Estimating marine mammal abundance and distribution from passive acoustic and biotelemetry data
Not stated
- Location
- Southampton, United Kingdom
- Funding
- INSPIRE studentship; UKRI standard level
- Application deadline
- See university guidance
About the project
Ecosystem function weakening due to reduction in top predator numbers is a first order global problem. In the oceans anthropogenic activities adversely affect marine mammals, with 25% of species being threatened. Determining their spatiotemporal distribution and abundance is central to understanding ecosystem health. The aim of this studentship is to combine Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) and satellite-linked tracking (biotelemetry) to determine marine mammal abundance and distribution. Determining a reliable distribution of animals from these two contrasting techniques will require careful comparison, data integration and insight, as PAM techniques require identification of individual species from their call types, while in biotelemetry specific animals are tracked
Marine autonomous vehicles are effective in sensing and understanding the oceans and can be equipped with PAM devices that can record a large frequency bandwidth facilitating a high-fidelity and complete record of the marine soundscape. Interrogating the vast datasets that are recorded by fleets of autonomous data is a current challenge. The student will, firstly, apply and further develop machine-learning techniques to identify individual species. Secondly, the student will leverage large marine mammal tracking datasets, as well as abundance and distribution predictions, to compare and integrate tracking, distribution and abundance data with PAM data.
For full project details visit the Inspire project page .
Supervisors
- Professor Jonathan Bull (University of Southampton)
- Doctor Ryan Reisinger (University of Southampton)
- Professor Paul White (University of Southampton)
- Alex Phillips (University of Southampton)
Professor Jonathan Bull
- Fluid Flow and Carbon Capture and Storage
- Monitoring, Measurement and Verification
- Marine Geophysics
Dr Ryan Reisinger PhD, FHEA, MRSSAf
- Dr Ryan Reisinger PhD, FHEA, MRSSAf: Associate Professor
Professor Paul White
- Signal processing
- Underwater acoustics and bioacoustics (the way animals, especially marine mammals, use sound)
- The processing of calls of marine mammals
Entry requirements
A 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent , in one of these subjects:
- any numerate discipline
Fees and funding
INSPIRE studentships are funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, part of UK Research and Innovation, UKRI). The stipend is in line with UKRI standard levels, including the recent cost of living increase.
All studentships are fully funded for 3.5 years.
How to apply
To make an application, visit the how to apply section of the INSPIRE website .
Contact us
For questions about the project, contact Professor Jonathan Bull:
Email: bull@soton.ac.uk
For questions about the application process, contact the graduate school office.
Email: gsnocs@soton.ac.uk