[Call for participants] Let’s measure animal behavior: “Bio-logging practical training”

Dear graduate school students,

Welcome to the Bio-logging World!!
Why don’t you learn a skill of bio-logging to elucidate unknown animal behavior and ecology?

Nowadays, marine environmental changes get a lot of attention. However, the mechanism of marine animal response to environmental change is still unknown, and monitoring environmental parameters related to the response is difficult. To solve this problem, a bio-logging system has been developed in recent years. Bio-logging is a data collection system to examine the phenomenon of animals in their ambient surroundings using animal-attached archival units. The system has shown accelerated development since 1960’s with the progress of devices. After first generation established and developed this bio-logging system from analogue era, second generation has expanded the miniaturized system to various target species and recording parameters with transition to the digital era. Now we are faced with an urgent need to educate third generation who can monitor and analyze animal behavior in conjunction with environmental information in a larger spatio-temporal scale. In this practical training course, we implement human resources development of bio-logging science.


Days: 4 -7 November, 2010
Place: Akkeshi Marine Station , Shibetsu Salmon Park
Costs: The organizer can provide financial support for your ground transportation (JR) from Sapporo/Hakodate to Kushiro and accommodation. Meal will not be provided.
Targeted applicants: Basically Ph.D student, Hokkaido University. Ten participants will be selected based on information provided in the application.
Content: We will visit Shibetsu Salmon Park and Akkeshi Marine Station and learn how to set up, attach and recover data loggers using fish and to analyze the data. Participants are required to submit report.
Application form: Application form needs to be submitted to (yo_mitani(at)fsc.hokudai.ac.jp) . No later than 17:00 on 20 October 2010.

Program
(Thur.) Nov. 4　Shibetsu Salmon Park
13：00　Meet at Kushiro Station, Transfer to Shibetsu by rent-a-car
16：00　Arrive at Shibetsu Salmon Park
16：30　Welcome speech, data logger set up, make floating system
18：00　Dinner

(Fir.) Nov. 5　Shibetsu Salmon Park
09：00　Deploy data logger, observe experimental fish
12：00　Lunch
13：00　Research presentation
15：00　Recover data logger　
17：30　Download the data
18：00　Dinner

(Sat.) Nov. 6　Akkeshi Marine Station
09：00　Transfer to Akkeshi by rent-a-car
12：00　Lunch
13：00　Ethographer exercise
18：00　Dinner

(Sun) Nov. 7　Akkeshi Marine Station
09：00　Presentation
12：00　Closing speech

Teaching staff: Kazushi Miyashita (Associate Professor, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Yoko Mitani (Assistant Professor, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere), Kentaro Sakamoto (Lecturer, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine)

Contacts:
Yoko Mitani（Assistant Professor, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere  Aquatic Research Station）
E-mail: yo_mitani(at)fsc.hokudai.ac.jp
Tel&Fax: 0138-40-8836

* This program will be conducted by IFES-GCOE.

Application Form