Dr. Jay Rotella is a Professor in the Department of Ecology at Montana State University, where he studies wild animal populations to understand what makes population numbers and composition change the way they do across years and across locations. He is especially interested in conducting research that can help inform conservation and management plans for wild animals.

In a presentation entitled “Insights from 40 Years of Study on Earth’s Southernmost Mammal: Antarctica’s Weddell Seal”, Rotella talks about what it’s like living in Antarctica doing research, and what he’s learned about the tough lives of Weddell seals, which can include such challenges as orca predation or the breakup of ice shelves due to residual tsunami waves coming from Alaska.

Recorded at Montana State University on January 30, 2019.