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 Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology costa@biology.ucsc.edu • B.A., University of California, Los Angeles
Focus: The adaptations of marine mammals and seabirds to life in the marine environment, especially the movements, foraging ecology and energetics of pinnipeds and seabirds. 
 Differences in the foraging ecology of pinniped species (sea lions, elephant seals and fur seals) that have evolved different strategies to overcome the separation of terrestrial breeding and marine feeding  Behavioral ecology of seabirds and marine mammals, with special emphasis on movement and diving behavior in relation to the marine environment; developing analytical tools for tracking and diving data analysis.  Decision-making of diving animals, especially pinnipeds (elephant seals) and seabirds (penguins and boobies) using information collected from data loggers to reconstruct the behavior of diving animals.  Links between ecology, morphology, and physiological adaptations of marine vertebrates, particularly how animals use and allocate energy for various activities and how the environment plays a role in shaping life history patterns.  Foraging location, food habits, and at-sea distribution of California sea lions along the California coast and the impacts of those behaviors on protected and commercially important fish species.  Data Manager and Application Developer for Marine Mammals and Birds, Tagging of Pacific Pelagics. Data systems architecture and programming, research support, visualization, and analytical software applications design. 
 I'm particularly fascinated with physiological processes operating at an animal's limits- animals that "push the envelope". My current research explores the limits of fasting physiology in elephant seals.  Conservation biology and biodiversity research and linking conservation science with management. My current focus is to utilize tagging data to identify multispecies oceanic hotspots for wide-ranging animals in the Pacific.  Luis Huckstadt
 Sara Maxwell
 Navigation and search behaviors of the northern elephant seal, specifically the reliable cues used by these animals to accurately navigate thousands of kilometers of open ocean habitat  Stella Villegas
 Pinniped physiological ecology and adaptations that allow an animal to inhabit its particular ecological niche, particularly lactation physiology and the environmental factors that impact provisioning of young.  Development of diving behavior in northern elephant seals, particularly how age and diving behavior are related to feeding success in females, and how oxygen stores relate to different diving behaviors  Ecology of marine birds, specifically the influence of oceanographic variability and prey dynamics on seabird foraging behavior, diet, energetics, and demography.  Age related maternal investment and provisioning strategies in the Antarctic fur seal and relationship of specific diving and southern elephant seal movement behaviors to oceanographic and bathymetric features.  Tease apart and quantify which oceanographic processes of the coastal and open oceans may influence foraging behavior and how they may shape foraging behaviors.  Spatial analysis and foraging habitat modeling of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna based upon tracking data to improve management and crucial ecological knowledge of these highly migratory species. |
