Merel Dalebout, PhD, completed her doctoral studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in early 2002 where she used DNA sequence data to investigate evolutionary relationships among the various beaked whale species, and discovered a new Mesoplodon (Perrin's beaked whale) in the process.

She then spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow working with Drs. Hal Whitehead and Daniel Ruzzante at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where she spent many long hours searching (mostly without success) for northern bottlenose whales, and even longer hours in the lab running microsatellite gels and investigating the population genetics of these elusive animals.

She is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, with Dr. Bill Sherwin, looking at worldwide patterns of population structure in Cuvier's beaked whales, and potentially describing a few more new Mesoplodon species along the way.

To learn more about Merel's research, check out these links:

Homepage at UNSW: http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/school/researchstaff/dalebout/daleboutmerel.html

Photoblog:http://merel.photoblog.com

DNA surveillance website - see Witness for Whales for DNA identification of cetaceans:
DNA-surveillance

Contact details:

Dr. Merel Dalebout
Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES)
University of New South Wales, Sydney
NSW 2052, Australia
Ph: 61-2-9385-8294
Fax: 61-2-9385-1558
E-mail: m.dalebout-AT-unsw.edu.au