EWhale

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!!🧬🐋

Today, we are introducing Teddy Urvois!

Teddy just started his postdoc in the DECOD lab at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE) in Rennes, France. His previous research focused on entomology, biological control and biological invasions. During his PhD, he studied the invasion of two ambrosia beetles originating from Southeastern Asia to trace their invasion route using genomic markers and identify the suitable areas for both species according to present and future climates.

In the eWhale project, he will work on developing and using eDNA methods to study the population genetics and ecology of porbeagle sharks.🦈🦈🦈🦈

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!!🧬🐋

Today, we are introducing Dr. Michael Traugott!

Michael is a distinguished professor within the Department of Zoology at the University of Innsbruck (UIBK). At UIBK, he leads the Applied Animal Ecology Research Unit in which his team focuses on the use of molecular methods to monitor organisms in various ecosystems including the interactions between species within food webs. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Sinsoma GmbH, a company specializing in DNA/RNA analytics for practical applications towards environmental management.
Fun fact: The inception of eWHALE can be traced back to a family vacation in the Azores, where Michael and his family joined eWHALE consortium member, Enrico Villa, on a whale watching expedition with Enrico’s whale watching company, CW Azores - Whale Watching. Dr. Traugott’s role in eWHALE will be providing scientific and business expertise.

Photo 1 via eWHALE, Photo 2 via Schröedingers Katze, Photo 3 via LinkedIn

❕🚨Fieldwork Updates🚨❕

eWHALE team - Belen (PhD student) and Marianne (research professor) - has been collecting water samples in the northern subarctic waters of Iceland and the adjacent arctic waters of East Greenland. Here are some photos from their !

1) Humpback whale fluke📸
2) eWHALE team members Belén and Marianne on the boat for sampling👩🏻‍🔬👩🏼‍🔬
3) Humpback whale flukeprint (the place in the water where they dive) - this is where we collect eDNA from!🌊🧬
4) North Sailing and Research Centre Húsavík (University of Iceland) research vessels at port.⛴
5) Citizen scientists onboard the whale watching boat🌊📸🐋
6) Belén adding preservation buffer to an filter🧬🧪

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!!🧬🐋

Today, we are introducing Dr. Verena Trenkel.

Verena is a senior researcher at IFREMER, specializing in the field of quantitative ecology. Her research is dedicated to pioneering advancements in marine ecosystem and population assessments, including the development of observational methods and computational simulation studies. Dr. Trenkel is also responsible for the Ecology and Models for Fisheries unit, which conducts critical investigations into ecosystems relevant to fisheries, ultimately defining the conditions for sustainable exploitation of living marine resources and their associated ecosystems.

In eWHALE, she will be focusing on collecting and analyzing eDNA and biopsy samples of porbeagle sharks in the Bay of Biscay. Her objective is to study this species’ overall abundance as well as intraspecific genetic diversity.

Photo 1 via eWHALE; Photo 2 via FondationBiodiversite.fr

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!!🧬🐋

Today, we are introducing eWHALE researcher, Jon-Ivar Westgaard, PhD.

Jon-Ivar has been a researcher at the Institute for Marine Research (Tromsø, Norway) for over fourteen years. His research focuses on population genetics and molecular evolution within marine organisms. Since 2018, he has been using the analysis of eDNA to characterize biodiversity in Norway fjords as well as in the Barents Sea.

In the eWHALE project, Jon-Ivar will be collecting eDNA samples, conducting laboratory work, and analyzing genomic data in order to study intraspecific genetic diversity of sharks and whales. The Institute for Marine Research, where he is based, conducts annual sighting surveys for cetaceans in the Norwegian Sea as well as hosts a DNA register of minke whales.

Photo 1 via Twitter; Photo 2 via IMR

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!!🧬🐋

Today, we are introducing Dr. Erwan Quéméré.

