Earlier this year the Seal Center was part of a successful bid, with the University of Stockholm, for a grant from the Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences to address issues concerning the ecology and social behavior of different seal species from a diachronic perspective in connection to human activity and environmental change. Sandra Granquist, Leah Burns and Erlingur Hauksson are currently in Stockholm participating in the first of two workshops on human-seal interrelationships funded by this grant. Sandra and Erlingur will give a presentation on “Ecology and ethology of current seal populations” and Leah will give a presentation on “Cultural values and perceptions of seals in Northern Europe”.
The second workshop will be held in Iceland in 2015.