Category Archives: Outside Conferences, Workshops & Symposia

Protected Species Observer (PSO) Course

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A 2-day course is being offered for those wishing to pursue a career in marine mammal observation and mitigation in the offshore seismic industry. It will equip you with a thorough background in all aspects of the role of a marine mammal observer, covering technical theory, monitoring, recording and reporting. Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Level 1 Course

A further 3-day course provides the skills to become an offshore PAM operator. It will expand your knowledge of acoustic monitoring and provide insight into industry requirements for environmental mitigation. Training includes thorough support material, interactive PAMGuard workshops and a boat session. Certificates are awarded upon course completion.

Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana
PSO…………22 to 24 September
PAM…………24 to 26 September

For more information email  training@(at)seichetraining.com  www.seichetraining.com

(nb this course is not organised by or affiliated  with the Society for Marine Mammalogy)

Workshop: Marine mammal sensory systems: An integrated perspective (29 Oct 2017)

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Marine mammal sensory systems: An integrated perspective

Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017. 8:00 – 17:00

Sensory systems evolve in response to environmental pressures, providing advantages for specialized or generalized habitat use, foraging, communication, locomotion, and navigation strategies. Thus, understanding marine mammal sensory systems requires knowledge of the species’ life history, properties of the aquatic signals, and neurobiology of sensory reception. This workshop explores the recent discoveries and challenges confronting research in marine mammal visual, chemical, olfactory, somatosensory and auditory modalities. We invite participants interested in marine mammal sensory adaptations, and potential multimodal cognitive processes that may trigger behaviors indicative of perception. Our objective is to formulate a whole-organism understanding of how disparate sensory signals may integrate to help marine mammals survive. This full-day workshop begins with short presentations and panel discussions on each sensory system. Afternoon activities include breakout sessions organized around marine mammal taxonomic groups, and focused on the benefits of sensory integration specific to the taxon’s habitat, behaviors, and life history. We anticipate the workshop will foster collaborations among experts and students with diverse specializations, identify important knowledge gaps, develop hypotheses on multimodal integration, and produce applications for marine mammal conservation.

STUDENTS WELCOME !

Introduction to GIS for ecology, behaviour and conservation course (Spain, Sept 2017)

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Training course for learning Geographic Information Systems (GIS) concepts, tools, and functionality in ecology, behaviour, and conservation.

To study Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation of animal species inherently concerns to understand the species distribution and habitat use. The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute (BDRI) is aware of the importance of using GIS in field research projects, and therefore has created this new training course to provide  information about the use of GIS in biology and conservation.

Click here to read more.

Workshop: Advancing Marine Species Density Surface Modelling (22 Oct 2017)

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Advancing Marine Species Density Surface Modelling

Density surface models (sometimes called spatial or habitat models) attempt to describe animal distribution as a function of spatially referenced variables. Data typically come from line transect surveys, although there is the potential to use other effort-indexed surveys, such as passive acoustics. Outputs include modelled relationships between density and explanatory variables, spatial maps of population density, and estimates of population size with uncertainty in areas of interest within the larger modelled region. Outputs are of practical use in, for example, marine spatial planning and impact assessment.

There are many statistical methods available for density surface modeling. This one-day workshop is part of the start-up meeting of a research project, DenMod, that aims to compare the different approaches, identify outstanding issues and address some of them. The project is a collaboration between the University of St Andrews, Duke University and the regional NOAA Fisheries labs, and is funded by the US Navy. The goal of the workshop is to solicit input on the project goals and plans from developers and users of density surface models and their outputs. We will briefly present the methods we are considering, and invite comments. We also invite participants to present their research relating to density surface modeling. The workshop will be of interest to researchers who create density surface models as well as those who use the outputs.

The workshop is free but due to venue size, places are limited. If you are interested in attending, please register by emailing Catriona Harris (catriona.harris@st-andrews.ac.uk). If you would like to be considered for a presentation slot then please include a short abstract (no longer than 100 words) when you register.

