David G. Ainley, Ph.D.

Senior Ecologist

Bio
Relevant Experience
Education & Credentials

Bio

Dr. David Ainley is a senior ecologist. He is one of the most published marine scientists globally, with more than 325 journal articles and 6 books in publication. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his research and expertise. Dr. Ainley has studied marine ecosystems, mainly from the middle to upper levels of food webs, for more than 40 years. He has led research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for more than 35 years and has conducted research for more than 20 years on the ecology of marine birds and mammals in the California Current and in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Dr. Ainley also is an expert on the ecology of the Hawaiian petrel and Newel’s shearwater. He has created and managed more than 100 projects, ranging in scope from conducting single-investigator efforts to chairing the steering committee of multidisciplinary investigations.

Dr. Ainley is involved mainly in applied research, applying his scientific expertise to projects that address potential impacts on marine wildlife, particularly marine birds. He has developed conservation strategies for threatened and endangered species, provided insight and guidance on the application of research to renewable energy projects, and advised on the impacts of resource use on avian species and habitat. His research on seabird flight behavior to altered wind strength and direction, including flight speed, height and style/maneuverability, is a critical resource for evaluating the siting of offshore energy projects.

Prior to joining Integral Consulting, Dr. Ainley was a senior wildlife ecologist at H. T. Harvey & Associates for more than three decades.

Relevant Experience

Seabird Ecology

Farallon Islands Habitat Rehabilitation, Farallon Islands National Marine Sanctuary, California — Initiated a multiyear effort to rehabilitate habitat and restore several diminished or extirpated populations of marine birds and mammals on the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

Farallon Islands Breeding Bird and Mammal Foot Web Study, Farallon Islands National Marine Sanctuary, California — Initiated a research effort, ongoing, on the ecology and food web connections of marine birds and mammals breeding on the Farallon Islands, largest seabird colony along the US coast south of Alaska.

Light-Attraction Impact on Hawaiian Seabird Demographic Trends, Hawaiian Island — Conducted multi-year research on endangered seabirds in Hawaii, especially Kauai, in the context of the impact of light attraction on demographic trends.

Makamaka’ole Seabird Project, Maui, Hawaii — Served as lead in the development of a deterministic population dynamic model to evaluate effects of predator control on Hawaiian petrels and Newell’s shearwaters at the Makamaka’ole mitigation site as a potential measure that would effectively mitigate for wind project-related losses.

Prince William Sound Seabird Recovery, Prince William Sound, Alaska — Served as member of a panel to design and oversee efforts toward recovery of seabirds to the Exxon-Valdez oil spill.

Effects of At-Sea Disposal of Dredge Materials, Farallon Islands, CA — Led and participated in a multi-year assessment of the effects of disposal of San Francisco Bay dredge materials at the Deep-Ocean Disposal Site.

Rockfish Assessment Program, Eastern Pacific Ocean — Participated in and helped design the Rockfish Assessment Program of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Information gathered on seabirds during annual cruises led to the development of a seabird 3D distribution perspective and relative vulnerability model, anticipating offshore wind energy development, with the Schatz Energy Research Center for the California Energy Commission.

Eastern Pacific Ocean Climate Study, Eastern Pacific Ocean — Led an NSF-funded effort to understand the ecology of seabirds in the tropical-subtropical eastern Pacific, in the project Eastern Pacific Ocean Climate Study (EPOCS) of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratories and the Atlantic Marine Oceanographic Laboratories of NOAA.

Federal Endangered Species Act Assessment, Hawaiian Islands — Reviewed literature and assisted with the modeling, provided to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service related to the Federal Endangered Species Act listing issues for the Newell’s Shearwater and Marbled murrelet.

Antarctic Research

Antarctic Marine Research and Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics, Antarctic Marine Environment and Pacific Ocean — Served as chair or participant of committees over-seeing, and conducting, multidisciplinary, multi-ship, multi-year, NSF-funded research in 1) AMERIEZ (Antarctic Marine Research in the Ice Edge Zone), located in the Scotia and Weddell seas; and 2) GLOBEC (Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics), efforts located in both the Antarctic and the northern California Current.

Seabird Prey Field Dynamics, Southern Ross Sea, Antarctica — Served as lead for three NSF-funded projects using Remotely Operated Vehicles and buoyancy gliders to quantify the prey fields of bird and mammal predators in the southern Ross Sea.

Designation of Ross Sea Regional Protected Area and Establishment of Last Ocean Trust, Ross Sea, Antarctica — Initiated and led a campaign to designate the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area, which successfully came into force in 2017. Toward that end, co-founded the Last Ocean Trust to generate public support for the project through lectures, a film, and photo-book.

Antarctic Penguin Demography Dynamics, Ross Sea, Antarctica — Led as PI a multi-year, multi-investigator effort to reveal the demography of penguins in the southern Ross Sea to explain why populations were increasing, the project included studies of diet and foraging effort; funded by NSF.

Education & Credentials

Highlights

More than 40 years of research experience

Avian ecology, particularly seabird ecology

The ecology of Adélie penguin, Hawaiian petrel, Newel’s shearwater, and eastern Pacific and central California Current seabirds

Endangered species conservation

Design of marine protected areas

Education & Credentials

Ph.D., Animal Behavior and Ecology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 1973

B.S., Biology, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1968

Professional Experience

Senior ecologist 2, H. T. Harvey & Associates, 1995–2026

Program Director, marine studies, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 1977–1994

Biologist, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 1972–1976

Achievements & Awards

Ralph W Schreiber Conservation Award (2022) from American Ornithological Societies

Lifetime Achievement Award (2015) and founding member, Pacific Seabird Group (1972)

Advisory Committee, Marine Conservation Institute, 2020–
July 2026

Founding member, Society for Marine Mammalogy (1981)

Editor, Marine Ornithology, 2013– July 2026

Fellow and Life Member, American Ornithologists’ Union; Life member: Cooper and Wilson ornithological societies

Steering Committee, NSF funded Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics, northern California Current, 2000–2005

Steering Committee (co-chair), NSF-funded Antarctic Marine Research in the Ice Edge Zone, 1982–1990

Marine Mammal Commission, 1985–1990

Clear Filter