Megan Stolen is a wildlife biologist and forensic scientist who specializes in aquatic animals. She received her BSc. and MSc. in Biology at the University of Central Florida and a second Master’s degree from the University of Florida in Wildlife Forensic Science and Conservation. She has been involved in aquatic animal ecology and conservation for 25 years and continues to work with a variety of species including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, bottlenose dolphins, and North American river otters. She is an expert on age estimation and demography of small cetaceans and is considered one of the nation’s experts on this technique. She is a certified large whale necropsy team leader and often travels to assist with large whale and mass stranding events. 

Her recent work is focused on human-wildlife conflict and the application of forensic science to understand threats to aquatic and terrestrial animals. She is particularly interested in understanding the effects of roads on small animals and vessel traffic and entanglement on large whales and other cetaceans. She is also the director of a Florida-based citizen science Otter Spotter program that encourages the public to gather data on river otters. Her publications include work on age and growth, contaminant levels, abundance of dolphins, pathology, animal health and harmful human-dolphin interactions. She teaches at workshops and conferences as well as graduate and undergraduate classes. In her spare time, she volunteers her time and expertise to her local wildlife rehabilitation center and county animal shelter.