Andrew has headed up the strandings team since 2009. As a veterinary pathologist he undertakes most of the post mortem examinations and has oversight for data collection, management and reporting. He has a background in veterinary epidemiology, provides scientific direction to the project and will likely be the face you see wielding a scalpel on our training and outreach courses.
Andrew graduated as a vet from the University of Edinburgh in 2000 and completed a PhD in veterinary epidemiology in 2007. Andrew holds a lot of expertise in the field of wildlife disease and is interested in the cumulative effects of disease, physiology and environmental stressors on wild populations.
Nick is the strandings coordinator, responsible for the collection of stranding reports and carcases for necropsy. He also carries out and assists with post-mortem examinations and contributes to the production of scientific and governmental publications and reports. Nick manages our volunteer network and will most likely be the person answering the phone when you report in a stranding. He is also a highly experienced bacteriologist, and performs determinative bacteriology on all cases that are necropsied.
Nick brings a lot of expertise to the project, having previously worked on stranded marine mammals and as a microbiologist for the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in Cornwall for nearly 27 years.
Mariel joined the team in September 2014, after finishing her MSc in Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology from the University of Aberdeen. Before that she worked for the strandings networks in the Netherlands, which started her interest in strandings and their use for population monitoring. She is our resident data specialist, manages the database, sample archives and Beachtrack app, and additionally provides administrative and coordination support as well as assistance with post-mortem examinations.
As of 2022 she will be reducing her hours on the SMASS programme to focus more on her PhD research, focussing on the development of new analytical approaches to the strandings dataset. She has a special interest in life-history inferences and reproductive biology, and inferring metrics of fertility from samples taken at post mortem.
Ellie initially joined the SMASS team in 2018 as coordinator of the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA), and is now completing her PhD which focusses on gaining a better understanding of the scale, impact and potential mitigation of marine animal entanglement in the Scottish static gear fishery. As well as working closely with creel fishers, Ellie is using data held by SMASS to examine what post-mortem pathology can tell us about the nature, origin and chronicity of entanglement in cetaceans, and to assess the welfare impacts of these incidents to individual animals.
Ellie has a BSc (Hons) in Conservation Biology from the University of Aberdeen, and an MSc in International Marine Environmental Consultancy from Newcastle University.
Rachel joined SMASS as part of her PhD in October 2022, after finishing an MSc in Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation from the University of Exeter. She has a background in modelling anthropogenic impacts on marine animals and has volunteered with various marine mammal monitoring charities across the UK. Her research will focus on using pathology from the SMASS database to generate indices of health and to model the cumulative effects of multiple stressors on marine animals in Scotland. The goal of this work is to determine the potential of strandings data as a tool for monitoring marine mammal health.
Rachel is our resident social media expert and further helps SMASS with education and outreach projects, strandings coordination, and assistance with post mortems frequently.
Anna started her IAPETUS-funded PhD with SMASS and Heriot – Watt University in 2022. She began her marine science education when she enrolled at Sweden’s only high school specializing in marine biology. Following this, she undertook her BSc in Marine Biology at the University of Aberdeen, during which she worked a variety of jobs ranging from a shrimp aquaculture farm to the Responsible Business team at Sky. After graduating, Anna joined Marine Scotland Science, investigating the impact of offshore wind development on marine mammals, seabirds and their prey.
Anna’s research focuses on molecular and isotopic signatures of dolphins and whales, and how this information can be used to understand the foraging behaviour and life history of stranded animals.
Alex joined the SMASS team as part of his PhD in October 2025, having completed an MRes in Evolution with the University of Southampton. His background is in the evolution of endothermy and thermoregulation in mammals, and will focus his research with SMASS on thermogenesis in cetaceans.
His work will involve investigating the physiological mechanisms cetaceans employ to generate heat. The end goal is to better understand their resilience to increasingly unpredictable sea temperatures.
Claire started with SMASS in September 2023. She has a Zoology degree from the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. Following completion of her BSc, she travelled to the UK to fulfill her passion for travel, funded by honing her administrative skills.
She was introduced to SMASS when she assisted with the recovery of a stranded Sowerby’s beaked whale in 2021. She started volunteering with SMASS shortly after, and was one of the most essential people assisting with the necropsies and investigation into the long-finned pilot whale mass stranding event (MSE), on the Isle of Lewis in July 2023.
Claire’s administrative skills, scientific background, go-get-them attitude and hands-on experience also supports the team more broadly with all SMASS related activities – including sample archiving and necropsies.
Elsa joined SMASS in November 2025 as a pathology data and digital technician and is working with the team to further develop a post-mortem database, with a particular focus on the pathology data.
Elsa completed an MSc in Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter in September 2025. For her MSc research project, she analysed cetacean strandings data to evaluate the prevalence and impacts of macroplastic ingestion.
Before her masters, Elsa completed an undergraduate BMBS medical degree at the University of Exeter and worked as a junior doctor in the NHS for two years. Following this she took a break from medicine and after spending time sailing and completing a Professional Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine decided to change careers to focus on her long-term interest in marine mammals. She has particular interests in anthropogenic impacts, marine mammal health and strandings.