I’m a secure isotope scientist and ecologist. Broadly, I’m serious about how we will use secure isotopes and lipid biomarkers as proxies for tracing nutrient stream, trophic dynamics, and habitat partitioning of organisms in trendy and historical terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
Secure isotopes are a tremendous ecological software. “You’re what (and the place) you eat!”, that means the isotopic signatures of the meals and water you eat develop into integrated into your bodily tissues. Measuring these chemical signatures permits us to “see” behaviour and processes that occur away from the human gaze. This might imply reconstructing how an extinct animal moved across the panorama up to now, or figuring out what a modern-day whale was consuming whereas residing far out at sea.
I developed a ardour for secure isotopes throughout my undergraduate diploma in archaeology (The College of Western Ontario, Canada). I went on to review a very Canadian subject throughout my MSc: the palaeoecology of the extinct Ice Age large beaver (The College of Western Ontario). After my MSc, I managed the day by day operation of an isotope lab and supported scholar organic analysis tasks (The College of Western Ontario). Throughout my PhD, I dove into the fantastic world of cetacean science, the place I studied the secure isotope and lipid ecology of beaked whales and dolphins in Scottish waters (Heriot-Watt College, Scotland). It continues to amaze me that we all know so little about such huge animals. I’m significantly in awe of the diving skills of beaked whales – think about diving over 2 km down into the ocean on a single breath of air and slurping up squid in whole darkness utilizing solely sound to find them!
My PhD work relied on cetacean stranding occasions, as acquiring the proper of tissue samples turns into tough once you work with elusive and extremely protected species. Whereas stranding occasions will be emotional to witness, they supply scientists with a wealth of opportunistic samples and details about how these animals lived and died. I’ve been very lucky to work intently with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme and Nationwide Museums Scotland, who curate world class marine mammal collections and tissue archives.
I at present work for the SMASS (The College of Glasgow) to supply contextual details about the foraging ecology of cetaceans concerned in mass stranding occasions.
I’ve reviewed for a number of journals, and I look ahead to taking part within the editorial course of on the Journal of Zoology. As an affiliate editor, I hope to encourage research that utilise secure isotopes to elucidate animal behaviour and life historical past, whereas offering constructive suggestions and a supportive expertise for authors.
Tessa Plint – Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, College of Glasgow