The Eonfusion scholarship program proved extremely popular, with applicants from institutes all over the world. After much deliberation we have chosen the winners!

Grand prize winners

The Grand prize winners receive a full copy of Eonfusion software with a 12 month license, online product support and access to the Eonfusion User Forum plus US$1,000 to cover costs associated with the presentation of your results at an appropriate symposium or conference. The four Grand prize winners are:

Laurel James

College of Forest Resources, Remote Sensing & Geospatial Analysis Lab, University of Washington

Dramatic declines of Mountain Goat Oreamnos americanus populations within Washington State were identified by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife [WDFW] launching an effort that would eventually involve the combined efforts of both state and tribal agencies. Historically, one of the greatest obstacles in studying this large mountain ungulate is the remote nature of their habitat and economic costs associated with traditional radio-telemetry field methods. In 2002, a huge undertaking by the WDFW launched a massive Global Positioning System (GPS) collaring effort within the state resulting in the placement of 32 collars and enlisting the cooperation of the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Sauk-Suiattle Tribe and Stillaguamish and Western Washington University (Rice 2002). These initial efforts were later augmented with the additional placement of at least 10 more GPS collars and the addition of the Yakama Nation. The GPS collars have helped all researchers in the state gain a better understanding of the seasonal altitudinal movements (Rice 2008) and GPS collar bias and accuracy (Wells 2006). However; there has not been any specific analysis of the GPS data combining the remote sensing technology with animal movements observed through the GPS collar data. The multi-sensor approach described within this study aims to evaluate the mountain goat habitat across the entire range of habitat in Washington State. The combined GPS datasets from WDFW and the Yakama Nation will pioneer the methods available to land base managers everywhere with results that contribute to greater understanding of ecosystem function and mountain goat population ecology enabling; species conservation and planning strategies.

Robyn Matteson

College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University

At the Costa Rica Dome, upwelling associated with cyclonic circulation and the presence of a shallow thermocline support a highly productive biological habitat, exploited by many marine fauna at several trophic levels. During the month of January 2008 shipboard measurements of physical and biological parameters within this region were taken with a goal of exploring patterns of physical oceanography and how they influence marine life, in particular the distribution of blue whales and their prey, in this area. CTD casts, acoustic measurements of krill in the area, net tows, and visual surveys of blue whales provided information about the physical oceanography of the Dome, the distribution and behavior of the zooplankton in the area, and habitat use by the blue whales. CTD profiles described a high level of physical variability in the water column. There is a correlation between blue whale presence and sub-surface features, such as thermocline depth. Acoustic back-scatter data illustrated both thin layers and distinct, dense patches of zooplankton at various depths. Feeding by blue whales on these patches was observed during this winter (reproductive) period, when many other baleen species are known to fast. The Costa Rica Dome is clearly important habitat for wintering Eastern North Pacific blue whales.

Ruth Mullins

Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University

Hypoxia is a threatening condition in bottom coastal waters where dissolved oxygen concentrations fall below 1.4ml/l. In the northern Gulf of Mexico and south of Louisiana, hypoxia famously occurs seasonally and is principally caused by nutrient and freshwater flux onto the continental shelf by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. However, preliminary analysis of historical water quality data over the last 25 years show that hypoxic events along the Texas coast can occur at anytime of the year, persist for weeks, and are associated with the principal freshwater passes onto the continental shelf. Unlike the larger Louisiana hypoxic region, there has not been an examination of the processes responsible for the formation, duration, and breakdown of Texas coastal hypoxia. We propose a multifaceted plan which includes analysis of historical federal, state, and local hydrographic data, new observations using an undulating towed vehicle, access to concurrently funded federal and state projects to investigate the processes responsible for Texas hypoxia, and to incorporate a 4D geospatial platform for investigating and predicting the Texas hypoxic area. An education and outreach component is also included to educate the coastal community on the implications of long-term hypoxia and to assist coastal management in developing strategies to mitigate its size and duration.

