Graeme C. Hays (born 1966) is a British and Australian marine ecologist known for his work with sea turtles and plankton. He is a Deakin Distinguished Professor and Chair in Marine Science at Deakin University, Australia.

Graeme Clive Hays
Hays at Deakin University in 2015
Born
Alma mater
Known forResearch on sea turtles and plankton
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsMarine ecology
Institutions
Doctoral advisors
Websitewww.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/people/graeme-hays

He was born in Nairobi, Kenya and works in the area of marine ecology researching animal movements and impacts of climate change. His work has helped reveal navigational abilities of sea turtles.,[1] the impact of global warming on sea turtles[2] and the factors controlling zooplankton diel vertical migration,[3] the largest animal migration on Earth.[4]

Hays has been named one of the most highly cited scientists in the field of marine biology.[5]

Career

edit

Hays gained a PhD in physiological ecology in 1991 under the mentorship of John Speakman FRS at the University of Aberdeen. He worked at the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science and Bangor University, Wales before becoming a lecturer at Swansea University in 1996, becoming a Professor in 2005. He became Professor of Marine Science at Deakin University in Australia in 2013.

He served on numerous journal editorial boards and from 2005 to 2013 he was Executive Editor of the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology.

Recognition

edit

In recognition of his research, he was made an Alfred Deakin Professor in 2014, the most prestigious honour that Deakin University bestows on its staff.[6]

According to the 2020 science-wide standardized citation indicator, developed by Stanford University academic John P.A. Ioannidis and colleagues, Hays was listed in the top 30 most cited marine biologists in the world.[5]

His research expedition to Ascension Island in 1997 for satellite tracking studies of green turtles to examine questions of turtle navigation first posed by Charles Darwin,[7] became the subject of a best-selling book Turtle Island: A Visit To Britain’s Oddest Colony by Sergio Ghione.[8]

Two first-day issues of postage stamps have been dedicated to his research on sea turtles.[9]

In 2022 Hays received the Scopus Outstanding Researcher Award (Australia & New Zealand) for Excellence in Research Impacting a Sustainable Future.[10] The award recognised his research that "Uses satellite tracking to reveal the movements and patterns of habitat use by marine animals and highlights the threats of climate change for sea turtles".

Research work

edit

Sea turtle satellite tracking

edit

In 1990 he conducted one of the first satellite tracking studies of sea turtles[11] and subsequently used this approach to assess their navigational abilities,[1][12] including at-sea experiments,[13] and to reveal how ocean currents affect movements and so influence migration patterns.[14]

Leading international review teams he has shown how satellite tracking can be widely used, across diverse animal taxa, to understand movement patterns and drive successful conservation outcomes for endangered species.[15][16]

His research has developed methods to assess how climate warming is affecting the temperature-dependent sex ratios of sea turtle hatchlings and the likely impacts of population feminisation.[2][17]

Recent research also shows how the long-distance movements of sea turtles can take them outside of even the largest marine reserves and into ocean areas with no protection from poaching or fishing gear entanglements,[18] raising conservation concerns.[19]

Plankton long-term changes and diel vertical migration

edit

Hays’ research has provided some of the key evidence for understanding that predator-evasion underpins zooplankton diel vertical migrations,[5][20] which is the largest animal migration (by biomass) on the planet.

He has also showed how phytoplankton and zooplankton phenology, range changes and abundance are being dramatically altered by climate change including major shifts in species composition.[21][22]

