Part 107-certified drone pilot since 2017 (1000+ flights, 200+ hours)
Professional Experience
2024–Present: Biologist, National Park Service, Southeast Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network, Juneau, AK
2021: Research Technician, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Seward, AK
2017–2020: Graduate Student Researcher, Palmer Long Term Ecological Research program, Palmer Station, Antarctica
2016–2022: NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Duke University Marine Lab, Beaufort, NC
2010–2016: Biology Technician, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Pribilof Islands, AK; Marmot Island, AK
2015–2016: Associate Editor, Nature Publishing Group, New York, NY
2013–2014: Field Team Manager, "Guppy Project", University of California Riverside, Trinidad & Tobago
2011–2012: Herpetology Field Assistant, University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, El Yunque, Puerto Rico
2008: Wildlife Technician, US Forest Service, Dillon, MT
2006–2007: Field Technician, North East Ecological Services, Concord, NH
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Larsen, G.D. *, H.F. Varga*, D.L. Patterson-Fraser, D.W. Johnston, M.A. Cimino. (2024) Drone-based monitoring and geomorphology of southern giant petrel nests near Palmer Station, western Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biology. 47:459–474. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3513905/v1 (*co-first authors)
Larsen, G.D., D.W. Johnston. (2024) Growth and opportunities for drone surveillance in pinniped research. Mammal Review. 54: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12325
Baldwin, R.W., J.T. Beaver, M. Messinger, J. Muday, M. Windsor, G.D. Larsen, M. Silman, T.M. Anderson. (2023) Camera trap methods and drone thermal surveillance provide reliable, comparable density estimates of large, free-ranging ungulates. Animals. 13(11): 1884. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111884
Cimino, M., J. Conroy, E. Connors, J. Bowman, A. Corso, H Ducklow, W. Fraser, A. Friedlaender, H.H. Kim, G.D. Larsen, C. Moffat, R. Nichols, L. Pallin, D. Roberts, M. Roberts, D. Steinberg, P. Thibodeau, R. Trinh, O. Schofield, S. Stammerjohn. (2022) Long-Term Patterns in Ecosystem Phenology near Palmer Station, Antarctica, from the Perspective of the Adélie Penguin. Ecosphere. 14(2): e4417. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4417
Bierlich, K.C, J. Hewitt, R. Schick, L. Pallin, J. Dale, A. Friedlaender, F. Christiansen, K.R. Sprogis, A.H. Dawn, C.N. Bird, G.D. Larsen, R. Nichols, M.R. Shero, J. Goldbogen, A.J. Read, D.W. Johnston. (2022) Seasonal gain in body condition of foraging humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Frontiers in Marine Science. 9:1036860. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1036860
Bishop, A.M., C. Brown, K. Christie, A. Kettle, G.D. Larsen, H. Renner, L. Younkins. (2022) Surveying cliff-nesting seabirds with uncrewed aircraft systems in the Gulf of Alaska. Polar Biology. 45: 1703–1714. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-022-03101-9
Gray, P.C., A.E. Windle, J. Dale, I. Savelyev, Z.I. Johnson, G.M. Silsbe, G.D. Larsen, D.W. Johnston. (2022) Robust ocean color from drones: viewing geometry, sky reflection removal, uncertainty analysis. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods. 20: 656–673. https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10511
Larsen, G.D. (2022) Advancing Drone Methods for Pinniped Ecology and Management. Ph.D. Dissertation. Duke University. https://doi.org/10161/25847
Larsen, G.D., A.C. Seymour, E.L. Richmond, L.M. Divine, E.E. Moreland, E. Newton, J.M. London, and D.W. Johnston. (2022) Drones reveal spatial patterning of sympatric Alaskan pinniped species and drivers of their local distributions. Drone Systems and Applications. 10(1): 235–255. https://doi.org/10.1139/dsa-2021-0050
Gray, P.C., G.D. Larsen, D.W. Johnston. (2022) Drones address an observational blind spot for biological oceanography. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 20(7): 413–421 https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2472
