NOAA-EPP LMRCSC Doctoral Graduate
Ph.D., Marine Biology & Fisheries
University of Miami – RSMAS
Halie received a B.S. in Marine Science and Biology from the University of Miami RSMAS in 2013. She earned her Ph.D. in Marine Biology and Fisheries at the University of Miami RSMAS under Dr. Elizabeth Babcock in December 2020. In summer 2018 she completed her NERTO at the SEFSC Panama City lab working with Dr. Enric Cortes on shark stock assessment.
Halie’s work aimed to determine if the spatial structure of shark populations mattered to fisheries sustainability and evaluated the ability of available data to address this question. Her work included exploring how different sexes and life stages are distributed, how this distribution affected which fishery each group came into contact with, and how management addressed the resulting variation in mortality.
Halie accepted a job in summer 2020 as a stock assessment scientist at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. She completed her dissertation on Modeling Shark Bycatch Mitigation Strategies in Longline Fisheries in February 2021.
NERTO Project Title: Comparing shark harvest control rules to potential biological removals when determining total allowable catches
NOAA Mentor: Dr. Enric Cortes, NOAA NMFS Panama City Lab., Panama City, FL
Academic Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Babcock
Publications/Presentations
- OFarrell, H. & Babcock, E. (2019). Using generalized linear modeling and quantile regression to produce habitat suitability maps for shortfin mako sharks in the North Atlantic. Presented at the American Fisheries Society Conference, Reno, NV, October, 2019.
- O’Farrell, H. & Babcock, E.A. (2018). Evaluation of Environmental Conditions as Predictors for Mako Shark CPUE using Generalized Linear Mixed Modeling and Quantile Regression. Presented at NOAA EPP Forum, Washington, DC. March 2018.
- O’Farrell, H., Grüss, A., Sagarese, S. R., Babcock, E. A., & Rose, K. A. (2017). Ecosystem modeling in the Gulf of Mexico: current status and future needs to address ecosystem-based fisheries management and restoration activities. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 1-28. doi: 10.1007/s11160-017-9482-1
- Grüss, A., K. A. Rose, J. Simons, C. H. Ainsworth, E. A. Babcock, D. D. Chagaris, K. De Mutsert, J. Froeschke, P. Himchak, I. C. Kaplan, H. O’Farrell, and M. J. Zetina Rejon. (2017). Recommendations on the use of Ecosystem Modeling for Informing Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management and Restoration Outcomes in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine and Coastal Fisheries.