Media

edit

Hays’ research has received media coverage including in Science,[23] Nature[24][25] and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).[26]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Hays, Graeme C.; Cerritelli, Giulia; Esteban, Nicole; Rattray, Alex; Luschi, Paolo (2020). "Open Ocean Reorientation and Challenges of Island Finding by Sea Turtles during Long-Distance Migration". Current Biology. 30 (16): 3236–3242.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.086. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30140398. PMID 32679095. S2CID 220575844.
  2. ^ a b Laloë, Jacques-Olivier; Cozens, Jacquie; Renom, Berta; Taxonera, Albert; Hays, Graeme C. (2014). "Effects of rising temperature on the viability of an important sea turtle rookery". Nature Climate Change. 4 (6): 513–518. Bibcode:2014NatCC...4..513L. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE2236.
  3. ^ Hays, G. C.; Kennedy, H.; Frost, B. W. (2001). "Individual variability in diel vertical migration of a marine copepod: Why some individuals remain at depth when others migrate". Limnology and Oceanography. 46 (8): 2050–2054. Bibcode:2001LimOc..46.2050H. doi:10.4319/lo.2001.46.8.2050. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30058248. S2CID 27222309.
  4. ^ "Graeme C. Hays - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com.
  5. ^ a b c Ioannidis, John P. A.; Boyack, Kevin W.; Baas, Jeroen (2020). "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators". PLOS Biology. 18 (10): e3000918. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000918. PMC 7567353. PMID 33064726.
  6. ^ "Alfred Deakin Professors". Deakin University. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  7. ^ Darwin, Charles (1873). "Perception in the Lower Animals". Nature. 7 (176): 360. Bibcode:1873Natur...7..360D. doi:10.1038/007360c0. S2CID 3953467.
  8. ^ Ghione, S. (2002). Turtle Island: A Journey to Britain's Oddest Colony. Allen Lane. ISBN 0713995475.
  9. ^ "First day issue of stamps, British Indian Ocean Territory, 15th November 2016". Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  10. ^ Professor Graeme C. Hays "Scopus Outstanding Researcher Award (2022)". December, 2022.
  11. ^ Hays, G.C., Webb, P.I., Hayes, J.P., Priede, I.G., French, J. (1991) "Satellite tracking of a loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) in the Mediterranean". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 71, 743-746.
  12. ^ Hays, Graeme C.; Åkesson, Susanne; Broderick, Annette C.; Glen, Fiona; Godley, Brendan J.; Papi, Floriano; Luschi, Paolo (2003). "Island-finding ability of marine turtles". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 270 (Suppl 1): S5-7. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0022. PMC 1698032. PMID 12952621.
  13. ^ Sims, David W. (2003). "Homing is a breeze for sea turtles". Nature. 423 (6936): 128. doi:10.1038/423128a. PMID 12736667. S2CID 5325548.
  14. ^ Hays, Graeme C.; Fossette, Sabrina; Katselidis, Kostas A.; Mariani, Patrizio; Schofield, Gail (2010). "Ontogenetic development of migration: Lagrangian drift trajectories suggest a new paradigm for sea turtles". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 7 (50): 1319–1327. doi:10.1098/rsif.2010.0009. PMC 2894886. PMID 20236958.
  15. ^ Hays, Graeme C.; et al. (2016). "Key Questions in Marine Megafauna Movement Ecology". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 31 (6): 463–475. Bibcode:2016TEcoE..31..463H. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.015. hdl:10754/621775. PMID 26979550.
  16. ^ Hays, Graeme C.; et al. (2019). "Translating Marine Animal Tracking Data into Conservation Policy and Management". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 34 (5): 459–473. Bibcode:2019TEcoE..34..459H. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2019.01.009. hdl:10754/653047. PMID 30879872. S2CID 81983038.
  17. ^ Hays, Graeme C.; Broderick, Annette C.; Glen, Fiona; Godley, Brendan J. (2003). "Climate change and sea turtles: A 150-year reconstruction of incubation temperatures at a major marine turtle rookery". Global Change Biology. 9 (4): 642–646. Bibcode:2003GCBio...9..642H. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00606.x. S2CID 85643834.
  18. ^ Hays, Graeme C.; Mortimer, Jeanne A.; Ierodiaconou, Daniel; Esteban, Nicole (2014). "Use of Long-Distance Migration Patterns of an Endangered Species to Inform Conservation Planning for the World's Largest Marine Protected Area". Conservation Biology. 28 (6): 1636–1644. doi:10.1111/cobi.12325. PMID 25039538. S2CID 7303627.
  19. ^ Durant, Hassan (28 July 2014). "Record-breaking turtle migration exposes limits of marine reserves". Science. doi:10.1126/article.22772 (inactive 1 November 2024). Retrieved 27 June 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  20. ^ Hays, G. C.; Proctor, C. A.; John, A. W. G.; Warner, A. J. (1994). "Interspecific differences in the diel vertical migration of marine copepods: The implications of size, color, and morphology". Limnology and Oceanography. 39 (7): 1621–1629. Bibcode:1994LimOc..39.1621H. doi:10.4319/lo.1994.39.7.1621. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30058286.
  21. ^ Hinder, Stephanie L.; Hays, Graeme C.; Edwards, Martin; Roberts, Emily C.; Walne, Anthony W.; Gravenor, Mike B. (2012). "Changes in marine dinoflagellate and diatom abundance under climate change". Nature Climate Change. 2 (4): 271–275. Bibcode:2012NatCC...2..271H. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE1388.
  22. ^ Chivers, William J.; Walne, Anthony W.; Hays, Graeme C. (2017). "Mismatch between marine plankton range movements and the velocity of climate change". Nature Communications. 8: 14434. Bibcode:2017NatCo...814434C. doi:10.1038/ncomms14434. PMC 5309926. PMID 28186097.
  23. ^ Kintisch, Eli (2006). "As the Seas Warm". Science. 313 (5788): 776–779. doi:10.1126/science.313.5788.776. PMID 16902120. S2CID 128678537.
  24. ^ Netting, Jessa (2000). "Animal magnetism". Nature. doi:10.1038/news001109-6.
  25. ^ Whitfield, John (2003). "Fishing kills a third of turtles". Nature. doi:10.1038/news031103-17.
  26. ^ "ABC Breakfast News" Interview (5 May 2014). Retrieved 27 June 2021.