Gentle Giants of the Southern Oceans

Baleen whale research in southern Africa

Dr Vermeulen will be presenting the latest research on baleen whales in southern Africa.

ABOUT DR ELS VERMEULEN

Dr Els Vermeulen is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Zoology and Entomology as well as the Research Manager of the Mammal Research Institute (MRI) Whale Unit at the University of Pretoria. With close to 20 years of experience in marine mammal science, Els’s main interest and expertise lie in the field of population biology and ecology, and associated conservation management. She is a member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group, IUCN Red List Authority and an annually invited participant to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (with prior participation as part of the Belgian Delegation). As manager of the MRI Whale Unit, Els is responsible for the continuous project development and execution, administration, fundraising, student supervision, as well as community and policy engagement. Due to her interest and expertise, the Unit’s research projects range across a broad national and international geographic and institutional spectrum, and align mainly with the role of large baleen whales in the Southern Hemisphere Ocean Ecosystems. Besides her work in the Whale Unit, Els is very active in national as well as international collaborative research projects, and has a leading role in the South African humpback dolphin consortium (SouSA), the global Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin Conservation Consortium, the Southern Right Whale Consortium, and the Southern Right Whale research theme of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP-IWC)

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