[MARMAM] Research assistant needed--Shark Bay, Western Australia

[Caitlin Karniski]

Hello,

I am seeking a dedicated research assistant for our upcoming field season
(mid-September through mid-December) in Monkey Mia, Shark Bay, Western
Australia in conjunction with the Shark Bay Dolphin Project (
http://www.monkeymiadolphins.org/) and Dr. Janet Mann's lab of Georgetown
University.

This research is part of an ongoing PhD project through Georgetown
University studying the effects of reproductive senescence in female
bottlenose dolphins and is part of a long-term study of dolphin behavior,
ecology, and reproduction.

Timeframe:
~3 months

Location:
Monkey Mia, Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Monkey Mia is approximately 900km north of Perth and is part of the largest
World Heritage site in Western Australia. Our field site includes wildlife
such as sharks, rays, turtles, dugongs, whales, and of course resident
bottlenose dolphins.

About:
This project is part of one of the longest running marine mammal research
projects in the world with behavioral, life-history, ecological, and
genetic research conducted since the mid 1980's.

Assistance will be required with boat-based behavioral surveys and focal
follows on the resident bottlenose dolphins. Weather permitting, days on
the water can be consecutive, long, and tiring in variable environmental
conditions. Days on land will require data entry and processing.

This is an unpaid, volunteer position and the successful candidate will
need to make his/her own way to Perth. However, travel to Shark Bay will be
covered, and food and accommodation will be covered once in Monkey Mia.

Responsibilities:
-Searching for and spotting dolphins
-Taking photos
-Collecting survey, focal follow, and photo-ID data
-Driving the boat
-Basic maintenance and equipment prep and cleaning
-Entry of dolphin sightings and environmental data

Qualifications:
The ideal candidate will be a recent graduate with a science background and
a genuine interest in marine mammal science. This position is well suited
for recent graduates of marine biology, zoology, ecology, genetics, or
similar fields looking to gain additional analytical and in-field
experience.

He or she must:
-Be 18 years or older
-Possess basic computer skills
-Be detail oriented, flexible, and patient
-Possess excellent verbal and communication skills
-Work well both independently and in a team
-Be fluent in English
-Be willing to make the full 3 month commitment
-Have prior field research experience
-Be comfortable on a boat
-Be prepared to work long, consecutive days, including weekends
-Be willing to live in a collaborative environment and contribute to
household responsibilities

Please note that given our remote location, it can be very difficult to
accommodate strict dietary requirements. Vegetarianism is not a
problem. Additionally,
we live and work in close quarters so mature and respectful candidates are
required.

Application Process:
If interested please email Caitlin Karniski at cb...@georgetown.edu with
the subject line RESEARCH ASSISTANT.
Please include in the email:

1. Letter of interest

2. CV

3. Email contacts for 2 references

Candidates will be evaluated until the position is filled.

-- 
Caitlin Karniski
PhD Candidate
Department of Biology
Georgetown University
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[MARMAM] Gene-culture coevolution in whales and dolphins

[Hal Whitehead]

The following paper has just been published:

Whitehead H (2017) Gene–culture coevolution in whales and dolphins. Proc Natl 
Acad Sci USA 114:7814–7821

It is available (open access) at:
http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/7814.full

A commentary "Can animal culture drive evolution?" by Carolyn Beans, exploring 
wider issues, accompanies it:
http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/7734.full

Abstract:
Whales and dolphins (Cetacea) have excellent social learning skills as well as 
a long and strong mother–calf bond. These features produce stable cultures, 
and, in some species, sympatric groups with different cultures. There is 
evidence and speculation that this cultural transmission of behavior has 
affected gene distributions. Culture seems to have driven killer whales into 
distinct ecotypes, which may be incipient species or subspecies. There are 
ecotype-specific signals of selection in functional genes that correspond to 
cultural foraging behavior and habitat use by the different ecotypes. The five 
species of whale with matrilineal social systems have remarkably low diversity 
of mtDNA. Cultural hitchhiking, the transmission of functionally neutral genes 
in parallel with selective cultural traits, is a plausible hypothesis for this 
low diversity, especially in sperm whales. In killer whales the ecotype 
divisions, together with founding bottlenecks, selection, and cultural 
hitchhiking, likely explain the low mtDNA diversity. Several cetacean species 
show habitat-specific distributions of mtDNA haplotypes, probably the result of 
mother–offspring cultural transmission of migration routes or destinations. In 
bottlenose dolphins, remarkable small-scale differences in haplotype 
distribution result from maternal cultural transmission of foraging methods, 
and large-scale redistributions of sperm whale cultural clans in the Pacific 
have likely changed mitochondrial genetic geography. With the acceleration of 
genomics new results should come fast, but understanding gene–culture 
coevolution will be hampered by the measured pace of research on the 
socio-cultural side of cetacean biology.

Hal Whitehead, Dalhousie University
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