The Seal Center’s Tourism Research Department was successful in obtaining the grant titled “Cooperation in the Field of Arctic Studies Between Iceland and Norway.” Monday, 29th November, was their first international meeting. This grant was awarded for preparatory support for the initiation of joint grant applications to fund future research projects. This is the first of many future efforts in working internationally with other tourism and marine biology experts. Jessica Faustini Aquino directs this research group.
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New Report
Sandra Granquist, head of the biology department at the Icelandic Seal Centre, recently published a new report alongside Erlingur Hauksson.
The report is called MANAGEMENT AND STATUS OF THE ICELANDIC HARBOUR SEAL POPULATION: CATCHES, POPULATION ASSESSMENTS AND CURRENT KNOWLEDGE and can be found here: http://www.veidimal.is/files/Skra_0075605.pdf
Volunteers Needed!
New Researchers
On the 1st of July, two new researchers started here at the Icelandic Seal Centre. They will be led by Sandra Granquist, the head of our biological research department.
The researchers are Dr Alastair Baylis and Jóhann Garðar Þorbjörnsson.
Dr Alastair Baylis
Al gained his PhD in 2008 from the University of Adelaide (Australia) studying the foraging ecology of New Zealand fur seals in South Australia. His recent posts include the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, where he worked with the UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit on Northern fur seals and the Falkland Islands, where he has developed research projects on the little studied populations of southern sea lions and South American fur seals. His main interests in pinniped ecology include historical ecology, population dynamics, population genetics and foraging behaviour. Over the past decade he has also developed a keen interest in pinniped anaesthesia.
Jóhann Garðar Þorbjörnsson
Jóhann graduated with a B.Sc. degree in biology from the University of Iceland in 2013. In 2015, he finished his M.Sc. studies in freshwater ecology from the Hólar University College, where he researched the impacts of scuba divers on the Silfra groundwater fissure ecosystem. During his masters, he became an exchange student in Svalbard, focusing on Arctic biology. Jóhann is especially interested in the impacts of humans on biological systems.
We are excited by these new additions to the team, and wish them all the best in their new roles.