To whom it may concern,I would like to post the following message on MARMAM. Sincerely,J. Daisy Kaplan Animal Behavior Field Course-Social Behavior and Communication of Wild Dolphins in the Bahamas This field course provides students with an exciting opportunity to gain hands-on field experience studying animal behavior while participating in a research project studying the social behavior of wild dolphins. The Bahamian dolphin populations are very acclimated to human beings, allowing for the unique opportunity to observe these animals up-close, in their natural environment. Students who join our team during our weekly research trips will assist researchers in recording the dolphins’ underwater and surface vocal and behavioral interactions. Observations are made underwater while snorkeling, and on the water’s surface from a skiff. Students must know how to swim and snorkel, but no other special skills or experience is required to participate. Costs and Dates: The cost of this field course is $2,290 per person. The course runs from August 21st-27th. Cost includes 6 nights accommodation and all meals and snacks. Travel and accommodations are aboard a 65-foot sailboat in double and triple occupancy, air-conditioned cabins with shared baths. Trips begin and end in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. The boat is anchored or traveling most of the week at the research sites, so we will almost always be in dolphin territory. Airfare is not included, nor is ground transportation or gratuity (recommended 10-15% of the cruise rate, or ~$230). Other dates may open up for other trips in August. Details of the trip can be found at http://www.oceanicsociety.org/nhexp_BahamasProjectDolphin Course Outline for Both Credit and Non-Credit Participants: The coursework will be comprised of the following: · Pre-trip workshop and orientation at Hunter College (Optional for students not receiving credit for this course. Workshop will be taught by Hunter College Professor Dr. Diana Reiss) · Involvement in daily research activities · Daily lectures during the trip · Reading materials—to be read before the trip commences. · A writing assignment due by the end of the semester. This assignment will require the students choose a behavior they find interesting, write a literature review on this behavior, and pose potential research questions for the further study of this behavior. This assignment would also include describing basic methodology that could be used to investigate these questions. (Not required for students not taking this course for credit.) Daily Research Activities: Students will take part in underwater (if desired) and onboard ship observations. Students that feel comfortable with photo ID may also assist in taking underwater photo ID pictures. In addition, students will have several tasks while above-water, including recording environmental data, recording details of sightings, matching photos of dolphins seen to the photo ID catalogue in order to identify the dolphins, and being 'on watch' to look for approaching dolphin groups. Course Lecture Series: Introductory Lecture (lecture at Hunter College prior to trip commencement): · I. Marine Mammal Behavior and Communication · II. Conducting Field Research: Methods and Techniques · III. Orientation to field project: overview of the research, and student roles and responsibilities Day 1: Orientation: (at field site)· I. Review of research roles & student responsibilities, general safety, how to conduct one’s self while in the water with dolphins. · II. General life history of spotted and bottlenose dolphins. · III. Photo Identification of Dolphins – How to tell who’s who. Day 2: (at field site) · I. Coral Reef fishes · II. Review of required reading and field research methods Day 3: (at field site) · I. Marine mammal anatomy & physiology, evolution of marine mammals · II. Marine mammal sensory perception (hearing, echolocation, vision) Day 4: (at field site) · I. Animal Intelligence & Cognition · II. Current topics in marine mammal conservation Day 5: Comparative Studies: life histories of killer whales, sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, and humpback whales Day 6: · Trip Wrap-up Assigned Reading: · The life history of free-ranging Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis): Age classes, color phases, and female reproduction. D. L. Herzing. 1997. Marine Mammal Science 13(4):576-595 · The bottlenose dolphin: Social relationships in a fission-fusion society. R. C. Connor, R. S. Wells, J. Mann, and A. J. Read. 2000. In: Mann, J., R. C. Connor, P. L. Tyack, and H. Whitehead, eds. Cetacean societies: Field studies of dolphins and whales. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago · Unraveling the dynamics of social life: Long-term studies and observational methods. J. Mann. 2000. In: J. Mann, R. C. Connor, P. L. Tyack, and H. Whitehead, eds. Cetacean societies: Field Studies of dolphins And whales. U. of Chicago Press, Chicago & London. · Mirror self-recognition in the bottlenose dolphin: A case of cognitive convergence. D. Reiss and L. Marino. 2001. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 98(10):5937-5942 · Cetaceans have complex brains for complex cognition. L. Marino, R. C. Connor, R. E. Fordyce, L. M. Herman, P. R. Hof, L. Lefebvre, D. Lusseau, B. McCowan, E. A. Nimchinsky, A. A. Pack, L. Rendell, J. S. Reidenberg, D. Reiss, M. D. Uhen, E. Van der Gucht, and H. Whitehead. 2007. PLoS Biology 5(5):966-972 Instructors: Field course to be taught by Hunter College Professor Dr. Diana Reiss and CUNY Graduate Center PhD student J. Daisy Kaplan Credit and Non-Credit Options: You make take this course as a non-credit or a credit course. For those students who are part of the CUNY (City University of New York) System and wish to sign up for credit, you can sign up for this course as an independent study. Additional fees to Hunter College apply. Please contact Daisy Kaplan at daisykaplan@hotmail.com for further details on receiving credit. For-credit requirements include a written assignment and a 3-hour workshop at Hunter College offered in early August 2010, prior to the trip commencement (date TBA). This workshop will be team taught by Dr. Diana Reiss, Professor in the Department of Psychology at Hunter College and the Biopsychology & Behavioral Neuroscience Program, CUNY Graduate Center, and Daisy Kaplan, PhD student in the Biopsychology & Behavioral Neuroscience Program, CUNY Graduate Center. If you are not part of the CUNY system, you may be able to receive credit through your own university for an independent study/ research project. You may also participate in this course for non-credit, in which case there will be no workshop or writing requirement. If you wish to receive credit through Hunter College and are not a CUNY student, options may be available – please contact me for more details. To reserve your spot, a non-refundable deposit of $250 is due by April 1st. Trip cost must be paid in full by May 1st. For further questions or to reserve a space, please contact Daisy Kaplan at daisykaplan@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469228/direct/01/