New Board Members, Enhanced Diversity and Inclusion, and the 2023 Conference Venue Highlights
The results from the Society of Marine Mammalogy’s 2020 election are in. On this ballot, our members were asked to select new board officers (President-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary, Member-at-Large, and two Student Members-at-Large), approve changes to our governing documents, and choose the host city for the SMM 2023 biennial conference.
Our new President-elect, Simon Goldsworthy, is a scientist at the South Australian Research and Development Institute in Adelaide, focused on mitigating marine mammal interactions with fisheries and aquaculture. Simon will be joining the Board for a four-year term beginning in July 2020 and has previously served as Member-at-Large for the Society. This previous experience will allow him to hit the ground running as President-Elect. Upon receiving the election news he expressed his willingness to do just that, “‘I’m delighted to have been elected and look forward to immediately start working with the Board and help lead the Society over the next four years.”
Tara Cox and Katie Moore will be continuing their Board responsibilities as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. The ongoing commitment by these two members on tasks vital to the Society not only provide much needed stability to our SMM functionality but their professional interests also bring a greater depth to the Board and the decisions made there. Incoming President, Charles Littnan, applauded their return, “We as a Society are incredibly lucky to have Tara and Katie returning for another term. Their commitment to the SMM is unflagging but they bring so much more. They are strong voices on our Board for critical issues such as animal welfare, diversity and inclusion and conservation and also striving to find how we can best serve our global marine mammal community.”
Cindy Peter was the successful candidate for our Member-at-Large seat. Cindy is the Coordinator of the Sarawak Dolphin Research Project, based at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, University of Malaysia Sarawak, where she is also a Lecturer. Her response to learning of her selection to the Board: “I’m so grateful that the SMM board gave this tiny island researcher all the way in Borneo a chance to run for the election,” speaks to the positive energy she will bring to the committee while pushing for her priorities of “ being a voice for developing country members, especially students, and to promote their inclusion in the society, thus advancing marine mammal science globally”.
Two student Members-at-Large were elected to the SMM Board on this ballot. The first successful candidate was Ayça Eleman who recently started her doctorate program in biology at the University of Iceland studying killer whale foraging ecology and habitat use in Icelandic waters. The other successful candidate was Theresa Tatom-Naecker, a second-year PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) studying the foraging of common bottlenose dolphins. Both our new Student Members-at-Large will be focused on improving the support provided to our student members through a variety of initiatives and engaging students from underrepresented regions.
Acknowledging the Vital Importance of Diversity and Inclusion and the Service of Our Student Members
There were two amendments to the Society’s Constitution that required support by two-thirds of votes cast by the membership. The first amendment was to formally recognize promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in membership, leadership, and readership as one of the SMM’s four principle objectives. The SMM Ad hoc committee on Diversity and Inclusion co-chairs Tara Cox and Eric Archer led the effort to craft this addition to the constitution. The importance of this amendment was emphasized by Eric, “Enshrining this statement in our constitution highlights the SMM’s commitment to ensuring that the field of marine mammal science is open and welcoming to everyone who wishes to participate. The Society will continue to work to identify and actively address barriers experienced by members from all walks of life.”
Our student Members-at-Large (SMaLs) are dedicated to helping the Society’s students, especially in the lead up to and during our biennial conference. Due to the duration and staggered nature of the terms, the most experienced SMaLs would rotate off just prior to the conference. The newly approved amendment extends SMaL terms another six months, enabling an experienced SMaL to facilitate conference organizing and execution in the following biennial.
2023 Biennial is Going Down Under
Three delegations offered proposals to host the 25th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Marine Mammals scheduled to occur in 2023. The three locales: Perth, Sanya and Singapore, all offered state-of-the-art conference facilities and rich cultural and scientific experiences. Perth received the most votes from the membership and the Australian host committee is excited to welcome the SMM in three years. “We are honoured and absolutely delighted to host the SMM conference in Perth in 2023. We will work hard to reduce the environmental impact of the conference, and make opportunities to attend as equal as possible by securing funds to support students and delegates from low income countries. As we hope that you will combine your attendance with a holiday, we will aim to provide childcare and a program for older children so that you can enjoy the scientific program while your kids also have a great time. We will introduce you to the Australian way of life and our cultural and natural heritage, while firing up the BBQ and offering a cold beverage over a summer sunset. We can’t wait to have you over! Until then, please enjoy this Wanju nitja Noongar boodja (Welcome to Country) film that we have prepared for you.”
