PROJECTS
Social interactions of marine mammals in human care
Multi-facility project examining frequency, duration, participants, and different types of social interactions (e.g. affiliative, contact, aggressive, socio-sexual, courting) across multiple species (belugas, bottlenose dolphins, killer whales)
Collaborating facilities: SeaWorld San Antonio, SeaWorld San Diego, Georgia Aquarium, Shedd Aquarium, Mystic Aquarium, MarineLand of Canada, Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences, The Blue Lagoon Island, Home of Dolphin Encounters
Academic Collaborators: Dr. Michael Noonan, Dr. Deirdre Yeater, Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski of Dolphin Communication Project, Dr. Malin Lilley
Behavioral monitoring of rehabilitated non-releasable beluga
Continuous behavioral and acoustic monitoring of stranded, rehabilitated but non-releasable beluga calf housed at SeaWorld San Antonio
Collaborating facility: SeaWorld San Antonio
Collaborators: Dr. Manuel Castellote NOAA Affiliate
Development of play and mother-calf interactions for marine mammals in human care
Multi-facility project examining different aspects of play (water, object, social, locomotor) and mother-calf interactions (e.g. affiliative, contact, aggressive, socio-sexual, maternal care, nursing, contact) across multiple species (belugas, bottlenose dolphins, killer whales)
Collaborating facilities: SeaWorld San Antonio, Georgia Aquarium, Shedd Aquarium, Mystic Aquarium, MarineLand of Canada, Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences
Academic Collaborators: Dr. Michael Noonan, Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski of Dolphin Communication Project; Dr. Sergio Pellis
Spatial use study of dolphins in managed care
Activity level and location of bottlenose dolphins in human care are being assessed at several different facilities to understand the influence of human presence under different conditons.
Collaborating facilities: Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences, The Blue Lagoon Island, Home of Dolphin Encounters
Academic Collaborators: Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski of Dolphin Communication Project
Multi-species study of familiarity and violation of expectations with different stimuli
Presented different types of stimuli (objects and humans) to three species of marine mammals (belugas, bottlenose dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins to assess interest, gaze duration, and visual lateralization.
Collaborating facilities: SeaWorld San Antonio, Shedd Aquarium, Mystic Aquarium
Academic Collaborators: Dr. Deirdre Yeater
Executive Functioning
Bottlenose dolphins are being assessed on their ability to show preferences for specific reinforcers with the goal to assess delay capabilities.
Collaborating facilities: The Blue Lagoon Island, Home of Dolphin Encounters
Academic Collaborators: Dr. Deirdre Yeater, Dr. Lauren Highfill. Dr. Dawn Melzer, Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski of Dolphin Communication Project
Innovation under stimulus control
Multi-species project in which marine mammals in human care are trained to “innovate” in their behavior with or without objects Cross-species comparisons, learning history, and degree of novelty are being examined among other outcomes.
Collaborating facilities: SeaWorld San Antonio, Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences, Marineland of France, Loro Parque
Academic Collaborators: Dr. Deirdre Yeater, Dr. Dawn Melzer, Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski of Dolphin Communication Project
Impact of Fish Conditioning on Care and Psychology of Learning Content
Undergraduate students care for and condition pet fish as part of their learning course each semester. Course content knowledge and other aspects of animal interactions are currently being investigated.
Collaboration: Dr. Deirdre Yeater, Sacred Heart University
Impact of immersive, international field study for undergraduate students
Undergraduate students from multiple universities participating in an immersive, international field study are being assessed for their interest in research, confidence in conducting research, environmental attitudes, and knowledge about research.
Collaborations: Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski of Dolphin Communication Project; Dr. Melissa Karlin
Representation of parenting in cartoons
The role of parents in cartoons across different programs has been assessed; Gender roles, social interactions, characteristics of all characters are being evaluated.
Representation of gender roles and ethnicity in age-specific cartoons
The gender roles, social interactions, characteristics of all characters are being evaluated across age-specific cartoons (e.g., toddler, preschool, elementary, tween, teen, and adults.