Dr Marianna Chimienti
Lecturer
Overview
I am a quantitative ecologist, driven by a desire to advance the research fields of ecology, movement ecology, habitat conservation and species monitoring. I obtained my PhD at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland, UK. The topic was to investigate the foraging behaviour of two species of diving seabirds: common guillemots (Uria aalge) and razorbills (Alca torda) during their breeding season. By using combined tracking data collected with GPS, Time Depth Recorders and Accelerometers I characterised their foraging strategies both below and above water, highlighting common behaviours, differences in movements and hunting strategies. Since my PhD I have worked with a variety of species, as Arctic and Northern Hemisphere seabirds, Arctic terrestrial mammals, Mediterranean marine turtles as well as Antarctic species! In general, I focus on research questions related to animal movement processes, their responses to environmental change and their link to population dynamics and life cycle strategies. I use biological data (e.g., accelerometers, GPS, or SRDLs devices) to understand how, where, when and why animals move. I love coding, modeling, I dive into statistical and individual based modeling (IBMs), but ask me to come out in the field with you, and I’ll be the happiest person on the planet! I am joining the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University as Lecturer in Marine Top Predators Ecology and I look forward to keep developing my research on the effects of changes in the availability of marine resources on energetics, fitness, behaviour, decision making and habitat use of marine predators.