Press Releases

March 8, 2004

From Molecules to Marine Mammals: Southampton College Presents Lecture on Endangered Whales and Dolphins
John P. McGrath Fund Sponsors Research Scientist in Afternoon BrainWASH Talk

Contact:
Patricia Conway
631-287-8313

Southampton, NY - Howard Rosenbaum, a geneticist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Natural History Museum in New York, will present a talk entitled "Molecules to Marine Mammals: an Integrated Field and Genetics Approach to Conservation and Management of Endangered Whales and Dolphins," on Wednesday, March 24 at 1:15 p.m. in the College's Duke Lecture Hall.

Rosenbaum, who coordinates and actively participates in humpback whale research throughout the Indian Ocean and the West Coast of Africa, also conducts the genetic analysis of humpback whale and humpback dolphin.

Last year, Rosenbaum served as lead author of a study focusing on the humpback whales of the Gulf of Maine. The study, published in "The Journal of Heredity," revealed that differences in reproductive success of whale mothers may play a significant role in changing genetic variation in the population. The research team found that certain maternal lines of whales had produced more calves than other lines in the past decade, a finding that uncovered the often-complex role of genetics and environment in the makeup of this population of long-lived mammals. The scientists compared more than two decades of field observations on humpback whales with genetic samples collected with biopsy darts, which remove a small piece of skin from the backs of these marine mammals. If current trends continue, the humpback whale population of the Gulf of Maine could show shifts in genetic variation over the next 75 years, with some maternal lines becoming more common than others.

"The humpback whale population in the Gulf of Maine represents an opportunity to compare the life histories of a large group of well-studied individuals with genetic structure," Rosenbaum said at the time. He went on to explain how the study gave researchers a better understanding of how differences in reproductive success among certain whales influences the genetic diversity of wild populations, a feat that is usually difficult to accomplish on this level.

The informal free lecture, part of the BrainWASH lecture series, is sponsored by the John P. McGrath Fund of Long Island University. For more information on this talk, contact Prof. Maria Kretzmann at the College at (631) 287-8398 or maria.kretzmann@liu.edu.