Research Objectives:
We plan to bring two groups of undergraduate students to the Antarctic, where they will learn a broad range of skills in physical and biological oceanography by participating in collecting data on seabird abundance and behavior. We will combine research on the dynamics of seabirds that feed on antarctic krill with the teaching of mathematical modeling of foraging behavior and spatial statistics. Our goal is to learn how foraging antarctic seabirds respond to changes in the abundance and distribution of their prey, primarily antarctic krill.
Our approach will be to study bird behavior near krill swarms and to contrast this behavior with that observed in areas lacking krill. From these comparisons, we will build foraging models that will make predictions about the dispersion of birds under differing levels of krill abundance. Our long-term goal is to be able to make predictions about the impact of future changes in krill stocks on seabirds. We will conduct our work in the vicinity of Elephant Island over two seasons. Each season, we will survey the insular shelf north of Elephant Island and record the abundance, distribution, and behavior of seabirds.
We will attempt to quantify the linkage between prey abundance and bird behavior in order to use this behavioral information to index long-term changes in the prey base. Our teaching goal is twofold: first, we will introduce inner-city college students to a spectacular and economically important ecosystem. Through their work on an oceanographic research vessel, students will be exposed to a broad range of research topics and methods, from behavioral ecology to physical oceanography. Second, once back at home, students will participate in the development of a mathematical biology initiative at the College of Staten Island. Here, they will be encouraged to apply basic mathematical reasoning and computer modeling to a real problem—determining how foraging choices made by seabirds can ultimately impact their reproductive success.
