Simone Baumann

Graduate Student

sbaumann@ucsd.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Degrees:

       Ph.D. Animal Physiology, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany in
       cooperation with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, present.

       M.S. Biology, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2006.

       B.S. Media Engineering, Stuttgart Media University, Germany, 1999.

Research Interests:

       My general research interest is behavioural ecology. I want to understand how human influence alters behaviour and how the changed behaviour influences an ecosystem as a whole. I am especially curious about all aspects of acoustic behaviour and was able to work on the echolocation behaviour of bats during my masters’ degree. I am particularly passionate about the marine environment leading me to the study of cetaceans. Whales and dolphins have the most sophisticated acoustic senses in the ocean. And they are also most vulnerable to acoustic changes in their environment. Recently there has been much discussion about the alteration of their behaviour induced by man-made noise. During my doctorate project I am working at a remote island in the Northern Line Islands chain, Palmyra Atoll. Unique about Palmyra Atoll is that it is off the main shipping lanes, that it has been mostly untouched since after World War II and its underwater ecosystem is in a very healthy state. Around the atoll we were able to find, among others, beaked whales and melon-headed whales, both deep-diving animals that are subject to mass-strandings which might be caused by intense sound events. The study of these animals at a remote location will give us a ground truth of their natural behaviour and we will be able to interpret altered behaviour under unnatural circumstances.