Austin Allen is a comparative physiologist who studies marine mammals in the wild and in human care. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University’s Marine Lab. He is interested in refining technologies and methods by working with trained animals, in order to study the conservation outcomes in wild populations. His research currently focuses on using bio-logging tags and respirometry to study energetics in toothed whales, to quantify the impacts of human disturbance. He is excited to contribute to the Marine Mammal Research Network to help connect researchers who may not know about the types of studies that are possible in human care, with facilities who are equally interested in conducting conservation research but may not know where to start.
Audra Ames is a bioacoustician studying the communication and echolocation systems of belugas, dolphins, and narwhals. She is an external researcher for Fundación Oceanogràfic de la Comunitat Valenciana in Valencia, Spain, and has worked closely with bottlenose dolphins and belugas in professional care since 2013. Currently, her studies are focused on the belugas and dolphins housed at the Oceanografic aquarium in Valencia and on the East Greenland narwhal population. Dr. Ames is one of the founding members and the administrative contact for the Marine Mammal Research Network. She is an advocate for educating the public regarding the value of zoos and aquaria, the contributions these facilities make to our scientific understanding of aquatic mammals, and the care of animals in the professional setting.
Isabelle Brasseur is a biologist. She worked for 13 years as a trainer and developed her skills in operant conditioning and welfare with killer whales, dolphins, pinnipeds and seabirds. After various positions as manager, assistant curator and head of the Education department, she is now head of the Education, Research and Conservation department and very happy to help her company, Marineland France, face this challenging period of criticism towards dolphinaria. Being part of the MMRN is being part of a wonderful human adventure in order to serve marine science and marine mammal conservation.
Jason Bruck
Ph.D.
Dr. Bruck's research interests include cognition, communication, conservation and sensory physiology in dolphins. He also focuses on social ecology in mammals. Bruck is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Stephen F. Austin State University and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Animal Behavior and Cognition. His lab’s current work involves visual field, kin recognition, chemical signals and conservation in bottlenose dolphins. He is part of a team working with animals under human care to develop drones to collect hormones from wild dolphin’s blowfields for passive health monitoring. Dr. Bruck is an advocate for the value of zoo-based research in both basic and applied cetacean science and has been associated with MMRN since its founding.
Fabienne Delfour is Chargée de conférences at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and one of the founding members of the E.A.A.M. Welfare Committee. Her research focuses on marine mammals’ behaviour, cognition and welfare and on zoo-anthropic interactions. Fabienne Delfour is also involved in science communication and has written several books. She is happy to contribute to build research partnerships between scientists and zoo facilities and to promote science and education.
Kathleen M. Dudzinski is currently the Director of the Dolphin Communication Project and Managing Editor of Aquatic Mammals Journal. She continues her research into dolphin communication and funnels research results with other DCP colleagues into after-school and outreach programs, including Eco-tours, field courses for college level programs, and various seminars and workshops. Dr. Dudzinski collaborates with colleagues and advises graduate students on topics related to dolphin acoustics, behavioral development, cognition, and physiology. She has numerous scientific publications focused on dolphin behavior, acoustics, communication, and related topics, as well as several book chapters and two books. Dr. Dudzinski helps facilitate connections between facilities and researchers and is intrigued by the multitude of similarities in how dolphins across wild and managed care settings communicate using a variety of signals. There is much more similarity than difference!
Andreas Fahlman is a comparative physiologist who studies the physiological traits of diving. He studies field metabolic rate of marine vertebrates and tries to develop both ethically and logistically viable methods to estimate energy requirements in cetaceans through measures of body condition, or respiratory frequency. He is particularly interested in the effect of pressure on lung function, and is investigating the cardiorespiratory physiology in marine mammals. He uses: what could be called “modern physiology”, where tools of other disciplines such as biochemistry, molecular biology and mathematics are applied to complement physiological data. This interdisciplinary approach enables a more complete picture of the mechanism to solve central physiological questions.
Dr. Erin Frick is an Assistant Professor of Animal Studies at Eckerd College, whose research focuses on applied animal behavior and communication in marine mammals. She is director of the Frick Animal Behavior Laboratory and mentors undergraduate students who actively are working to become the next generation of animal care specialists, trainers, and researchers that are passionate about marine mammal species. Her current research investigates questions of behavior function/communication and implementing applied behavior analysis techniques in assessing individual differences in learning and behavior/motivation in bottlenose dolphins, rough toothed dolphins, and Amazon river dolphins. She is excited to contribute to the communication of marine mammal science with the general public and facilitate connections between facilities and researchers as part of MMRN.
