The Dolphin Communication Project (DCP), a non-profit research and education organization, is offering two college-level courses for university students to learn more about cetacean ecology and delphinid behavior. Both topics present classes that are set within the frameworks of their parent disciplines of field ecology and animal behavior.

Both of DCP's college courses offer field and classroom components with effort and hours per course equivalent to that of a three-credit university course. Each course is unique in location (international site) and scheduling.

Bimini Cetacean Ecology - Professors coordinate with DCP's Bimini Research Manager to schedule one to two week courses at times convenient with that school's academic calendar. These classes typically include students from a single university and can be scheduled for any time during the year (though seasonal weather should be considered when scheduling dates). Learn more about our Bimini Cetacean Ecology Field Course at: http://tinyurl.com/pm7n6g

RIMS Dolphin Behavior - This three-credit equivalent course is offered by DCP to interested students from different universities. DCP's RIMS dolphin behavior course runs from 4 - 25 January 2010 with a field component from 7 - 16 January 2010 in Roatan, Honduras at Anthony's Key Resort. The non-field portion of the course is held via distance learning through web connections. Learn more about our RIMS Dolphin Behavior Course at: http://tinyurl.com/q7lt79

If you would like to receive a copy of our one-page color flyer to post on campus and share with students, please let us know (info@dcpmail.org). We will then email the PDF file to you such that you can share it with other professors, interested students, and various offices on your campus. Or you can download the flyer from either of the links above.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to hearing from you and to introducing your students to the experiences of scientific field work soon! For an abbreviated list of publications by DCP researchers, please see the end of this email. For a full listing, including student theses and dissertations, visit the publications section of our website: http://tinyurl.com/lymsf4

Selected Refereed Publications:

Dudzinski, K.M., Clark, C.W., Würsig, B. 1995. A mobile video/acoustic system for simultaneously recording dolphin behavior and vocalizations underwater. Aquatic Mammals 21(3): 187-193.

Dudzinski, K.M. 1998. Contact behavior and signal exchange among Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). Aquatic Mammals 24(3): 129-142.

Dudzinski, K.M., M. Sakai, M., Masaki, K., Kogi, K., Hishii, T., Kurimoto, M. 2003. Behavioral observations of adult and sub-adult dolphins towards two dead bottlenose dolphins (one female and one male). Aquatic Mammals 29(1): 108-116.

Gregg, J.D., Dudzinski, K.M., Smith, H.V. 2007. Do dolphins eavesdrop on the echolocation signals of conspecifics? International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 20: 65-88

Paulos, R.D., Dudzinski, K.M., Kuczaj, S.A. 2008. The role of touch in select social interactions of Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus). Ethology 26: 153-164.

Dudzinski, K.M., Thomas, J. Gregg, J.D. 2008. Communication. In (W.F. Perrin, B. Würsig, H.C.M. Thewissen, eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, second edition. Academic Press, Inc.

Dudzinski, K.M., Gregg, J.D., Ribic, C.A., Kuczaj, S.A. 2009. A comparison of pectoral fin contact between two different wild dolphin populations. Behavioural Processes, 80:182-190

Melillo, K.E., Dudzinski, K.M., Cornick, L.A. 2009. Interactions between Atlantic spotted (Stenella frontalis) and bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) dolphins off Bimini, The Bahamas, 2003-2007. Aquatic Mammals, 35:281-291