Amy Van Cise
- Assistant Professor, SAFS
My research program focuses on the use of sociality as an ecological and evolutionary strategy in some cetacean species, and the ways in which social behavior drives evolution and population structure in marine mammals. We use an integrative approach to addressing questions that 1) advance our theoretical understanding of the evolutionary trajectory of social marine mammals, 2) allow managers to respond to protect threatened species with practical conservation applications, and 3) continue to develop and improve the methods we use to study these species.
Currently my lab focuses on acoustics and several types of ‘omic data (genomic, microbiome, eDNA) to address our study questions, and we regularly collaborate with other marine top predator researchers to integrate complementary datasets. Some ongoing research projects in my lab include the analysis of killer whale diets using nuclear and mitochondrial fecal DNA, improving the use of eDNA to detect and monitor large-scale marine mammal distributions, and examining the vocal behavior of an endangered beluga population as well as the potential vectors for microbiome and disease transmission within that population.
You can find out more about my research, or about joining my lab, by visiting my lab website.
Courses
- FISH 497A: Evolutionary Ecology in Marine Mammals
Areas of Expertise
- Evolutionary ecology of social marine mammals
- Population genetics/genomics
- Microbiomes in marine hosts
- Species ID, biodiversity, and population genetics using eDNA
- Marine mammal acoustics
- Biological Oceanography
- Conservation biology
Selected publications
AO Shelton, ZJ Gold, AJ Jensen, E D’Agnese, EA Allan, AM Van Cise, R Gallego, A Ramon-Laca, M Garber-Yonts, K Parsons, R Kelly. 2022. Toward quantitative metabarcoding. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2022.04.26.489602
Van Cise, AM, RW Baird, AE Harnish, JJ Currie, SH Stack, T Cullins, AM Gorgone. 2021. Mark-recapture estimates reveal declines in abundance of common bottlenose dolphin stocks in the main Hawaiian Islands. Endangered Species Research 45:37-53.
Van Cise, AM, PR Wade, CEC Goertz, K Burek-Huntington, KM Parson, R Hobbs, A Apprill. 2020. Skin microbiome of beluga whales: spatial, temporal, and health-related dynamics. Animal Microbiome. 2:39.
Apprill, A, C Miller, AM Van Cise, JM U’Ren, MS Leslie, L Weber, RW Baird, J Robbins, S Landry, M Niemeyer, K Rose, A Bogomolni, G Waring. 2020. Host phylogeny shapes marine mammal skin microbiomes. Royal Society Open Science 7: 192046.
Van Cise, AM, RW Baird, CS Baker, S Cerchio, D Claridge, R Fielding, BL Hancock-Hanser, J Marrero, KK Martien, A Mignucci, EM Oleson, M Oremus, M Poole, P Rosel, BL Taylor, PA Morin. 2019. Oceanographic barriers, divergence, and admixture: Phylogeography and taxonomy of two putative subspecies of short-finned pilot whale. Molecular Ecology 28(11): 2886-2902.
Van Cise, AM, SD Mahaffy, RW Baird, TA Mooney, J Barlow. 2018. Song of my people: Dialect differences among sympatric social groups of Hawaiian short-finned pilot whales. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72:193.
Hill, MC, AR Bendlin, AM Van Cise, A Millete-Winfree, AD Ligon, AC Ü, MH Deakos, EM Oleson. 2018. Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) of the Marianas: Individual affiliations, movements, and space use. Marine Mammal Science 35(3): 797-824.
Van Cise, AM, KK Martien, SD Mahaffy, RW Baird, DL Webster, JH Fowler, EM Oleson, PA Morin. 2017. Familial social structure and socially-driven genetic differentiation in Hawaiian short-finned pilot whales. Molecular Ecology 266(23): 6730–6741.
Van Cise, AM, MA Roch, TA Mooney, RW Baird, J Barlow. 2017. Acoustic differentiation of Shiho-and Naisa-type short-finned pilot whales in the Pacific Ocean. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 141(2): 737-748.
