The Thorne lab congratulates Dallas Jordan on successfully defending his MS thesis, “Divergent Post-breeding Spatial Characteristics of Sympatric Albatross Species in the North Pacific”!!!
Dallas’ thesis investigates the post-breeding movements of Black-footed and Laysan albatross nesting at Midway Atoll and Tern Island, in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. He analyzed spatial patterns of albatross using various modeling techniques to identify potential differences in spatial use both between species and between colonies. Black-footed albatross from Midway Atoll showed very different spatial distributions compared to Black-footed albatross from Tern Island, while Layan albatross from both colonies showed more similar spatial use. His research contributes important information on post-breeding movements of these species and highlights the importance of encompassing multiple populations to create representative datasets.
Post-breeding distributions of Laysan (purple) and Black-footed (Red) albatross in the North Pacific.
Dallas is interested in working for Fish and Wildlife agencies and NGOs after graduation, but is first celebrating with a trip to visit friends and family.
Laysan Albatross, photo credit; Rachael Orben