Research interests

I am a Marine Ecologist with interests in foraging behaviour, physiology, biogeography, and energetics. The focus of my research has been in vertebrate foraging ecology; more specifically, mother-offspring energetics. On the long-term, I strive to understand the mechanisms that give rise to variation in habitat quality at various scales of biological organization, as well as find ways to quantify that, using carefully selected model systems.

Professional experience

Environmental Sciences Group (Royal Military College of Canada)

  • Research Assistant. May 2008 - present. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Contract work for a study of foraging behaviour of ringed seals of Saglek Bay, Labrador.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

  • Research Assistant. Sept 2007 - present. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Contract work for a study on foraging behaviour of ringed seals of Hudson Bay, and modelling of eastern Beaufort Sea beluga foraging behaviour.
  • Research Assistant. Sept 2006 - March 2007. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Contract work for a study on previous effects of major ecosystem changes on growth and survival of belugas in the eastern Beaufort Sea.
  • Research Assistant. Sept 2005 - March 2006. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Contract work for a study on age structure, growth, and survival of beluga populations in the Canadian Arctic.

Memorial University

  • Laboratory Assistant. Jan - Aug 2001, and Sept - Dec 2003. St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Undergraduate Evolution and Biology Laboratory Assistant.

Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur

  • Instructor. Jun - Aug 2000. La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Undergraduate Statistics instructor.

Instituto Politécnico Nacional

  • Research Assistant. Jan - May 2000. La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Database designer and maintainer for data on fishes found in Cerralvo island, Gulf of California, and the adjacent Baja California peninsula region.

Elderhostel Marine Ecology

  • Lecturer. Dec 1999 - Feb 2000. La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Marine Ecology of the Gulf of California. Naturalist guide in the bay of La Paz and Bahia Magdalena.

Instituto Politécnico Nacional

  • Research Expedition Leader. Jun - Aug 1997 and 1998. La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. California sea lion research in the Gulf of California. Coordination of field projects. Design of equipment suitable for pinniped research in the field, including portable tables, benches, and animal enclosures and measuring devices.

North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Consortium

  • Research Assistant. Jul - Dec 1995. Vancouver, BC, Canada. Stomach temperature experiments conducted on adult female Steller sea lions at the Vancouver Aquarium. Major aims of the Consortium were to understand the decline in sea lion abundance in Western Alaska.

Rain Forest Information Center

  • Field Assistant. Mar - Dec 1992. Quito, Ecuador. Data collection in the field for mammalogists, ornithologists, and enthomologists. Construction of border paths, miscellaneous carpentry and maintenance duties at Los Cedros Ecological Reserve in the Western Cloudy Forest of Ecuador. Construction of two forest canopy platforms for ornithological studies.

New York Zoological Society

  • Field Assistant. Oct - Dec 1991. Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Maintenance of the Society's camp 39 facilities in Golfo San José, Peninsula Valdés, Argentina. Support from sea to a team of film makers on Ultralight aircraft, during the production of Discovery Channel's In the Company of Whales, hosted by Dr. Roger Payne.

Patagonian Fishing Industry

  • Professional Diver. Aug 1988 - Aug 1991. Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Search and collection of bivalves in Golfo San José and Golfo Nuevo, Peninsula Valdés, Argentina.

Education

Ph.D. (Biology)

  • Memorial University. 2001 - 2009. St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Research focused on inter-specific variation of maternal foraging behaviour and its influence on pup development in sympatric Antarctic and Subantarctic fur seals; two similar species with widely differing lactation lengths. Aspects studied were lactating female morphometry, diving behaviour, at-sea movements, and diet, on the one hand; and pup morphometry, growth, body composition, and development of diving behaviour, on the other. This project was carried out in the Crozet Archipelago, Southern Indian Ocean, and was co-directed by Drs. Christophe Guinet (Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, France) and Edward Miller (Memorial University).

