[MARMAM] New Online Course - An Introduction to Making Graphs an Maps for Biologists using R - 26th to 29th July 2021

[cdmacleod]

New Online Course - An Introduction to Making Graphs an Maps for 
Biologists using R - 26th to 29th July 2021


Data preparation, presentation and analysis are key skills for all those 
working with marine mammals, and of the available software packages for 
doing these, R has rapidly become the most widely used. This means that 
a knowledge of how to prepare, analyse and visualise data in R is now an 
essential skill for marine mammalogists.


To help marine mammalogists (and other biologists) develop their skills 
in this area, we will be running a brand new instructor-led online 
course at the end of July 2021 based around our upcoming book, _An 
Introduction to Making Graphs and Maps for Biologists using R_. It will 
be held on the Zoom video-conferencing and will provide all the 
practical knowledge and experience you need to make a wide range of high 
quality and informative data visualisations from biological data in R 
using packages such as GGPlot. While it may be useful, no previous 
experience with R is required to do this course.


The course will run from the 26th and the 29th of July 2021. It will 
consist of four three-hour sessions, and one session will need to be 
completed each day. However, you will have a choice of completing it 
between 10:00 and 13:00 British Summer Time (primarily for those living 
in Europe, Asia and Africa) or 18:00 to 21:00 British Summer Time 
(primarily for those living in North and South America). This choice of 
time slots for each session allows participants from as wide a range of 
time zones to participate in the course.


Attendance will be limited to a maximum of 24 people per session. The 
fees for this course are GBP 250 per person (with a discounted rate of 
GBP 195 for students, the unwaged and those working for registered 
charities). To book a place, or for more information, you can either 
email us at i...@gisinecology.com or click on the link below.


http://gisinecology.com/live-online-course-an-introduction-to-making-graphs-and-maps-for-biologists-using-r/ 
[1]


About the Course:

This is a practical course and it is aimed at anyone who wishes to learn 
how to make high quality and informative graphs and maps based on 
biological data using R. The topics covered on this course will include 
an introduction to making graphs using the GGPlot package, making bar 
graphs of count data, making graphs of summary statistics (such as mean 
values) with error bars, making point graphs of summary statistics for 
two variables with vertical and horizontal error bars, making box plots, 
making X-Y scatter plots of individual data points, making line graphs 
of time series data, making pair-plot matrices of environmental 
variables, making pie charts, making bubble graphs, making mixed type 
graphs, making simple X-Y plots of tracking data and making maps from 
biological data in R. In addition, you will learn how to use a variety 
of different R packages and how to create workflows for making any type 
of graph, map or data visualisation in R.


Each session will consist of a series of background talk covering 
specific topics (more details are provided below), followed by related 
practical exercises based on instructions from _An Introduction to 
Making Graphs and Maps for Biologists using R_. While you are encouraged 
to remain online during the practical sessions, you can choose to go 
off-line as you work though the exercises (or if you need to take a 
break). However, if you have any questions, the course instructor will 
be available throughout the course for you to ask any questions you wish 
at any point.


This course will be hosted by Dr Colin D MacLeod, one of the authors of 
_An Introduction to Making Graphs and Maps for Biologists using R_.


At the end of the course, all attendees will receive a certificate of 
attendance and completion. Each certificate is embossed with the _GIS In 
Ecology_ official stamp to prevent its fraudulent reproduction. In 
addition, each certificate has its own unique identification number that 
we will record, along with your name, meaning that we can verify the 
authenticity of the certificates we issue (and the course you have 
completed) on request.


---

==
GIS IN ECOLOGY - Providing Training, Advice And Consultancy On The Use 
Of GIS In Ecology


Web: www.GISinEcology.com [2] Email: i...@gisinecology.com

Need to ask a question about using GIS? Try the GIS In Ecology Forum: 
www.GISinEcology.com/GIS_in_Ecology_forum.htm [3]


Books From GIS In Ecology Staff:

GIS For Biologists: A Practical Introduction For Undergraduates; RRP: 
£24.99
An Introduction To Integrating QGIS And R For Spatial Analysis; RRP: 
£19.99
An Introduction To Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) Using QGIS And 
R; RRP: £19:99


If you wish to purchase these books, visit: 
http://www.gisinecology.com/book-shop/


To help the environment, please do not print 

[MARMAM] Survey for MSc thesis: effects of anthropogenic structures on marine predators in the North Sea.