Category Archives: Society News
A Letter to the Community Regarding Racial Injustice
Dear Marine Mammal Science Community,
A core tenet of the Society for Marine Mammalogy is that our science is strengthened by the participation of people representing all ages, races, national, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, and physical abilities. Our science is at its best when all voices are at the table.
Today, the tears of the SMM join those of the rest of the world as we grieve the latest in a long string of killings and systemic abuses against black Americans. We add our voices to those who have been historically oppressed in saying, enough. We can no longer stand idly by as our colleagues and friends in African American communities continue to be minimized, sidelined, abused, and suffer.
The Society for Marine Mammalogy has an obligation to speak at a time like this and give our support to the communities that have been under siege – an obligation that we have not previously fulfilled. Unfortunately, far too many of our members and their communities are continuously silenced through the insidious forces of institutionalized racism, sexism, and political and religious intolerance. This statement is a renewal of our commitment to our membership and our global community at large to do our part to actively create a diverse, inclusive and tolerant world. Thus, SMM will continue its mission working to make spaces where all people are welcome and free to pursue their interests.
We hope you will feel free to share your thoughts and feelings with us during these difficult times. We are regularly looking for ways to support our members and provide a safe community for all.
D. Ann Pabst, SMM President
Charles Littnan, SMM President-Elect
Eric Archer and Tara Cox
Co-Chairs of the Ad hoc Committee on Diversity and Inclusion
On behalf of and with support from the SMM Board
Small Grants in Aid of Research Application Window Open June 1-30, 2020
The Society for Marine Mammalogy would like to inform eligible members (see below) that this year’s Small Grants in Aid of Research application window opens on 1 June 2020. Applications will be accepted during the entire month of June. The Committee of Scientific Advisors will review applications and make recommendations on funding with decisions announced in early September 2020. The awards are up to US $2,000. All three of the following eligibility requirements must be met:
1. Be a member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy.
2. Be a national of any country not on this Excluded Country List: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States.
Preference is given to early career researchers such as students and researchers with less than 5 years post-doctoral experience.
3. Be conducting research in a country not on the above Excluded Country List.
The Small Grant web page provides full information, links to past successful applications, a list of recipients from prior years and their completed project reports, and a link to the application itself. Please be mindful of the word limits in the various sections of the application.
Last year 15 of 32 applicants from 13 counties received funding ranging from $830 to $2,000.
For technical questions regarding the online application, please email the Society webmaster at admin@marinemammalscience.org
For all other questions about the grants, please contact:
Douglas Wartzok
Chair
Committee of Scientific Advisors
Society for Marine Mammalogy
wartzok@fiu.edu
Time to Vote for the Next Board of Governors, our 2023 Conference Location and More!
Dear Members,
Your 2020 ballot includes a variety of topics that need your vote including electing new officers for our Board of Governors, reviewing proposed modifications of our constitution and voting for the 2023 Biennial Conference location.
The details of each vote are included in the Ballot, but here is a brief synopsis.
We are presenting nominees for the Board of Governors positions: President-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary, Member-at-Large and Student Member-at-Large.
Modifications to the SMM Constitution: We are putting forward two measures that require a modification to our constitution.
The first is to formalize our intent to make our Society more representative of the global community of marine mammal professionals in our governing documents by adding language codifying our focus on diversity and inclusion.
The second is to propose that SMaL term limits change from a two-year term to a two-and-one-half year term, enabling an experienced SMaL to facilitate conference organizing and execution in the following biennial.
Finally, teams from Sanya, China; Perth, Australia; and Singapore have stepped up to host our 25th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals slated to occur in 2023. We have put together a table on the following web page that compares some of the important things that factor into our decisions, such as the costs for travel and hotels. We ask that when you place your vote that you please consider which location best suits the greatest number of our SMM community members.
Your votes help to shape our continued evolution as a professional society and to celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues. So when you receive the ballot please take a few minutes to review and vote!
Here is the link to the ballot: https://www.marinemammalscience.org/for-members/2020-members-ballot/
The ballot will close at 3:00 PM EST on 11th May 2020.
