MSI Public Lecture Series

The University of Texas Marine Science Institutes Tony Amos has been surveying birds, animals, and debris along the same stretch of Mustang Island for 30 years, and Tony’s data contains a wealth of information about trends over the past quarter century. Graduate student, Charles Foster, analyzed the bird observations from Tony’s surveys for his master’s thesis, which he finished in 2007. His supervisor, Lee Fuiman, will present some of the very interesting findings from these beach surveys. For example, did you know that quite a few species of birds have become much less abundant on Mustang Island over the past quarter century while some other species have flourished. The question is, which ones? There has also been a change in the climate, locally and globally. Come see how the migratory behavior of some species makes sense in the face of a warmer climate.

Dr. Lee Fuiman is Director of the Marine Science Institute and has been on its staff for 20 years. The research he and his students have conducted began with investigations into the ecology and behavior of baby fishes. From there, he expanded into research on the underwater behavior of Antarctic seals, then on to whale shark feeding, bird migrations, and octopus mating strategies. To find out more about Dr. Fuiman’s work, go to:

http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/people/staff/fuiman