Marine Vertebrate Ecology Lab
Ilona Sinn
Ilona is a PhD candidate at the MAVE Lab, University of Wollongong, and a member of the Biogeography, Ecology, & Modelling (BEAM) Lab and Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF).
She is deeply committed to the conservation of marine megafauna, recognising their vital role as predators and as indicators of ecosystem health. Ilona is particularly interested in understanding how these species interact with their habitats and how environmental change and human activities affect their survival.
Seeking to address these questions, and aware that conserving marine megafauna requires strong quantitative tools, she built a combined background in Marine Ecology and Ecological Modelling. She completed a master’s degree in each field to develop both ecological insight and the analytical skills needed to address complex conservation challenges.
Ilona has previously worked on projects examining the demographic parameters of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), gaining experience in population dynamics and capture-mark-recapture analyses.
Research
Ilona’s PhD research investigates how environmental changes and human activities affect the movement and behavior of breeding stock E1 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Antarctic waters.
This project aims to provide real world data-driven recommendations to mitigate human impacts and support long-term conservation and marine spatial planning for this vulnerable population.
Supervisors: Dr Katharina J Peters and Dr Frédérik Saltré