Pearl Wellington

Senior Computer Specialist

Pearl is the database architect for the Botswana predator dataset and works alongside Clay on the field entry systems, database, and technology for the Penguin Project’s dataset.

With over 40 years of penguin data, the Center maintains one of the most complex databases existing in a wildlife ecology setting. Pearl’s role guarantees that we make the most of our valuable long-term research by ensuring our data are safely stored and properly organized for use well into the future.

Prior to her database work, Pearl studied penguin foot color as a morphological indicator of age in Magellanic, Galápagos, and Humboldt penguins. When the Penguin Project expanded to become the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels in 2017, she designed and built the new website and created our Instagram account as a form of digital outreach. You’ll always find her at our community outreach events like the Pacific Science Center’s Polar Science Weekend or the Burke Museum’s Bird Day, teaching kids and adults alike about penguins and conservation.

Outside of the lab, Pearl is a certified freediver who spends time each summer doing underwater cleanups in Lake Washington and Puget Sound. She’s also a competitive aerialist, and has trained throughout Asia and North America. Between all the time she spends in the air and in the water, we’re happy to have her database expertise during her time on the ground.