Déborah joined CERG in February 2021. Her MSc thesis focused on the environmental contaminants of New Zealand’s endangered endemic Hector’s dolphin which she completed in 2023.  Prior to this, Déborah completed in 2019 her undergraduate degree in Marine Ecology and Zoology at Massey University, and her postgraduate diploma in Marine Science at the University of Auckland in 2020. Presently Déborah is employed as a lab technician within the Cetacean Pathology Unit.

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MSc Project:Environmental contaminants of New Zealand's endangered endemic Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori).

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Supervisors: Prof Karen Stockin & Dr Katharina Peters

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This project assessed the spatiotemporal trends in legacy contaminants (PCBs and multi-residue pesticides) and emerging contaminants (PBDEs and PFAS) of New Zealand’s endangered endemic Hector’s (C. h. hectori) and Māui (C. h. maui) dolphins. Contaminant concentrations were examined from the blubber and liver of stranded and incidentally by-caught Hector’s and Māui dolphins between 1997 and 2021.