Chris Oosthuizen

Research Associate

My research mainly focuses on the ecology of marine predators. I often work with seal, seabird and cetacean populations inhabiting sub-Antarctic and Antarctic ecosystems.

I am currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the Marine Apex Predator Research Unit (MAPRU) of the Nelson Mandela University (in South Africa). My present work investigates foraging behaviour of krill-dependent Adélie and Chinstrap penguin populations in the Antarctic Peninsula region. To do this my colleagues and I collect and analyse telemetry (GPS, dive, accelerometer and video logger) and survey (satellite/drone) data.

My background is in population ecology. I completed my MSc and PhD degrees, and held a postdoctoral position at the Marion Island Marine Mammal Programme (University of Pretoria). During this time I studied the demography of southern elephant seals. I continue to be involved in this research that makes use of an extensive dataset spanning nearly forty years, and modern capture-recapture models.  

My publications can be viewed at:  Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Pt3SFR8AAAAJ&hl=en   ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/W_Chris_Oosthuizen