Dr. Quéméré serves as a senior research scientist in the DECOD lab at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE) in Rennes, France. His research primarily involves applying molecular and biological techniques to tackle questions in evolutionary ecology and conservation biology, focusing on population genetics. Over the past decade, his efforts have been centered around the development of eDNA methods to investigate aquatic animal ecology and invasive species dynamics.

In the eWHALE project, Dr. Quéméré will continue his work on developing and refining eDNA methodology to assess the genetic diversity of animals from marine samples. Additionally, he is leading sample collection and data analysis related to porbeagle sharks in the Bay of Biscay.

Photo 1 via quemere.fr; Photo 2 via eWHALE

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!!🧬🐋

This week, we are introducing Dr. Mónica A. Silva.

Mónica is a Senior Research Associate at the University of the Azores and is based in the island of Faial. Over the past two decades, Dr. Silva has spearheaded the Azores Whale Lab Cetacean Ecology Group, a research program which investigates the patterns of North Atlantic cetacean presence and life history. In her research, she applies a range of scientific techniques such as biopsy sampling, acoustic monitoring, stable isotope analysis, telemetry, and ecological modeling. Mónica is also actively involved in the development and implementation of marine conservation policy as a permanent member of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR).

In the eWHALE project, Dr. Silva will investigate the potential of eDNA for individual identification of s***m whales as well as the capability of genomic methodology to determine kinship and genetic diversity among this species’ social units. This will be achieved through paired sampling of water and tissue from s***m whale groups around the Azores islands.

Photo 1 via eWHALE; Photo 2 via ResearchGate; Photo 3 via whales.scienceontheweb.net

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!🧬🐋

Today we are introducing Emer Rogan, PhD.

Emer serves as the Head of Zoology and Ecology at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. Her research focuses on marine mammal ecology, biology, and the overall functioning of marine systems. She’s passionate about applying an ecosystem-based approach to manage marine fisheries and reduce negative interactions between fisheries and marine mammals.

In eWHALE, Emer and her team collaborate with whale watching companies to collect eDNA samples along Ireland’s south and west coasts. Their goal is to use these samples to understand the population structure of whales, dolphins, and sharks. Additionally, Emer will utilize eDNA to study the prey species of marine mammals.

Keep an eye on our page to read more about 🔬🧬🔍🐋

Photo 1: University College Cork School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences

🐋🧬Meet the Team!!🧬🐋

Today we are introducing eWHALE researcher, Arianna Azzellino, PhD.

Arianna is a full-time associate professor at Politecnico di Milano studying environmental management and conservation. She uses ecological modeling to study the impacts of pollution and anthropogenic land use on the environment and applies this research towards the implementation of resource management. Her contributions towards marine management have focused on marine mammals, namely cetacean species, which occur throughout the Mediterranean Sea. For eWHALE, she will be using her skills to model the eDNA of whales and other species in parallel with data collected via traditional biomonitoring. Additionally, Arianna will be leading the citizen science module of eWHALE, assessing how the implementation of eDNA sampling can strengthen the connection between society and the marine environment.

Tune in next week to read our next highlight about an 🔬🧬🔍🐋

Photo 2 by: Tethys Research Institute

🐋🧬It's Meet the Team!!!🧬🐋

Up first, we have eWHALE project coordinator, Bettina Thalinger, PhD.

Bettina is a Senior Scientist studying species distributions and diversity using trace DNA from environmental samples. She focuses on developing reliable molecular assays for detecting and studying individual species and species communities. Bettina enjoys collaborating with community scientists and integrating research with guidelines for species monitoring and conservation.
Currently, she's based at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, coordinating the eWHALE project but has recently visited other eWHALE partners in Iceland and Italy!

Tune in next week to read our next highlight about an 🔬🧬🔍🐋

Pictures from the field: 🦈 this time featuring one of our team leaders Erwan Quéméré out in the field together with DRDH (https://desrequinsetdeshommes.org/wordpress/index.php/en/news/) to sample . INRAE Biodiversa