Atlantic seabird research team
Patrick Jodice, PhD, is the Leader of the USGS South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Clemson University. He is the PI on a variety of projects in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Southeastern US focused on Audubon's Shearwater, Black-capped Petrel, Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Masked Booby, Red-billed Tropicbird, and White-tailed Tropicbird.
Rob Ronconi, PhD, is a Research Associate in the Biology Department at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. Rob is the PI on tracking projects in the maritime region of Canada as well as in the South Atlantic focused on Greater Shearwater and Herring Gull. Rob is also a Co-PI on a tracking project in the Domincan Republic focused on Black-capped Petrels.
Linda Welch is a Refuge Biologist at Maine Coastal Islands NWR. Linda is the PI on tracking projects in the Gulf of Maine focused on Arctic Tern, Atlantic Puffin, Common Tern, Greater Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, and Razorbill.
The goal of this group is to enhance our understanding of seabird movement patterns and habitat-use at sea in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. We do this by using the full range of tracking technologies that are available including satellite tags, geolocators, nanotags, GPS, and VHF. We cooperate formally and informally on the deployment of these tags and the resultant data analysis. Research focuses on a variety of topics including foraging trip characteristics and how these differ throughout the annual cycle, interactions of seabirds with energy infrastructure in the offshore environment, foraging site fidelity at sea, use of Marine Protected Areas, and migration routes. The scientists here work closely with the North Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative which also seeks to better understand the distribution and abundance of seabirds at sea. Together, our research extends from the Maritime Provinces of Canada through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to the South Atlantic. The birds we tag disperse throughout the North and South Atlantic and as such our research uniquely covers a significant portion of our Earth's oceans.
These pages are under construction. The three PIs currently listed account for a core of the tracking research being conducted in the western Atlantic. Other scientists also participate at various levels and pages will be developed to highlight their contributions.
