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Niko Ponto has left the LABB after having been a LABBie for
2 years. Thank you for your contributions Niko, both in terms of work and
in terms of the LABB atmosphere!
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The MARB / MARS / RGSO seminar series is continuing this spring
semester. Check out the seminar schedule
(01/22/04).
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Check out our conference presentations given by LABB members
at the 15th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, held at
Greensboro, North Carolina in December of 2003, in the PUBLICATIONS section
of our website (12/20/03).
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We have installed the first outdoor remote imaging station
that we have developed as part of our SLiDAP remote imaging network, on
Novermber 13th. This first station has been installed at our neighbouring
NMFS compound (many thanks to NMFS for this support!) for test purposes.
See our SLiDAP pages under the PROJECTS section for details (Nov 14th).
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Kate Willis successfully defended her masters thesis entitled:
"Thermoregulation in Steller Sea Lions: An Experimental Approach",
today. Congratulations Kate! (9/26/03).
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Allyson Hindle is now a LABB graduate student in the PhD program
of the WFSC Department (9/01/03).
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Allyson Hindle has joined the LABB as a Research Assistant.
Welcome Allyson! (10/10/02).
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Lynda Brown has joined the LABB as a Research Associate. Welcome
Lynda! (9/10/02).
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The MARB / MARS Seminar Series "Recent Advances in Marine
Science" is continuing this fall semester.
Check out the seminar schedule. (9/10/02).
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Brooke Symmonds (MARB) is working with us as a student worker.
(8/1/02).
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Heather Smith successfully defended her thesis "Blubber
composition in bottlenose dolphins" on Tuesday, June 25th. Congratulations
Heather! (6/26/02).
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Trent Apple has successfully defended his thesis entitled
"Temporal Patterns and Types of Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
Codas in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: a Metadata Analysis" on Friday,
June 14th, 2002. Congratulations Trent! (6/15/02).
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Hisham Qayum has joined the LABB as a Research Associate.
Welcome to the LABB Hisham! (6/7/02).
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Trent Apple will be defending his thesis entitled "Temporal
Patterns and Types of Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) Codas in the
Northern Gulf of Mexico: a Metadata Analysis" on Friday, June 14th
at 10:00 a.m. in Room 104, Nagle Hall, College Station (6/7/02).
- We are searching for two Research Assistants to participate in our SLiDAP
project.
See detailed job announcements here (5/14/02).
- Our spring semester seminar series Recent
Advances in Marine Research has come to a successful conclusion.
Many thanks to all those who contributed to the success, including all speakers,
as well as the TAMUG Continuing Education Program through Kyle Jackson for
providing access to the seminar room, and to the MARB and MARS departments
and the Galveston Research Management Office for sponsoring the invitation
of our external guest speakers. Drs. Marshall and Dellapenna are planning
to continue this series in the fall of 2002, so stay tuned for more exciting
presentations on state-of-the-art current research (05/01/02).
- Wendy Schrader joined the LABB as a research assistant. Welcome to the LABB
Wendy! (01/24/02)
- We are once again hosting our annual spring semester seminar: "Recent
Advances in Marine Research" The seminar is held on Mondays
4:00 - 5:00 pm in Rm 129, Ft. Crockett II. All students (undergraduate and
graduate), staff and faculty of the Galveston research community (TAMUG, NMFS,
UTMB) are invited! Seminar Schedule (01/16/02)
- Leslie Cornick completed her Ph.D. studies at Texas A&M and is now an
NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Dr. Michael Castellini at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks. (01/08/02)
- Two new team members joined the LABB: Brian Plankis as a research associate,
and Niko Ponto as a research assistant. (01/08/02)
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Leslie Cornick successfully
defend her dissertation "Optimal Foraging Theory as a Model to Examine the Relationship
Between Prey Accessibility and Foraging Energetics in Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias
jubatus) in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea" on October 23rd. Congratulations!!!
(10/24/01)
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Take a sneak
preview of our new LABB location. Stay with us for updates and more pictures
of our new lab. (10/24/01)
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The Wildlife & Fisheries
Sciences Department (WFSC) at College Station (the LABB graduate degree affiliate)
has consistently ranked amongst the top 12 University Ecology Programs in the
U.S. in the 2000 National Doctoral
Program Survey. In overall rankings and student satisfaction, WFSC ranked
in the top 12 schools, together with programs from Dartmouth, Princeton, Johns
Hopkins, SUNY, UC Davis (3 departments), UC Santa Barbara, Univ. of Connecticut,
Univ. of Utah and Univ. of Washington; while outranking Columbia, Cornell, Duke,
Rutgers, UC Berkeley, Purdue, UC Irvine, Yale and many other Ecology programs.
Congratulations to WFSC!!! (10/15/01)
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We
have received notice of funding from the National Marine Fisheries Service's Steller
Sea Lion Research Initiative for three projects:
Installation
of a Remote Census and Photogrammetry Network: Validation and Assessment of Seasonal
and Individual Steller Sea Lion Body Condition and Population Trends. Funded amount:
$1,056,000 (including a $90,000 NMFS holdback for project specific tasks). Project
dates: June 2001 - May 2004.
Linking animal-borne data recorders
to autonomous remote imaging systems: Implementing the RAT-Link. Funded amount:
$281,000. Project dates: October 2001 through September 2003.
Satellite-linked
Life History Transmitters in Steller Sea Lions: Assessing the effects of health
status, foraging ability, and environmental variability on juvenile survival and
population trends. Funded amount: $1,689,000 (including a $642,000 NMFS holdback
for project specific tasks). Project dates: June 2001 - May 2004.
For
details on these projects, click on the PROJECTS section in the navigation bar.
(8/1/01)
- We are currently at the Alaska
Sea Life Center at Seward, Alaska, preparing to conduct two research projects
on Steller sea lions. One is a continuation of Leslie Cornick's Steller foraging
behavior study (see the detailed description of her research in the projects section,
including downloadable videos). The second is a new study investigating the feasibility
of determining thermoregulation costs in swimming Stellers through the use of
continuous heat flux measurements using recorders carried by the animals. In the
image below you can see Woody, an 8-year old male Steller sea lion, carrying a
neoprene patch, to which an epoxy baseplate is attached, to which in turn we can
affix various recording devices with a quick-release pin.
In
the image below, we are preparing the brand new "Heat Flux Recorder".
Once finished, this device will be connected to Heat Flux Sensors, which will
be glued to the skin of Woody, and will allow us to determine how much heat he
is transfering to the cold water he swims in. Ultimately, we want to find out
whether Steller sea lions are likely to incur additional thermoregulatory expenses
when foraging in cold, arctic waters, beyond the energetic expenses already required
for locomotion.
The
Heat Flux Recorder is an 8-channel recorder with 12-bit resolution on all channels.
It can monitor up to four Heat Flux Sensors, and four thermistors. For details
and definitions related to thermoregulation, heat flux, and heat flux sensors
check out our GLOSSARY in the Technology section. (7/1/01)