Campus Directory

Pronouns she, her, her, hers, herself

Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division

Department/College/Unit Institute of Marine Sciences

Title Assistant Research Scientist

Affiliation Staff

Staff Type Researcher

Web Site

Primary Office Location Long Marine Lab Ocean Health Building
148a

Mail Stop Long Marine Lab

Biography, Education and Training

2020  PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC, Santa Cruz

       A Top Predator in Hot Water: Effects of a Marine Heatwave on Foraging
       and Reproduction in the Northern Elephant Seal

       Advisor: Dr Daniel P. Costa

2010  MS, Oceanography, Oregon State University

       High-Resolution Sampling of Particulate Organic Carbon in a Coastal Upwelling System.

       Advisors: Drs Miguel A Goñi and Burke Hales

2005  BS with Highest Honors, Biology, Principia College

Research Interests

Marine Predators: Behavior, Ecology, and Oceanography

My interest is in connecting environmental conditions to the behavior and success of large marine vertebrates within an ecophysiology framework.  I am particularly interested in individual variability in behavior and what the ecological implications of multiple behavioral phenotypes are for populations.

Selected Publications

Peterson SH, Peterson MG, Ackerman JT, Debier C, Goetsch C, Holser RR, Hückstädt LA, Johnson JC, Keates TR, McDonald BI, McHuron EA. 2024. Foraging behavior and age affect maternal transfer of mercury to northern elephant seal pups. Scientific Reports. 14(1):4693.

Holser, R.R., D.E. Crocker, A. Favilla, T. Adachi, T. Keates, D.P. Costa. 2023. Effects of disease on foraging behaviour and success in a free-ranging marine mammal, the northern elephant seal. Conservation Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coad034.

Kendall-Bar, J.M., T.M. Willians, R. Mukherji, D.A. Lozano, J.K. Pitman, R.R. Holser, T.R. Keates, R.S. Beltran, P.W. Robinson, D.E. Crocker, T. Adachi, O.I. Lyamin, A.L. Vyssotski, D.P. Costa. 2023. Brain activity of diving seals reveals short sleep cycles at depth. Science.

Holser, R.R., T.R. Keates, D.P. Costa, C.A. Edwards. 2022. Extent and Magnitude of Subsurface Anomalies During the Northeast Pacific Blob as Measured by Animal-Borne Sensors. J. Geophys. Res.: Oceans. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018356.

Adachi, T., Y. Naito, P.W. Robinson, D.P. Costa, L.A. Hückstädt, R.R. Holser, W. Iwasaki, & A. Takahashi. 2022. Whiskers as hydrodynamic prey sensors in foraging seals. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2119502119

Holser, R.R., D.E. Crocker, R. Condit, P.W. Robinson, D.P. Costa. 2021. Density-dependent effects on reproductive output in a capital breeding carnivore, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 288: 20211258.

Adachi, T., A. Takahashi, D.P. Costa, P.W. Robinson, L.A. Hückstädt, S.H. Peterson, R.R. Holser et al. 2021. Forced into an ecological corner: Round-the-clock deep foraging on small prey by elephant seals. Science Advances.

Yoshino, K., A. Takahashi, T. Adachi, D.P. Costa, P.W. Robinson, S.H. Peterson, L.A. Hückstädt, R.R. Holser, Y.Naito. 2020. Acceleration-triggered animal-borne videos show a dominance of fish in the diet of female northern elephant seals. Journal of Experimental Biology, 223(5).

Horning, M., R.D. Andrews, A.M. Bishop, P.L. Boveng, D.P. Costa, D.E. Crocker, M. Haulena, M. Hindell, A.G. Hindle, R.R. Holser, ... J.N. Womble. 2019. Best practice recommendations for the use of external telemetry devices on pinnipeds. Animal Biotelemetry, 7, 20.

Holser, R.R., M.A. Goñi, B. Hales. 2011. Design and application of a semi-automated filtration system to study the distribution of particulate organic carbon in the water column of a coastal upwelling system, Marine Chemistry, 123, 67-77.