Lesley Thorne

Duke University Program in Ecology

Oceanographic features such as fronts, eddies and coastal upwelling regions aggregate and concentrate primary and secondary productivity, creating regions with enhanced prey resources. In particular, mesoscale eddies are ubiquitous physical features which aggregate plankton and fish, creating dense prey patches for apex marine predators. However, knowledge of the biophysical mechanics of these oceanographic features is limited and is critical to understanding how these features affect ocean productivity and the transfer of energy and nutrients in marine food webs. In addition, most studies to date that have examined the biological influence of oceanographic features have used satellite images exclusively to indicate regions of enhanced productivity. It is unclear the extent to which regions identified using satellite images of the ocean's surface correspond with actual regions of enhanced secondary productivity, particularly those occurring at depth, in either space or time.I will use Eonfusion to integrate a combination of in situ and remotely sensed data to determine: how, when and where physical forces within oceanographic features create areas of increased secondary productivity in three dimensions and at a fine scale; the influence of these biophysical interactions on top predators; and whether regions of enhanced secondary productivity occurring at depth and regions of increased top predator abundance can be accurately inferred from satellite images. This study will improve current ecological models of oceanographic features and advance the predictive capacity of the biological effects of these systems. Eonfusion will be particularly important to the visualization and analysis of this study, allowing multiple datasets from both in situ and remotely sensed measurements to be merged easily and seamlessly.

Prize winners

The prize winners receive a full copy of Eonfusion software with a 12 month license, online product support and access to the Eonfusion User Forum. The prize winners are:

Virginia Andrews-Goff, Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit, School of Zoology, University of Tasmania. Winter foraging range of Weddell seals in the sea ice zone of eastern Antarctica

Charlie Bishop, Memorial University Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography. The integration, analysis, and visualization of data obtained from an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) on an Autonomous Underwater Glider (AUG)

Jason Hassrick, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Long Marine Laboratory. Age related variation in physiology and foraging ecology of northern elephant seals

Adrian Hordyk, Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, Murdoch University. Aggregation dynamics of orange roughy on Cascade Plateau, south eastern Tasmania

Craig Knickle, Fisheries Conservation Group, Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Small-scale movement patterns and habitat utilization of juvenile gadids in nearshore waters in Newfoundland, Canada

Erin Labrecque, Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab. Determining the influence of the Cape Hatteras Front on cetacean distribution through a comparison of remotely sensed and in situ oceanographic data

Margie Morrice, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University. Blue whale foraging strategies: response to a dynamic prey field off southern Australia

David Murphy, Georgia Tech. Investigating the preferred structure within krill schools and the rules that govern this form of animal aggregation

Malcolm O'Toole, Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit, School of Zoology, University of Tasmania. Mapping and modeling the on-shelf use of juvenile southern elephant seals and their interactions with fisheries across the Kerguelen Plateau

Joowon Park, University of Washington. The stream map accuracy assessment in consideration of three dimensional data structure

Christopher R. Perle, Hopkins Marine Station,Stanford University. Combining highly accurate positional tracking of SPOT tags with depth, temperature and light data collected at a very high rate by PAT tags allows for unprecedented 4 dimensional (x,y,z,t) analysis of critical habitat characteristics encountered along long-term, long-distance pelagic migrations of a key predatory fish

Theoni Photopoulos, Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews (UK). Relating diving behaviour to habitat preference and foraging ecology in pinnipeds

Ananda Rabindranath, Pelagic Ecology Research Group, University of St Andrews (UK). Temporal and spatial variations in high Arctic zooplankton vertical migration behaviour as described by mooring deployments and shipboard acoustic analysis

Noelle J. Relles, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Determining changes in coral species diversity and live coral cover in an unprotected and a protected coral reef environment in the southern Caribbean Sea

Athena Rycyk, Department of Oceanography, Florida State University. Using Multi-sensor digital acoustic tags and GPS tags to examine Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) behavior during vessel approaches

Julia Sommerfeld, Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit, School of Zoology, University of Tasmania. Foraging ecology, reproductive success and population trends of the Masked Booby Sula dactylatra in the western pacific

Conrad Speed, School for Environmental Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University / Australian Institute of Marine Science. Movement, feeding and behaviour of reef sharks at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

Simon Stannus, School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Tasmania. Interactive Image Analysis and Visualisation Techniques for Antarctic Remote Sensing

Gerardo Toro-Farmer, University of Southern California - Ocean Science Program. Characterize and model the spatial-temporal distribution of the water column light attenuation and temperature in coral reefs from the Bermuda Islands, in relation to bottom type, water depth, proximity of landmasses, and proximity to navigation activities

Reny Tyson, Duke University Marine Laboratory. Visualization and analysis of data collected from a multi-scale integrated study of humpback whales (Megaptera novaengliae) and their prey

Jamie Womble, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University Pinniped Ecology Applied Research Lab. Intra-population variation in habitat utilization patterns of a declining harbor seal population from Glacier Bay National Park, a glacial fjord in southeastern Alaska, USA