and it was love at first sight. She just knew she had to be involved in the fight to prevent their extinction.

Dr. Deborah Giles is one of the world’s leading experts on the Southern Resident killer whales. Starting as a research assistant in 2005, then the subject of her graduate studies and her entire professional career since receiving her PhD, making Giles one of the few scientists to have focused almost exclusively on this iconic population.

Giles serves as the Research Director for Wild Orca, monitoring the Southern Resident killer whales’ health through non-invasive sampling with Eba, her highly-trained scent detection dog.

Giles collaborates with government scientists and other researchers to enhance understanding of the many impacts on these endangered whales from overfishing, pollution and noise. She represents their interests with policymakers, and is frequently interviewed by print and broadcast media as one of the principal voices calling for the recovery of these endangered orcas.