A Postdoctoral Associate is required to work on an NSF-funded study by the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University in New York, USA on albatross foraging energetics in relation to wind variability.

Grey-headed Albatross, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Brief Description of Duties

The Senior Postdoctoral Associate will examine how oceanographic and atmospheric variability affect foraging habitat and energetics of albatrosses in the Southern Ocean.  Analyses will focus on albatross tracking, accelerometry data and satellite environmental data.  The incumbent will conduct field studies at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research station at Bird Island, South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur*) in collaboration with scientists at BAS, and will prepare manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals and will present at scientific conferences.  A strong candidate will have excellent written communication skills as demonstrated by prior peer-reviewed publications.  The selected candidate will need previous experience working at remote field sites.

The anticipated start is in summer** of 2019 and the position is open for applications until 9 February.

Required Qualifications

Ph.D. in biology, ecology, marine science or a related field.  Three years of experience in biology, ecology, marine science or related field.  Experience with advanced statistics.  Experience programming in R, Matlab or other statistical languages.  Experience handling and working with seabirds.  Current bird-banding license or the ability to obtain one within one year of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience working with the following: animal movement data, accelerometry data and satellite data. Two or more years of experience using advanced statistics.  Excellence in the field as demonstrated by relevant publications.  Prior experience writing proposals to attain external funding.

Further information can be found here.

Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 January 2019

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

**Assumed Boreal summer

André Raine (Kaua'i Endangered Seabird Recovery, Hawai'i, USA) and colleagues have published in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on introduced Barn Owls Tyto alba killing seabirds, including shearwaters and petrels, on three Hawaiian islands.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Barn Owl Tyto alba was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the late 1950s as a biological control for rats Rattus spp. and has since become common throughout the main Hawaiian Islands. Herein, we address the impact on Hawaiian seabirds by summarizing the number of seabird depredations recorded in the database of the Kaua‘i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project. Data were collected on Kaua‘i and the neighboring islets of Lehua and Moku‘ae‘ae between January 2011 and October 2018 as part of ongoing seabird survey work; 379 Barn Owl depredations were recorded of eight seabird species, the most common of which were Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica, Black Noddy Anous minutus, and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii. Included were 21 depredations on federally listed Newell's Shearwater Puffinus newelli and Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis. Most depredations were on adult birds. The effectiveness of Barn Owl control was also evident, with depredations on Lehua Islet decreasing significantly after dedicated control operations were initiated. Barn Owl control should be considered as an integral part of all Hawaiian seabird management programs.”

Newell's Shearwater, photograph by Eric Vanderwerf

Reference:

Raine, A.F., Vynne, M. & Driskill, S. 2019.  The impact of an introduced avian predator, the Barn Owl Tyto alba, on Hawaiian seabirds.  Marine Ornithology 47: 33-38.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 January 2019

Hanna Granroth‐Wilding (Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Finland) and Richard Phillips have published in the journal Ibis on tracking Northern Macronectes halli and Southern M. giganteus Giant Petrels at sea through their breeding season.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Biological communities are shaped by competition between and within species. Competition is often reduced by inter‐ and intraspecific specialization on resources, such as differencet [sic] foraging areas or time, allowing similar species to coexist and potentially contributing to reproductive isolation. Here, we examine the simultaneous role of temporal and spatial foraging segregation within and between two sympatric sister species of seabirds, Northern Macronectes halli and Southern Macronectes giganteus Giant Petrels. These species show marked sexual size dimorphism and allochrony (with earlier breeding by Northern Giant Petrels) but this is the first study to test for differences in foraging behaviours and areas across the entire breeding season both between the two species and between the sexes. We tracked males and females of both species in all breeding stages at Bird Island, South Georgia, to test how foraging distribution, behaviour and habitat use vary between and within species in biological time (incubation, brood‐guard or post‐brood stages) and in absolute time (calendar date). Within each breeding stage, both species took trips of comparable duration to similar areas, but due to breeding allochrony they segregated temporally. Northern Giant Petrels had a somewhat smaller foraging range than Southern Giant Petrels, reflecting their greater exploitation of local carrion and probably contributing to their recent higher population growth. Within species, segregation was spatial, with females generally taking longer, more pelagic trips than males, although both sexes of both species showed unexpectedly plastic foraging behaviour. There was little evidence of interspecific differences in habitat use. Thus, in giant petrels, temporal segregation reduces interspecific competition and sexual segregation reduces intraspecific competition. These results demonstrate how both specialization and dynamic changes in foraging strategies at different scales underpin resource division within a community.”

A scavenging Southern Giant Petrel, photo by John Cooper

With thanks to Richard Phillips.

Reference:

Granroth‐Wilding, H.M.V. & Richard A. Phillips, R.A. 2019.  Segregation in space and time explains the coexistence of two sympatric sub‐Antarctic petrels.  Ibis 106: 101-116.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 January 2019

Through the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) the Marine Apex Predator Research Unit (MAPRU); Coastal and Marine Research Institute, Nelson Mandela University in collaboration with the FitzPatrick Institute of Ornithology, University of Cape Town, is offering two full-time study opportunities (1 PhD [2019-2021] and 1 MSc [2019-2020]) starting in early 2019.

The two opportunities fall within the project ‘Small Procellariiformes as indicators of ecosystem changes and plastic pollution’ led by Dr Maëlle Connan (MAPRU) and Prof. Peter Ryan (FitzPatrick Institute).  This project intends to use burrowing seabirds, including three species of ACAP-listed Procellaria petrels, breeding on the Prince Edward Islands, the Tristan da Cunha Archipelago and possibly Antarctica as indicators of the health and status of the Southern Ocean ecosystem.  One aspect of the project focuses on the trophic ecology of these species that will be determined using direct (identification of prey remains) and indirect (stable isotopes, lipids) approaches.  The second aspect uses the birds as biological samplers to investigate the extent of plastic pollution in the Southern Ocean.  Micro and macro-plastic pollution loads will be estimated mostly from seabird stomach contents and pellets.  The combination of contemporary data with historical works will inform on the impact of global change on marine ecosystems as well as temporal trends in pollution loads.

Both candidates will be expected to work on both aspects of the project (trophic ecology and pollution loads).  The PhD candidate will be expected to work at the community level whereas the MSc candidate will work at the species level.  There is some flexibility and the two projects can be tailored to fit the interests of the suitable candidates.

The two projects will be co-supervised by Prof P. Ryan and Dr M. Connan.  The candidates will be based at Nelson Mandela University in Part Elizabeth with potential trips to the University of Cape Town.  Overwintering personnel are currently collecting samples on Marion and Gough Islands.  Fieldwork cannot be guaranteed but the successful candidates may conduct part of the fieldwork on one of the islands.

The successful applicants will be awarded an MSc bursary (South African Rands R70 000 per year) or a PhD bursary (South African 100 000 per year) and may apply for an additional Nelson Mandela University Research Bursary.  All other project related costs have also been secured.

White-chinned Petrels, photograph by Ben Phalan

Applications should include:

- A covering letter explaining the candidate suitability and interest for the project;

- A comprehensive CV, including contact details (e-mail addresses and telephone numbers) of at least three referees;

- Certified copies of academic records and ID; and

- A pdf copy of the BSc Honours (MSc project) or MSc thesis (PhD project).

Note: South African applicants will receive priority.  Preference will be given to previously disadvantaged individuals who are particularly encouraged to apply.  If you have not been contacted by 31 January, please assume that your application was unsuccessful.   The closing date is 25 January 2019.

Queries oand applications should be directed to Prof. Peter Ryan (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Dr Maëlle Connan (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

With thanks to Maëlle Connan.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 January 2019