Morgan Ziegenhorn, Ph.D.
Morgan Ziegenhorn (they/she) joined Manomet in November 2025 as a Research Associate in Data Science and Acoustic Ecology and became Manomet’s Senior Acoustic Ecologist and Data Scientist in October 2026. Previously, Morgan worked in close collaboration with Manomet scientists as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universite de Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada, conducting groundbreaking research in the analysis of acoustic data sets applied to large scale shorebird monitoring.
At Manomet, Morgan plays a lead role in all steps of acoustic monitoring, including survey planning, data collection, data processing, and data analysis. In this role Morgan works in collaboration with Manomet’s USFWS and Canadian partners on cutting edge machine learning and advanced statistical analyses of audio recordings of shorebirds in the Arctic. Their current research in this field includes improving automated detection and classification of Arctic shorebird vocalizations, species distribution modelling, and abundance estimation. Along with their colleagues, they are using these approaches to augment Manomet’s large scale monitoring of breeding shorebirds and explore whether audio monitoring can improve or replace visual observations of shorebird density. As Senior Acoustic Ecologist and Data Scientist, Morgan serves as the leader and main point of contact for all questions and requests related to acoustic monitoring and analysis, and data science, both internally at Manomet and with external partners.
Morgan obtained their PhD. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, focusing on passive acoustic monitoring of toothed whales in Hawaii. Prior to this, they completed a Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Biology—Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at the University of California, Berkeley., with a minor in Creative Writing. Morgan is based in Sacramento, California and enjoys running, exploring the outdoors with their partner and dog, and occasionally publishing poetry.