M.Sc. (Management of Marine Resources)

  • Instituto Politécnico Nacional. 1996 - 1999. La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Graduated Cum Laude investigating sexual and inter-colony variation in the nutritional condition of California sea lion pups, as a function of population diet and oceanographic conditions. The study took place in the Gulf of California, and was directed by Dr. David Aurioles-Gamboa. Assisted in the organization and participated in the Conservation, Assessment, and Management Plan for Mexican Pinnipeds Workshop, and the concurrent Population Viability and Sea Lion Habitat Analysis Workshop, held in La Paz, 9-13 February 1998, under the direction of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG). Partially responsible, as an Editor, for the final document which resulted from these workshops (available from CBSG).

B.Sc. Zoology/Chemistry

  • Southern Utah University. 1993 - 1995. Cedar City, Utah, U.S.A. Review paper on marine mammal diving adaptations, as a Senior s class project for Senior project.

Awards

  • Ph.D. student fellowship from the Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. 2001 - present
  • Draney - Anderson Fund grant in support of Ph.D. research, California, U.S.A.
  • M.Sc. student fellowship from Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico. 1996 - 1998.
  • Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation Award at the XXIV International Meeting for the Study of Marine Mammals in Mazatlán, Mexico, April 18 - 22, 1999.

Skills and qualifications

Computer skills

  • Extensive experience in the following general purpose software on GNU/Linux, Macintosh, and PC processors: OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Office, and Corel Office Suite. Highly proficient in the use of Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and Macintosh operating systems.
  • Moderate programming skills in BASH (Bourne Again Shell), SED, and AWK.
  • Extensive experience in the following statistical and data management software: GNU R (see package diveMove for example of authored software), Systat, Statsoft Statistica, Statgraphics Plus, Microsoft Access. Proficient use of Emacs and ESS (Emacs Speaks Statistics) as an interface to the GNU R language.
  • Proficient with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software: Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) and ArcView for handling and mapping of data, GRASS and associated interfaces with the GNU R analytical tools.
  • Proficient with text processing and typesetting software: Emacs, LaTeX, AUCTeX, and base GNU/Linux tools. Moderate skills in HTML editing and formatting.

Field research techniques

  • Extensive experience in the use and analysis of Time - Depth recorders (TDRs) and Platform Transmitter Terminals (PTTs) for satellite tracking and data logging of marine animals.
  • Experience with GPS instruments.
  • Experience designing equipment and materials for ecological research under harsh conditions.

Languages

  1. Spanish: native.
  2. English: near native.
  3. French: Highly fluent; excellent verbal and listening abilities, moderate reading and writing proficiency.

Others

  • P.A.D.I. Open Water Diver.
  • 13-year rock and mountain climbing experience.

