Dr. Leena Riekkola is a spatial ecologist and conservation biologist whose research focuses on the movement and habitat use of marine mammals. She applies multidisciplinary approaches (including satellite tracking, quantitative analyses, and spatial modelling) to understand where marine animals are in space and time, and what factors drive their movement and behaviour. Her work provides critical information to conservation and government agencies, supporting evidence-based decision making to reduce human impacts on animal populations. Leena completed her BSc (Hons) and PhD at the University of Auckland, where she investigated whale–vessel collisions in the Hauraki Gulf and the movement ecology of humpback whales in the South Pacific. She then undertook a postdoctoral fellowship with NOAA in the United States, where her work focused on reducing marine mammal entanglements in the Dungeness crab fishery. She is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Auckland, studying the foraging behaviour and projected future habitat use of southern right whales across the Southern Ocean.