Emily Guarino is Director of Research Training & Data Collection at Dolphin Research Center (DRC), FL, where she coordinates research projects on dolphin cognition, behavior, and communication. She also runs DRC’s field research program with wild dolphins in the Florida Keys, including a collaborative effort to collect morphometric data and genetic sampling through the use of UAVs. These roles have given her a strong appreciation of the complementary contributions of research with wild dolphins and those in professional care. As part of the MMRN, she is excited to help bring researchers and marine mammal facilities together, and to contribute to enhancing public understanding of that research.
Heather Manitzas Hill has been studying marine mammals in managed care since 1997 with a doctorate in experimental psychology and emphases in development, cognition, and comparative psychology. She has conducted behavioral, acoustic, and cognitive studies with bottlenose dolphins, belugas, killer whales, sea lions, dogs, cats, and a parrot. She emphasizes the importance of development, life history, and individual differences to better understand the welfare of marine mammals. She is excited to be a member of the MMRN and promote positive environments for marine mammals and their care providers. She is a full professor at a small undergraduate institution where she promotes undergraduate inquiry and research for all students interested in learning about behavior and animals.
Kelly Jaakkola is a comparative psychologist who conducts research on dolphin cognition, communication, and welfare. She is Director of Research for the Dolphin Research Center, and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums. As part of the MMRN, she is excited to help facilitate research partnerships between scientists and facilities, and develop strategies for communicating that science more effectively.
Malin Lilley has published research on the behavior and cognition of belugas, bottlenose dolphins, sea lions, harbor seals, and rough toothed dolphins. Her current research involves understanding the behavioral development of beluga social interactions and play. Malin currently mentors undergraduate students, who will become the next generation of conservationists, researchers, and animal caregivers. She is excited to facilitate connections between facilities and researchers as part of MMRN.
David Rosen is a comparative physiologist who has worked with marine mammals in the wild and under professional human care for over 30 years. His research is designed to aid in the conservation of threatened marine mammal species by understanding the interactions between the physiology of individual animals and environmental changes. Additional interests include animal nutrition, diving physiology, and long-range marine mammal navigation. David is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and Director of the Marine Mammal Energetics and Nutrition Laboratory, and is a co-editor of the journal Aquatic Mammals.
Guillermo J. Sánchez Contreras is Chief Veterinary Officer for The Dolphin Company. He gained experience in marine mammal medicine and research both at the Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre in Pieterburen (The Netherlands), and at a marine park in Malta, combining education, research and conservation in his daily work. He is currently the President of the European Association for Aquatic Mammals (EAAM) and has published research on behavior, physiology, immunology, malformations, surgery, and different aspects of neoplastic, parasitic, viral and bacterial diseases affecting pinnipeds and bottlenose dolphins, both in the wild and in professional care. He is currently focused on dolphin welfare, neonatology and toxicology. Guillermo mentors undergraduate students and believes promoting the education of the new generations of marine mammal professionals will have a direct impact on conservation. He thinks the MMRN is an essential tool to bring science, conservation and society together.
Debbie Silva is an animal trainer with extensive training experience with beluga whales, bottlenose dolphins, orca, California sea lions, Steller sea lions, harbour seals, spotted seals, Northern fur seals, Pacific walruses, Magellanic penguins, and African penguins. She entered the field in 2011, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology, as well as a second bachelor’s in Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. She possessed an active role in research, having co-authored a paper on social structure in beluga whales, as well as contributed to numerous others. Currently, she is completing her M.S. degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and hopes to achieve her PhD in the near future. She is looking forward to participating and contributing in the Marine Mammal Research Network’s efforts to advance education and scientific understanding of aquatic mammals, as well as furthering public knowledge about the care provided to these animals in professional settings.
Rae Stone
DVM
Rae Stone is a marine mammal veterinarian. She published some of the earliest work on applied diagnostic ultrasound techniques in marine mammals. Rae is a past president of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums. In 1987 she co-founded Dolphin Quest which now operates three public display facilities housing bottlenose dolphins. Dolphin Quest has participated in hundreds of scientific studies in the field and with animals in professional care by providing financial support, staff time and expertise, including access to its animal collection for non-invasive on-site research. She welcomes the opportunity to encourage other public display entities to expand their contribution to marine mammal conservation by making their animal collections available and engaging their staff in critical research projects through the MMRN.
Sara Ortiz has a PhD in comparative cognition between parrots and dolphins. She has also been involved in many different projects within marine mammal behaviour and bioacoustics, both in the field and with animals in professional care. Sara also has experience training animals for her own experiments and in collaboration with other researchers. She is very excited to be a part of MMRN and to help develop research training plans for successful collaborations.
Emma Warner is a science communicator in the field of animal welfare and behaviour. Her research has focused on developing qualitative welfare indicators for bottlenose dolphins in human care, and she is currently building a YouTube channel with the goal of engaging the public about Animal Welfare Science and Ethics, and how they apply to our everyday choices as consumers. Emma is excited to be growing an outward facing team of science communicators within the MMRN.
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