Reny Tyson

Reny Tyson is starting her PhD in marine science and conservation at Duke University in the Fall of 2009.  She will be using data collected in the Antarctic for the basis of her doctoral dissertation that will involve estimating consumption rates of Antarctic krill by humpback whales (Megapetra novaeangliae).   The cold & dryness of Antarctica will be a new experience for Reny who recently graduated from Florida State University with a masters degree in biological oceanography.  For this, Reny used mark-recapture photo-identification techniques to estimate the abundance of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in waters stretching from St. Vincent Sound to Alligator Harbor in the Florida panhandle.  She also has interests in animal communication, having analyzed and described nonlinearities in the vocalizations of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) and killer whales (Orcinus orca) for her honors thesis as an undergraduate at Florida State.