Best wishes,
Emer
Shout Out to Our Wikipedia Editors and Updated Species Listings on Wikipedia
We are pleased to share with you a recent list of Wiki species pages updated and curated by students across the world. Big thanks and kudos to all the Wiki curators involved in creating these pages. The development of marine mammal species Wikipedia pages is part of the Society of Marine Mammalogy’s education initiative to attract and engage our diverse student community. The curation of Wiki pages allows students and early-career researchers to meaningfully contribute to marine mammal education. Species pages follow a shared template and are reviewed by at least two experts. The multiyear project also allows students to refine their literature reviewing and technical writing skills, build species-specific knowledge, and cultivate new professional contacts in the marine mammal scientific community. New species pages will be added as they are completed. If you are interested in becoming a Wiki Curator, please email mridula.srinivasan@noaa.gov.
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Andrews’ beaked whale, Mesoplodon bowdoini DD |
Mackenzie Griffin |
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Antarctic fur seal, Arctocephalus gazella LC |
Giulia Roncon |
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Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus EN (ssp. musculus – northern blue whale NE, ssp. brevicauda – pygmy blue whale DD, ssp. intermedia – southern blue whale CR, ssp. indica – great Indian blue whale NE, unnamed subspecies – Chilean blue whale NE) |
Angela Szesciorka |
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Dall’s porpoise, Phocoenoides dalli LC (ssp. dalli – Dalli-type Dall’s porpoise NE, ssp. truei – Truei-type Dall’s porpoiseNE) |
Kimberly Nielsen |
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Galápagos fur seal, Arctocephalus galapagoensis EN |
Sakile Johnson |
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Hourglass dolphin, Lagenorhynchus cruciger LC |
Simeon Abidari |
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Hubbs’ beaked whale, Mesoplodon carlhubbsi DD |
Mackenzie Griffin |
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Melon-headed whale, Peponocephala electra LC |
Vicki Hamilton |
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Narwhal, Monodon monoceros NT |
Liza Tsitrin |
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Northern right whale dolphin, Lissodelphis borealis LC |
Jenny Bachmann |
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Perrin’s beaked whale, Mesoplodon perrini DD |
Tiffany Stoeckig |
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Short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus DD |
Liza Tsitrin |
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Southern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon planifrons LC |
Savannah Geiger |
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Killer whale, Orcinus orca |
Melanie Smith |
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Vaquita, Phocoena sinus CR |
Kimberly Nielsen |
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Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddellii LC |
Giulia Roncon |
Announcing the 2020 Louis M. Herman Research Scholarship Winner
In 2020, the Louis M. Herman Research Scholarship received over 20 proposals from Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Madagascar, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States. The quality of submissions was extremely high and the Awards Committee is delighted to announce that the successful proposal was submitted by April Ettington of the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
April Ettington, 2020 Louis M. Herman Research Scholarship Winner
Marine Mammal Ecology Group
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Do Bryde’s Whales Smell?
Abstract
It is currently unknown whether baleen whales can smell and it is unclear how they locate their prey. The ability to detect the compound dimethyl sulfide (DMS) released by plankton would likely provide baleen whales a great advantage in finding their underwater prey, as it does for many marine animals such as seabirds, penguins, and sea lions. Anatomical and histological evidence suggests that whales have the potential to smell, but molecular and behavioral studies are lacking. I will investigate whether the Bryde’s whales residing year-round in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand possess the ability to smell using several approaches. I will use a gene mining pipeline I developed to identify the set of olfactory receptors encoded in the Bryde’s whale genome. Using a fluorescence-based cell culture assay I will assess whether any of the olfactory receptors respond to DMS. In the Hauraki Gulf, I will place Brydes’ whale foraging behavior in the context of the olfactory landscape. Determining whether Bryde’s whales can smell will help clarify how baleen whales will adapt their foraging behaviour in a world altered by climate change.
https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/r-constantine
https://mmeg.wordpress.fos.auckland.ac.nz/
@MMEG_UoA
@AprilEttington
www.facebook.com/TheDolphinInstitute/
www.instagram.com/thedolphininstitute/
www.thedolphininstitute.org
Joint ECS/SMM Letter of Concern sent to Massey University
The Society for Marine Mammalogy, together with the European Cetacean Society, sent the following joint letter of concern to Vice Chancellor Jan Thomas and Massey University Council to show their concern by reports that Massey University has recently proposed to eliminate its natural sciences from its Albany campus, which among other significant losses, would result in the complete removal of a BSc in Marine Biology programme, along with its associated staff and students.
