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I am interested in biological thinking about behaviour. The common thread of my rather diversified research is the attempt to marry theories and experimental work. Most of my work includes a little modeling and trialing new ideas with captive populations and then applying these in the field.

 

I'm interested in using multidisciplinary approaches to understand the ecology of marine mammals, particularly Antarctic seals. We are examining the potential impacts of climate warming on the Southern Ocean ecosystem and how these changes will influence the pack-ice seals. We use a number of different techniques for studying the foraging patterns, reproductive behaviour and spatial movements of marine mammals. These techniques include stable isotope analysis, stress and reproductive hormone analysis, satellite telemetry and acoustic surveying.

 

I've worked in the Antarctic since the early 1990s which has offered enormous challenges and many rewards including wonderful collaborations and friendships.

 

 

Current research topics include:

Members of my group differ in their relative inclinations towards these fields, since some are true muddy-booted field biologists and veterinarians while others are more theoretical modeler types, or ragged-jeaned theoreticians, but cross pollination breeds a cross-disciplinary approach to thinking about ecology and evolution in whatever topic we are dealing with.

 

Non-work: well these days its surviving sleep deprivation as I hold onto the roller coaster of parenthood, as I watch my little ones morph into people before my eyes. I've a strong bias towards reading good novels, good food, coffee, a little too much wine, while enjoying lots of chat with family and friends.

 

For more information: http://www.eerc.unsw.edu.au/index.html