Meg Kikkeri

MEG KIKKERI is currently a sophomore at Smith College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She is majoring in biology and environmental geo-science, with a concentration in climate science.

Meg was born in Cupertino, California and grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, but also in Santa Cruz and Monterey. 

After hearing photographer Jodi Frediani give a power point presentation on Monterey Bay marine life at a Rural Bonny Doon Association (Santa Cruz) monthly meeting, Meg enthusiastically asked how she could get involved in the marine world. Frediani advised her to apply to be an intern with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, which Meg promptly did.  She was accepted as an intern that summer and learned to photograph whale flukes for identification purposes and how to keep data logs during the whale watch trips.

Meg has also volunteered and been a paid employee at the Monterey Bay Aquarium starting as a freshman in high school when she became a Teen Conservation Leader at the Aquarium and a mentor to other girls in the Aquarium’s Young Women in Science program. In 2016, Meg was recognized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Paul Walker Foundation for her contributions to studies of ocean and conservation issues, and she was awarded the Paul Walker Youth Leadership Award. The Paul Walker Foundation provides a scholarship to each award winner to pursue marine science/environmental studies in college.

Meg has also volunteered with the Marine Mammal Center in the San Francisco Bay Area and at Woods Hole Science Aquarium in Massachusetts.