See copy of official letter sent
29 March 2020
Dear Vice Chancellor Jan Thomas and Massey University Council,
We write on the behalf of the European Cetacean Society (ECS) and the Society of Marine Mammalogy (SMM), two scientific bodies comprising a total membership of over 2,300 scientists, managers and conservationists. Our societies aim to promote and advance the science and conservation of marine mammals. Our respective membership is concerned by reports that important marine mammal conservation projects are at significant risk in New Zealand due to proposed university cuts to the sciences.
We understand that Massey University has recently proposed to eliminate its natural sciences from its Albany campus, which among other significant losses, would result in the complete removal of a BSc in Marine Biology programme, along with its associated staff and students. Such programmes are of national and indeed international significance, have enhanced the diversity of students involved with STEM education, and have been supported financially or through collaboration by organizations such as the Association for Commonwealth Universities, The Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. We believe such dismantling of marine mammal research at Massey University will have significant detrimental impacts on critical welfare and conservation-based projects including programmes centred on tourism impacts and contaminant-disease associations for the endemic, endangered Hector’s dolphin. Furthermore, Massey scientists currently lead international efforts to assess survivorship and welfare considerations during the rescue and response efforts of whale mass strandings – a phenomenon of unprecedented frequency in New Zealand.
ECS and SMM members believe that the loss of critical research programmes currently offered by Massey University scientists within New Zealand will have severe and possibly irreversible consequences for marine mammal conservation. In just two decades, more than 30 post-graduate theses, with their associated peer-reviewed outputs in the field of marine biology, have originated from Massey University researchers. Many of these outputs, achieved by a diverse collective of national and international Early Career Researchers, span Australasia, Europe, Asia, UK and USA. As such we are writing to express our collective concern about about this situation and respectfully ask that the proposed removal of such significant conservation-based research be reassessed by the University Council and its Senior Leadership Team.
Sincerely,
Joan Gonzalvo, Chair
European Cetacean Society
and
D. Ann Pabst, President
Society for Marine Mammalogy
Please Read and Sign Barcelona Declaration – Together for Marine Mammal Science and Conservation
At the World Marine Mammal Conference, the Organizing Committee released the Barcelona Declaration – Together for Science and Conservation. The declaration highlights what international collaborations among scientists, public and private sectors can achieve by working together, for the benefit of marine mammal science and conservation worldwide.
Please, dedicate two minutes to read and sign the declaration (if you agree with it!).
(even if you have already signed it on paper in Barcelona!)
Thank you!
Deadline Approaching: Louis M. Herman Research Scholarship
LOUIS M. HERMAN RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP
Background
Louis M. Herman, Ph.D. and Emeritus Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, was a pioneer and trailblazer in research on dolphin sensory perception and cognition, and humpback whale behavioral ecology. This work was carried out through the world renowned Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML) that he established in 1969 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also co-founded The Dolphin Institute (TDI), dedicated to dolphins and whales through education, research, and conservation. KBMML/TDI’s findings on marine mammals were published in over 160 scientific papers and featured in more than 230 national and international media articles, television and radio programs, and documentary films. Dr. Herman’s life’s work significantly influenced marine mammal conservation. It also had an enormous impact on the lives and careers of countless interns, undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, visiting faculty, and volunteers from around the world, all of whom played important roles in the unique research team he assembled over more than four decades. Dr. Herman will always be remembered for his innovative, creative, and scientifically rigorous approach to the study of the marine mammals he so loved, and for the future generations of marine mammal researchers he and his work continue to inspire. Read more about Dr. Herman’s legacy here.
Dr. Herman’s family, colleagues, and friends established the Louis M. Herman Research Scholarship in 2017 to honor his legacy by promoting the type of research that was the focus of his groundbreaking studies. The Scholarship is given every two years in the amount of $5,000.
Criteria
The Louis M. Herman Research Scholarship supports a research project that contributes to our understanding of either cetacean cognition and sensory perception (laboratory or field studies), or humpback whale behavioral ecology or communication. Work with other marine mammals that especially enhances our understanding of their cognitive abilities will also be considered. Eligible candidates include graduate students and those students who have completed their Masters or PhD within the past three years.
World Marine Mammal Conference Plenary Sessions
Please find below the three plenary sessions presented at the World Marine Mammal Conference in Barcelona between December 8-12, 2019, co-hosted by Society for Marine Mammalogy and the European Cetacean Society.
WMMC 2019 Plenary Session: “Marine Mammals and Climate Change”
WMMC 2019 Plenary Session: “Conservation Interventions”
WMMC 2019 Plenary Session: “Overcoming Challenges to Marine Mammal Research”