A pre-lecture tea will take place from 17:00 SAF Foyer; with a drinks reception following the lecture.
Abstract
A serious attempt to learn how marine animals manage to live at sea began 50 years ago when the first time/depth recorders (TDR) were attached to Weddell seals in Antarctica, one of the most remote habitats in the world. Results led to questions of lung airway structure in marine mammals and the related research, much of which was conducted in my laboratory where lung collapse at depth and blood nitrogen concentrations were determined.
Since then, with the huge advancements in marine recording and tracking technology, conducted on a few suitable species we have learned much about gas exchange of Weddell seals, sea lions and emperor penguins. Additionally, in the last 20 years there has been, for me, an enhanced interest in the natural history of the emperor penguin, which grew out of similar questions to those asked about marine mammals
Biography
Gerald Kooyman obtained his A.B. in Zoology from University of California, Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. His thesis was on the diving physiology and behavior of the Weddell seal.
He was awarded a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, London Hospital Medical College, University of London, under the supervision of Professor Sir Richard Harrison.
After his post-doctoral training in London he did another year of post-graduate training in the laboratory of Robert Elsner, a part of the Physiological Research Laboratory directed at the time by Professor Per Scholander.
He was a Scientific Fellow, Zoological Society of London and is a Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Graduate student participant aboard R/V Te Vega cruise, Stanford University, Honiara, Solomon Islands to Pago Pago, Samoa.
Among his awards are the Antarctic Medal; Geographic Name: Kooyman Peak, Queen Elizabeth Range, Antarctica, 1966; Special Creativity Award, National Science Foundation, 1991; The first Kenneth Norris Life Time Achievement Award of the Marine Mammal Society.
His recent field research expeditions are:
- Crittercam humpback whale deployments, Chatham Strait, Alaska, 2007;
- Sea turtle survey, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Conservation International 2009;
- Emperor penguin/leopard seal behavior/physiology study at Cape Washington, Antarctica, 2010;
- Post-molt and winter foraging patterns and dispersal of emperor penguins in the eastern Ross Sea aboard the Icebreaker