Professional Development Course: Marine Research Techniques & Conservation

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Last remaining spaces available on the upcoming Professional Development Course: Marine Research Techniques & Conservation: aimed at marine science students, graduates and environmental professionals looking to enhance their career skills.

This course is accredited by the Institute of Marine, Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST). 

The three-day training course includes lectures, interactive discussion and practical sessions aimed at introducing scientific techniques in marine megafauna research and conservation and covers themes such as marine mammal health, photo identification, passive acoustic monitoring, elasmobranch tracking, advice on careers in marine science and science communication.

The course is delivered by  Niru Dorrian, Dr Els Vermeulen, Lorenzo Scala and Elasmobranch ecologist Dr James Thorburn.

Student Fee: £250
Professional Fee: £300

Price includes bed & breakfast, lunches and evening meals for 2 nights. Course material and a certificate of attendance.

Accommodation at Millport field station (near Glasgow, Scotland) is provided for two nights inclusive of all meals and is based on two persons sharing a twin room, with shared shower facilities. Single bedrooms are available upon request for a supplementary fee. Should you wish to be placed with a colleague or friend please inform us at the time of booking and we will strive to arrange this.

Bookings can be made via the link – https://www.whalefish.org/whalefish-course

Email enquires to niru(at)whalefish(dot)org

Ocean Sciences 2018 Conference session on predators & ecosystems

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Dear Colleagues,

The 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting will take place 11-16 February 2018 in Portland, Oregon.  The meeting is an important venue for scientific exchange across broad marine science disciplines, with sessions on all aspects of oceanography.  We would like to call your attention to a session we will be chairing entitled “Advances in approaches to monitoring the occurrence, distribution, behavior, and ecology of top predators” (IS001). This session has been convened at the Ocean Sciences meetings since 2010, and it provides a wonderful opportunity for researchers studying a variety of taxa (including marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles, and fish) to meet, exchange ideas, and explore commonalities in research methods, scientific questions, and conservation efforts.  Please consider submitting an abstract and attending the meeting.  Abstracts are due by 6 September 2017.

Abstracts can be submitted here: https://agu.confex.com/agu/os18/preliminaryview.cgi/Session28622. The submission deadline is 6 September 2017, 11:59 P.M. EDT.

Session ID: 28622
Topic Area: Ecology and Physical Interactions
Session Description: Physical oceanography is a fundamental determinant of micro- and macroecology in our oceans, driving vertebrate distributions and interactions through bottom-up processes. Understanding how oceanographic processes influence marine vertebrate distribution and ecology is not only of key interest to ecologists, but is also necessary for effective species conservation and management. A wealth of correlative studies have revealed the strong links between oceanography and vertebrate ecology, however holistic understanding of the mechanisms underlying these relationships remains limited due to the complex nature of these dynamic processes. The rapid advancement of animal tracking technologies, coupled with sophisticated ocean modeling and monitoring tools, now allow researchers to better interrogate these drivers. In this session we solicit contributions on established and potential mechanisms linking ocean biophysics to vertebrate distribution and ecology, from disciplines spanning physical oceanography to community ecology. The research shared in this session will highlight data sources, methods, and areas of opportunity to foster further cross-disciplinary research on marine physical-ecological systems.

We welcome a broad range of current research related to this topic. Examples of marine mammal research that would fit well include identifying the drivers underlying associations between marine mammals and mesoscale ocean features (e.g. Della Penna et al. 2015, Scientific Reports), or applying mechanistic models to predict marine mammal density or distribution based on physical or biotic factors (e.g. Pardo et al. 2015, PLoS ONE).

