Guest Experts

Hey Everyone!

The IPYNC is very excited to announce two of our visiting guest exerts for this summer's camp program: Damien Lidgard and Stephanie Boudreau!

 Since 1993 Damian has worked with several marine mammal species, both as a research assistant and through postgraduate studies. His main interest is in the behavioural ecology of pinnipeds. He has examined the development of mother-pup behaviour in the harbour seal in Scotland, the effects of human disturbance on grey seals in England and the population status of grey seals in southern and eastern Ireland. He has also been involved with behavioural studies examining fostering in the grey seal, nutritional status of the Steller sea lion in Alaska and the success of releasing captive manatees into the wild in Florida.In 2003 Damian completed his Ph.D at the Université de La Rochelle, France. His study focused on the intraspecific variation in male mating behaviour in the grey seal on Sable Island, NS. Several different field methods, such as energetics, diving and VHF telemetry and paternity analysis, were used to relate characteristics of the male with behavioural traits and success. During his post-doctorate research, he extended this work to examine the movement of males between breeding colonies in Scotland using satellite telemetry. He has also continued his work on Sable Island grey seals through the examination of longitudinal changes in male behaviour and success, and the role of stress on mating behaviour. He is currently a research associate at Dalhousie University collaborating with Sara Iverson and Don Bowen on the predation of grey seals on large cod. In 2007 and 2008 he was the technical assistant for the summer course 'Field Methods of Marine Mammals'.

(http://seaside.science.dal.ca/Damian_Lidgard.php)

 

The goal of Stephanie's Doctoral research is to assess the causes of long-term changes in American lobster (Homarus americanus) and snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) populations in the northwest (NW) Atlantic. Through analyses of available time series including commercial landings, research surveys, catch per unit effort, and local ecological knowledge, she isexploring a reported ecosystem shift in the NW Atlantic. This shift entails a region-wide decline of groundfish resources and an increase in benthic invertebrates, including large, commercially valuable decapods. She is examining multiple hypotheses relating to the causes of this shift, including changes in temperature and predation. (http://wormlab.biology.dal.ca/person.php?pid=47&height=400&width=720) We look forward to working with Damien and Stephanie this year! Peace, Love, and Jellies -The IPYNC Staff