[Silva Simões Bessa Gomes , Carolina]

Hello MARMAM community,


My name is Carolina Gomes and I am currently doing an MSc project at the 
University of Exeter, UK, to understand the effects of anthropogenic structures 
on various marine predators (cetaceans, seals, birds) in the North Sea.


An important component of this study is to include a survey of stakeholders 
(academics, energy sector workers, policy advisors and decision-makers, NGOs) 
to understand priorities and perceptions of possible ecological impacts from 
decommissioning activities of offshore structures in the North Sea.


Therefore, I invite you to participate in this study by answering the survey 
questions using the following link:


https://exetercles.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJEWn9A1DcZxelM


I would also be grateful if you could share the survey link with any colleagues 
you think may be a part of the stakeholder group and would be interested in 
responding to the survey.


Thank you in advance for participating and being a part of this project.



Best regards,

Carolina Gomes

Email address: cs...@exeter.ac.uk
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[MARMAM] Ethical and Legal Considerations for Scientists Collaborating with Whalers

[Conor Ryan]

Dear MARMAMers,

On behalf of my colleagues, I am pleased to announce the publication of our
paper. Our motivation was to begin addressing the lack of discourse on
ethical and legal issues in whale research. We present the example of
scientists collaborating with Icelandic whalers, but acknowledge that there
are many more ethical and legal issues in our field and the wider field of
biology. We hope that our work may influence policy changes in academic
institutions, professional societies and journals.

Our literature review highlights the need for improved ethical guidelines
for whale research.  A discussion is now needed regarding the ethical and
legal assessments of research methods involving whales, particularly for
early career researchers.  Academic reviewers and editors would benefit
from more explicit guidance that addresses the issues in this article when
assessing manuscripts for journals or abstracts for conferences.


https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13880292.2021.1909807

Ryan, C., Papastavrou, V. and Sand, P.H. (2021). Ethical and Legal
Considerations for Scientists Collaborating with Whalers: A Case Study of
International Research Using the Outcome of Contemporary Whaling by
Iceland. Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, 24(1): 1-25.

Best wishes,
Conor Ryan
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[MARMAM] New paper - Vulnerability of a top marine predator in one of the world’s most impacted marine environments (Arabian Gulf)

[Bruno Diaz Lopez]

Dear MARMAM community, 

My coauthors and I are delighted to bring to your attention of our last 
research article "Vulnerability of a top marine predator in one of the world’s 
most impacted marine environments (Arabian Gulf)" recently published in Marine 
Biology: 

Díaz López , B., Methion, S., Das, H. et al. 2021. Vulnerability of a top 
marine predator in one of the world’s most impacted marine environments 
(Arabian Gulf). Marine Biology 168, 112 (2021). 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03921-z

Abstract
Knowledge of the habitat use of wildlife in highly impacted areas is essential 
to identify areas of biological importance and to implement appropriate 
conservation measures. The Arabian Gulf represents one of the most extreme 
marine environments and is considered one of the regions in the world with the 
greatest anthropogenic impact. Information on the habitat use and abundance of 
marine top predator species is, however, lacking, despite being a prerequisite 
for effective planning of conservation measures. Here, we provide novel 
information for the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) in the 
Arabian Gulf (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates). Data from 80 daily surveys 
conducted between June 2014 and November 2019 were used both to assess 
correlates of bottlenose dolphin habitat use and relative density and to 
calculate mark-recapture abundance estimates. This study confirms the strong 
adaptability and tolerance of this top marine predator to extreme environmental 
conditions within a highly heterogeneous and impacted marine habitat. The 
observed preferences for areas with less human pressure were likely a result of 
the interactions of environmental factors with prey availability and human 
disturbance. This study also provides the first abundance estimates for a 
bottlenose dolphin population in the Arabian Gulf. Our findings support the 
call for increased marine-protected areas and the creation of transboundary 
conservation areas in the region. Regional connectivity should be of value to 
marine predators whose wide distribution and vulnerability to human activities 
means that alteration of their habitats can result in population declines and 
eventual local or regional extinctions.

The full article is available at: 

https://rdcu.be/cmRHX

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352548079_Vulnerability_of_a_top_marine_predator_in_one_of_the_world's_most_impacted_marine_environments_Arabian_Gulf

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you are unable to access the article or 
have any questions!

Bruno

Bruno Díaz López Ph.D
Chief biologist and Director
The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI
Avenida Beiramar 192, O Grove 36980, Pontevedra, Spain
http://www.thebdri.com
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bruno-Diaz-Lopez
tel. 0034 684248552

@thebdri (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

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