Primary Chair:  Briana Abrahms, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental Research Division, Monterey, CA, United States
Co-chairs:  Stephanie Brodie, Elliott L. Hazen and Isaac D Schroeder, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental Research Division, Monterey, CA, United States

Workshop: Not all is black and white: Identifying research challenges and solutions for the lesser known blackfish (28 October 2017)

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We are pleased to announce the following workshop to be held on Saturday October 28th, 2017 at the upcoming SMM conference in Halifax.
Title: Not all is black and white: Identifying research challenges and solutions for the lesser known blackfish
Summary: This workshop will facilitate a gathering of scientists who study blackfish species (pilot whales, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, melon-headed whales, and lesser known killer whale populations). Innovative technology and study methods are leading to exciting new research possibilities within this group of cetaceans. However, given their generally pelagic or rural distribution, many populations of blackfish species are poorly understood. The goal of this workshop is threefold: to identify common challenges that arise while researching these species, to present new and exciting observations, and to encourage collaboration amongst the scientists who study them. This day will consist of series of presentations (morning – 20 minutes in length by invited speakers and 5 minutes by additional workshop participants) and a group discussion identifying common research challenges and possible solutions (afternoon), with time allotted for networking (late afternoon). The outcome of this workshop will be a document outlining the research challenges discussed – with the goal of publication – as well as working collaborations amongst those who study these species worldwide.

 

We invite researchers involved in work with blackfish species around the world to come and join in this discussion of the challenges we face when studying these species. In addition to the invited speakers, we will have a few 5 minute presentation slots open for other workshop participants to share their current research. Please email elizabeth.zwamborn(at)dal.ca if you would be interested in one of these.

Please remember that the early registration deadline is quickly approaching and workshop costs will increase slightly after that.

Click here to read more.

Workshop: Developing Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to improve decision-making during mass stranding events (29th October 2017)

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We are pleased to announce a full day workshop entitled ” Developing Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to improve decision-making during mass stranding events ” at the upcoming 22nd Biennial Conference of the Marine Mammal Society. The workshop will take place on Sunday 29th October from 0800 to 1700h and assemble scientists, vets, NGOs, government agencies and other stakeholders whom have experience and/or vested interest in (mass) stranding events. The workshop will engage expert opinion on the different parameters that can affect the likelihood of survivorship of refloated individuals and work towards establishment of predicted probabilities that can affect the outcome of rescue attempts. The overarching goal will be to prepare a submission for publication that addresses the application of BBNs to assess probability of survivorship in refloated whales.

Click here to read more.

Workshop: Women in marine mammal science: Breaking down barriers to success (28 October 2017)

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We are excited to be bringing the following full day workshop to the 22nd Biennial Marine Mammal Conference.

Women in marine mammal science: Breaking down barriers to success. 
Saturday October 28
8 am – 5 pm 
A full summary of the workshop is below, in addition further information is available on our workshop website http://wimms.weebly.com/

We will post news and updates to the website throughout the next few months.
For more information please contact us at womeninmmsci@gmail.com

We look forward to meeting you and engaging with you in Halifax,

Erin Ashe, Amanda Bradford, Frances Robertson, Mridula Srinivasan, and Maria Constanza Marchesi
Women comprise approximately half of the Society of Marine Mammalogy’s (SMM) membership and a similar proportion are first authors in Marine Mammal Science.  However, like other STEM fields, women continue to be underrepresented in career positions within the field of marine mammal science, in the SMM, and similar professional societies.  In addition to challenges faced by women seeking higher positions in STEM fields, women face unique barriers to success when advancing in marine mammal science.
Click here to read more.

Workshop: Experimental Science in wild and captive marine mammals (28 October 2017)

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This workshop includes lectures from prominent scientists who have published on both facility-managed and wild animals (Sam Ridgway, Gerry Kooyman, Peter Tyack, Vincent Janik, Kathleen Dudzinski, Terrie Williams, Michael Moore, Paul Ponganis, Xavier Manteca, Cynthia Smith and Kelly Jaakkola). The workshop will provide insights into experimental science used in facilities and the wild to show how both approaches can complement each other. For example, including interrelated zoos can give greater data independence and controls absent in the wild; however!
, wild populations allow the evaluation of ecology on biology/behavior. Some animals in facilities are studied in the field, bridging differences between the methods. The speakers will discuss which settings are suited to provide data for scientific problems related to conservation, pathology, physiology, behavior, cognition and communication. Speakers will also discuss welfare in the wild and in facilities and make recommendations for the best approaches to solve conservation issues.