Join us for episode 15 of Cetacean Sessions: we will discuss cetacean strandings: why they happen, their consequences, and what scientists can learn from these events. Our guests, Dr. Katharina Peters, and Dr. Rebecca Boys will discuss some of their recent work on cetacean strandings. Dr Boys will begin the seminar by discussing her work on cetacean strandings and welfare. Then Dr Peters will discuss the value of strandings to scientific knowledge. 

Presentation and discussion will be followed by live Q&A with the audience.

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Cetacean Sessions is a bi-weekly seasonal webinar series where we discuss impactful recently published scientific research on cetaceans with those conducting it around the world. Season 3 is focused exclusively on early-career researchers' publications. Cetacean Sessions is informal, educational, interactive, and geared towards those working with or interested in cetaceans. You can register for sessions and follow our channel for free with no account creation necessary.

Dr Katharina Peters was born in Germany, where she did her undergraduate degree before moving to Australia in 2010 to follow her passion for science and marine mammals.

Dr Peters' primary research interests lie at the interface of animal behaviour, population ecology and evolutionary biology and how to apply this information to better manage the conservation of wild populations and their associated environments in the Anthropocene. Addressing these questions requires quantitative and interdisciplinary approaches. Thus, she uses an integrative approach involving field-intensive ecological and behavioural work with ecological modelling and molecular analyses.

During her scientific career so far, she studied dolphins, whales, seals, koalas, and birds, across Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the Galápagos Islands.

After several postdoctoral positions at Massey University, Flinders University (Australia), the University of Zurich (Switzerland), and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), Dr Peters started a position as Lecturer in Biological Sciences at the University of Wollongong (Australia) in February 2023.

Dr Rebecca M Boys is originally from the UK, where she completed her undergraduate degree in marine biology at Bangor University. She joined the Cetacean Ecology Research Group at Massey University to undertake her PhD, which she has recently completed.

Rebecca was previously employed at the Institute of Marine Research (IMAR) and Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE) in the Azores, Portugal and has a background in the ecology and conservation of marine mammals. Her previous projects include the use of capture-mark-recapture modelling to estimate demographic parameters of cetacean species.

Dr Boys’ primary research interests lie at the interface of animal welfare science and conservation biology. Her current research projects aim to validate welfare indicators for stranded cetaceans as well as examining how euthanasia is applied at stranding events. She is also involved in post-mortem examination of cetaceans. Her research helps to inform first aid procedures, and decisions of refloatation versus euthanasia at strandings, allowing for personnel to make fast informed decisions regarding prognosis of individuals and improve allocation of refloating effort.

Whale Scientists is a science communication platform created by two PhD students, Anaïs Remili and Naomi Mathew. It aims to share scientific knowledge with the public in a fun, entertaining way, to share tips with aspiring marine mammalogists on how to become whale scientists, and to share the incredible journeys of early-career researchers. You can find more info at: https://whalescientists.com/

Bay Cetology enables conservation and understanding of cetacean populations that are data deficient or threatened by climate change and human development. Our marine biologists and research technicians use various expertise to conduct field studies, analyze data, and communicate findings. Bay Cetology was founded by Jared Towers in 2017 and is based out of Alert Bay (Home of the Killer Whale) in the unceded traditional territory of the ‘Namgis First Nation, British Columbia, Canada. See more about our previous work and current projects at https://baycetology.org

Cetacean Session #15