



Jessica Kendall-Bar
| ART + SCIENCE |
marine biologist & science communicator
Welcome
My research combines engineering, data science, ecology, and visualization to measure behavior and physiology of marine animals in a changing climate. For my dissertation, I developed a non-invasive system to record and visualize the sleep patterns of seals at sea published in Science.
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
BIOLOGGING &
ENGINEERING
DATA VISUALIZATION &
SIMULATION
DATA SCIENCE, AI, &
MODELING
ART &
STORYTELLING

Sleep at sea
As increasing human impact coincides with changing ecosystems, it is important to assess how our activities affect animals' natural behavior. Marine mammal sleep had only been studied in the lab. For my dissertation, I combined art, engineering, and biology to develop a system to monitor and visualize the sleep patterns of seals at sea. These tools allow us to learn more about where, when, and how animals sleep at sea so that we can better manage and protect their critical resting habitats.

DESIGN
I designed a surface-mounted system for non-invasive recordings of sleep at sea.
Kendall-Bar et al.
Eavesdropping on the Brain at Sea
Animal Biotelemetry (2022).

VISUALIZE
I designed a visualization toolbox to allow us to see their behavior alongside their neurological state.
Kendall-Bar et al.
Visualizing Life in the Deep
IEEE VIS (2021).

APPLY
I applied the EEG-derived sleep patterns of wild seals to interpret sleep patterns at the population level.
Kendall-Bar et al.
Brain activity of diving seals
Science (2023).
PUBLICATIONS
PUBLICATIONS
2022
JM Kendall-Bar, R Mukherji*, J Nichols*, C Lopez*, DA Lozano*, JK Pitman, RR Holser, RS Beltran, M Schalles, CL Field, SP Johnson, AL Vyssotski, DP Costa & TM Williams.
Eavesdropping on the brain at sea: development of a surface-mounted system to detect weak electrophysiological signals from wild animals.
Animal Biotelemetry
DOI: 10.1186/s40317-022-00287-x
2021
JM Kendall-Bar, NX Kendall-Bar, AG Forbes, G McDonald, PJ Ponganis, C Williams, M Horning, A Hindle, H Klinck, RS Beltran, AS Friedlaender, D Wiley, DP Costa, & TM Williams.
Visualizing Life in the Deep: a creative pipeline for data-driven animations to facilitate marine mammal research, outreach, and conservation.
IEEE VIS
DOI: 10.1109/VISAP52981.2021.00007
*** Non-peer-reviewed publication: doctoral dissertation.

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION&
DATA VISUALIZATION
VIDEOS & ANIMATIONS
MAPS & INFOGRAPHICS