Dear collegues, this email is to share with you the opportunity of a post-doc position on the effects of pinger on behavior of captive dolphins The post-Doc research program aims at integrating ongoing projects on the effects of acoustic devices on marine fauna. In particular, the proposed activities are implementing the LIFE Project “Dolphin Experience: Lowering Fishing Interactions” (LFI). LFI aims at investigating animal behaviors associated to the use of acoustic deterrent devices (pingers) to keep animals away from fishing areas and reduce the unwanted bycatch of cetaceans drown incidentally in fishing nets. The LIF project is evaluating the effects of a new generation of pingers (Dolphin Interactive Deterrent; DID) that are activated only if dolphins are present, thus reducing acoustic noise pollution and habituation to the acoustic signal in the target species. A behavioral study will integrate already planned in field evaluation with experimental evaluation conducted on under human care dolphins. More specifically, the study will determine whether new available DID has any effect on the behavior of bottlenose dolphins under controlled conditions and the variability of possible effects when background motivation is manipulated. The project is coordinated by experts in marine fauna and the complete results of the present research are planned to be achieved in two years. The activities of the first year are focused on the design and validation of the methods to be applied on the dolphin under human care during the second year. Methods will be implemented at the Laboratory of Applied Ethology (Dept. of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua) and based on evaluation of animal's behavior during and after the exposure to acoustic devices. For this study the candidate must be acquainted with basic procedures employed in ethological research (behavioral data collection, video/audio equipment) and have an inclination for activities aimed at training animals for the experimental procedures (i.e. associative learning and habituation). The candidate must also be familiar with the most widely used video-analysis software, sound analysis procedure and statistical analysis software. A proficient use of the English language (both in speaking and writing) is compulsory. Moreover, the candidate must possess good relational skills and good predisposition for teamwork. International experiences are desirable. For any information you can contact directly the following address marinemammals.bca@unipd.it Best regards -- Prof. Sandro Mazzariol, DVM, PhD Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione (BCA) - Università degli Studi di Padova Cetaceans strandings Emergency Response Team (CERT) Centro Interuniversitario per la Ricerca sui CEtacei (CIRCE) AGRIPOLIS - Ed. Museo Viale dell'Università 16 35020 - Legnaro (PD) tel.: +39 049 827 2963 fax: +39 049 827 2973 skype: smazzariol