Van Cise, AM, PA Morin, RW Baird, AR Lang, KM Robertson, SJ Chivers, RL Brownell, KK Martien. 2016. Redrawing the map: mtDNA provides new insights into the distribution and diversity of short-finned pilot whales in the Pacific Ocean. Marine Mammal Science 32:1177-1199.
Cammen KM, Andrews KR, Carroll EL, Foote AD, Humble E, Khudyakov JI, Louis M, McGowan MR, Olsen MT, Van Cise AM. 2016. Genomic Methods Take the Plunge: Recent Advances in High-Throughput Sequencing of Marine Mammals. Journal of Heredity 107(6): 481-495.
AO Shelton, ZJ Gold, AJ Jensen, E D’Agnese, EA Allan, AM Van Cise, R Gallego, A Ramon-Laca, M Garber-Yonts, K Parsons, R Kelly. 2022. Toward quantitative metabarcoding. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2022.04.26.489602
Van Cise, AM, RW Baird, AE Harnish, JJ Currie, SH Stack, T Cullins, AM Gorgone. 2021. Mark-recapture estimates reveal declines in abundance of common bottlenose dolphin stocks in the main Hawaiian Islands. Endangered Species Research 45:37-53.
Van Cise, AM, PR Wade, CEC Goertz, K Burek-Huntington, KM Parson, R Hobbs, A Apprill. 2020. Skin microbiome of beluga whales: spatial, temporal, and health-related dynamics. Animal Microbiome. 2:39.
Apprill, A, C Miller, AM Van Cise, JM U’Ren, MS Leslie, L Weber, RW Baird, J Robbins, S Landry, M Niemeyer, K Rose, A Bogomolni, G Waring. 2020. Host phylogeny shapes marine mammal skin microbiomes. Royal Society Open Science 7: 192046.
Van Cise, AM, RW Baird, CS Baker, S Cerchio, D Claridge, R Fielding, BL Hancock-Hanser, J Marrero, KK Martien, A Mignucci, EM Oleson, M Oremus, M Poole, P Rosel, BL Taylor, PA Morin. 2019. Oceanographic barriers, divergence, and admixture: Phylogeography and taxonomy of two putative subspecies of short-finned pilot whale. Molecular Ecology 28(11): 2886-2902.
Van Cise, AM, SD Mahaffy, RW Baird, TA Mooney, J Barlow. 2018. Song of my people: Dialect differences among sympatric social groups of Hawaiian short-finned pilot whales. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72:193.
Hill, MC, AR Bendlin, AM Van Cise, A Millete-Winfree, AD Ligon, AC Ü, MH Deakos, EM Oleson. 2018. Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) of the Marianas: Individual affiliations, movements, and space use. Marine Mammal Science 35(3): 797-824.
Van Cise, AM, KK Martien, SD Mahaffy, RW Baird, DL Webster, JH Fowler, EM Oleson, PA Morin. 2017. Familial social structure and socially-driven genetic differentiation in Hawaiian short-finned pilot whales. Molecular Ecology 266(23): 6730–6741.
Van Cise, AM, MA Roch, TA Mooney, RW Baird, J Barlow. 2017. Acoustic differentiation of Shiho-and Naisa-type short-finned pilot whales in the Pacific Ocean. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 141(2): 737-748.
Van Cise, AM, PA Morin, RW Baird, AR Lang, KM Robertson, SJ Chivers, RL Brownell, KK Martien. 2016. Redrawing the map: mtDNA provides new insights into the distribution and diversity of short-finned pilot whales in the Pacific Ocean. Marine Mammal Science 32:1177-1199.
Cammen KM, Andrews KR, Carroll EL, Foote AD, Humble E, Khudyakov JI, Louis M, McGowan MR, Olsen MT, Van Cise AM. 2016. Genomic Methods Take the Plunge: Recent Advances in High-Throughput Sequencing of Marine Mammals. Journal of Heredity 107(6): 481-495.