My research focus is on the physiological and behavioral ecology of pinnipeds, particularly in relation to reproductive energetics. My Ph.D. dissertation research will investigate age related maternal investment and provisioning strategies in the Antarctic fur seal. This research will be conducted at Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island in collaboration with Dr. Mike Goebel of the U.S. AMLR program.

I am also interested in the foraging ecology and diving physiology of pinnipeds. Marine mammals have foraging strategies that allow them to deal with fluctuations in the environment such as seasonal variation in prey location. As a masters student I was given the opportunity to assist with a study on the winter foraging behavior of crabeater seals feeding off the coast of Antarctica. As a Ph.D. student I will continue to pursue this interest in addition to my thesis research by partaking in a study investigating, in southern elephant seals and crabeater seals off the Antarctic Peninsula, the relationship of specific diving and animal movement behaviors to oceanographic and bathymetric features, develop and test models of these features’ role in defining habitat use, and determine how individuals respond to annual variation.

McDonald, B.I., D.E. Crocker, J.M. Burns, and D.P. Costa. (in review). Body condition as an index of winter foraging success in crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga). Deep Sea Research II.

McDonald, B.I. and D.E. Crocker. 2006. Physiology and behavior influence lactation efficiency in northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 79.

Kuhn, C.E., B.I. McDonald, S.A. Shaffer, D.P. Costa, J. Barnes, D.E. Crocker, and J.M. Burns. 2006. Diving Physiology and Winter Foraging Behavior of a Juvenile Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). Polar Biology 29: 303-307.

Tremblay, Y., S.A. Shaffer, S.L. Fowler, C.E. Kuhn, B.I. McDonald , M.J. Weise, C. Bost, H. Weimerskirch, D.E. Crocker, M.E. Goebel, D.P. Costa. 2006. Interpolation of tracking data in a fluid environment. The Journal of Experimental Biology 209:128-140.

Burns, J.M., D. P. Costa, M. A. Fedak, C. J. A. Bradshaw, M. A. Hindell, N. Gales, B.I. McDonald, S. J. Trumble, D. E. Crocker. 2004. Winter habitat use and foraging behavior of crabeater seals along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Deep Sea Research II

McDonald, B.I . 2003. Behavioral and physiological determinants of lactation efficiency in northern elephant seals. Masters Thesis, Sonoma State University, California