Guido Parra Vergara
Senior Lecturer
Biological Sciences
Flinders University
Australia
Biography
Dr. Parra is a senior lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences where he leads (together with Dr. L. Moller) the Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab (CEBEL). He is also currently part of the Marine Innovations South Australia (MISA) programme through a joint position between Flinders University and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI - Aquatic Sciences) where he acts as the primary cetacean ecologist. Guido is originally from Colombia where he conducted his BSc in Biology at Universidad de los Andes. He migrated to Australia in 1999 to conduct his PhD at James Cook University studying the behavioural ecology of Australian Snubfin and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins. After his PhD he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at James Cook University and The University of Queensland investigating different aspects of the ecology, behaviour and population genetics of coastal dolphins.
Research Interest
I have broad research interest in population ecology, behavioural ecology and conservation biology. My research seeks to understand the evolution and the mechanism underlying marine mammal ecology, behaviour and evolution and uses concepts and methods from these fields to address pressing conservation issues. I use a variety of methods, including behavioural observations of known individuals, Geographic Information Systems, ecological modelling, social networks, and genetics and use mainly wild dolphin populations as models for my studies. This integrative approach is important and necessary to address the big questions (i.e. Why?), to explain data in the context of the bigger picture and to improve our capacity to effectively conserve and manage wild populations of marine mammals.
Publications
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Parra Vergara, G.J. (2015). Atlantic Humpback Dolphin. In Annalisa Berta, ed. Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises A NATURAL HISTORY AND SPECIES GUIDE. USA: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 166-167.
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Parra Vergara, G.J. and Jefferson, T.A. (2017). Humpback dolphins: Sousa teuszii, S. plumbea, S. chinensis and S. sahulensis. In Bernd. Würsig, J.G.M. Thewissen and Kit M. Kovacs, ed. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Third ed. USA: Academic Press, pp. 1-8.
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Robbins, W.D., Huveneers, C.P.M., Parra Vergara, G.J., Moller, L.M. and Gillanders, B. (2017). Anthropogenic threat assessment of marine-associated fauna in Spencer Gulf, South Australia. Marine Policy, 81 pp. 392-400.
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Zanardo, N., Parra Vergara, G.J., Passadore Real, M.C. and Moller, L.M. (2017). Ensemble modelling of southern Australian bottlenose dolphin Tursiops sp. distribution reveals important habitats and their potential ecological function. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 569 pp. 253-266.
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Hunt, T., Bejder, L., Allen, S., Rankin, R., Hanf, D.M. and Parra, G.J. (2017). Demographic characteristics of Australian humpback dolphins reveal important habitat toward the southwestern limit of their range. Endangered Species Research, 32 pp. 71-88.
