Ilona Sinn

I’m a PhD candidate member of the BEAM Lab, MAVE Lab and Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF).

I grew up in France, where I completed a master’s degree in Marine Sciences and another in Ecological Modelling driven by a desire for understanding marine ecosystems through quantitative approaches. I am particularly interested in marine megafauna conservation, as their role as top predators makes them powerful sentinels of ecosystem health.

I aim to pursue a career as a statistical ecologist, combining expertise in marine mammal ecology and ecological modelling. My research interests lie in using and developing statistical and modelling tools to explore how these species interact with their habitats and respond to environmental changes and human pressures.

I have previously worked on projects examining the demographic parameters of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), gaining experience in population dynamics and capture-mark-recapture analyses.

Supervisors: Dr Katharina J. Peters (MAVE, University of Wollongong), Dr Frédérik Saltré (BEAM)

My research

My PhD focuses on investigating how environmental changes and human activities affect the movement and behavior of breeding stock E1 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Antarctic waters.

This project aims to provide real world data-driven recommendations to mitigate human impacts and support long-term conservation and marine spatial planning for this vulnerable population.

My interests

Ecological modelling
Population dynamics & Demography
Marine mammal ecology
Spatial Ecology

Selected publications

Ollier C., Sinn I., Boisseau O., Ridoux V. and Virgili A. (2023) Matching visual and acoustic events to estimate detection probability for small cetaceans in the ACCOBAMS Survey Initiative. Front. Mar. Sci. 10:1244474. DOI:10.3389/fmars.2023.1244474

Fun facts

I have a twin sister. Same inputs but different outputs — she works with fashion models; I work with statistical ones!