Publications

  • Luque SP, Aurioles-Gamboa D, Dubroca L. The spatial pattern of California sea lion pup body condition in the Gulf of California. Submitted.
  • Luque SP, Ferguson SH (2009) Age structure, growth, mortality, and density of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in the Canadian Arctic: responses to environment? Polar Biology DOI:10.1007/s00300-009-0694-2.
  • Luque SP, Ferguson SH (2009) Ecosystem regime shifts have not affected growth and survivorship of eastern Beaufort Sea belugas. Oecologia 160:367-378.
  • Luque SP, Arnould JPY, Guinet C (2008) Temporal structure of diving behavior in sympatric Antarctic and subantarctic fur seals. Marine Ecology Progress Series 372:277-287.
  • Luque SP (2007) Diving behaviour analysis in R. R News 7:8-14.
  • Luque SP, Guinet C (2007) A Maximum Likelihood approach for identifying dive bouts improves accuracy, precision, and objectivity. Behaviour 144:1315-1332.
  • Luque SP, Miller EH, Arnould JPY, Chambellant M, Guinet C (2007). Ontogeny of body size and shape of Antarctic and Subantarctic fur seals. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85:1275-1285.
  • Luque SP, Higdon JW, Ferguson SH (2007) Dentine deposition rates in beluga (Delphinapterus leucas): an analysis of the evidence. Aquatic Mammals 33:241-245.
  • Luque SP, Arnould JPY, Miller EH, Cherel Y, Guinet C (2007). Foraging behaviour of sympatric Antarctic and subantarctic fur seals: does their contrasting duration of lactation make a difference? Marine Biology 152:213-224.
  • Bailleul F, Luque SP, Dubroca L, Arnould JPY, Guinet C. (2005) Differences in foraging strategy and maternal behaviour between two sympatric fur seal species at the Crozet islands. Marine Ecology Progress Series 293:273-282.
  • Arnould JPY, Luque SP, Guinet C, Costa DP, Schaffer SA (2003) The comparative energetics and growth strategies of sympatric Antarctic and Subantarctic fur seal pups at Iles Crozet. Journal of Experimental Biology 206:4497-4506.
  • Luque SP, Aurioles-Gamboa D (2002) Estimation of body volume and body density in California sea lion pups. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 82:1019-1022.
  • Parás A, Benítez MA, Brousset DM, Aurioles D, Luque SP, Godínez C (2002) Field immobilization of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) with a portable anesthesia machine using isofluorane. Hidrobiologica 12:81-84.
  • Luque SP, Aurioles-Gamboa D (2001) Sex differences in body size and body condition of California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) pups from the Gulf of California. Marine Mammal Science 17:147-160.
  • Luque SP (1999) Comparison of the body condition of California sea lion, Zalophus californianus, pups in eleven rookeries of the Gulf of California. M.Sc. Thesis, CICIMAR-IPN.

Reports and Presentations

  • Luque SP, Ferguson SH (2008) Movements and behaviour of Hudson Bay ringed seals (Phoca hispida). Poster presentation at the Arctic Change conference, Quebec, December 9 - 12, 2008.
  • Luque SP, Ferguson SH (2008) Age structure, growth, and mortality of eastern Beaufort Sea beluga (Delphinapterus leucas): a comparison among Canadian populations. Oral presentation at the 88th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Mammalogists, Brookings, South Dakota, U.S.A., June 21 - 25, 2008.
  • Luque SP, Ferguson SH (2007) Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and ecosystem regime shifts. Report to the Fisheries Joint Management Committee (FJMC).
  • Luque SP, Ferguson SH (2006). Report below presented at the 2006 ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting. Victoria, B.C., Canada. Try my local copy if the link on the year doesn't work.
  • Luque SP, Ferguson SH (2006) Age structure, growth, and mortality of eastern Beaufort Sea beluga (Delphinapterus leucas): a comparison among Canadian populations. Report to the Fisheries Joint Management Committee (FJMC).
  • Luque SP, Guinet C, Miller EH, Arnould JPY, Kingston J, Chambellant M, Servera N, Dubroca N (2005) Ontogenetic changes in body size and shape of Antarctic and subantarctic fur seals: constraints imposed by lactation duration? Poster presentation at the XVI Conference of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, San Diego, U.S.A.
  • Luque SP (1999) Spatial variation in body condition of California sea lion, Zalophus californianus, pups in eleven rookeries of the Gulf of California. Abstracts XXIV International Meeting for the Study of Marine Mammals, Mazatlán, Mexico, April 18 - 22, 1999. Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation Award.
  • Aurioles-Gamboa D, Godínez-Reyes C, Durán-Lizarraga ME, García-Rodríguez FJ, Hernández- Camacho CJ, Luque SP, Miller P, Ellis S (1999) Conservation, assessment, and management plan for Mexican pinnipeds, and population viability and sea lion habitat analysis. Report, IUCN/SSC Conservation and Breeding Specialist Group. Apple Valley, MN.
  • Luque SP, Aurioles-Gamboa D (1997) Morphometric indices of body condition in California sea lion pups and their relationship with survival during their first year of life. Abstracts XXII International Meeting for the Study of Marine Mammals, Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, April 27 - May 1st.