Maddalena Bearzi Ph.D. ’03

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A marine ecologist who has studied dolphins, whales and sea turtles, Maddalena Bearzi will be receiving her Ph.D. from the Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution.

One of the best teaching assistants in the department, Bearzi's field work requires her to spend several days at sea each week collecting data. Her current research focuses on understanding behavioral and ecological mechanisms of coexistence of dolphins and other marine mammals in the Santa Monica Bay. The coastal dolphin populations that Bearzi has studied consist of many small pods that are extremely mobile. Their local distributions are excellent indicators of the location and abundance of important forage species, such as anchovies, sardines and squid, which in turn are indicators of the general health of portions of the Santa Monica Bay subject to pollution. Bearzi has complied detailed weekly photographic records for approximately four years of almost every individual dolphin in Santa Monica Bay and has an incredible data set of family histories.

In addition to giving seminars on her research at international meetings and universities, Bearzi has a passion for teaching and presenting guest lectures for marine biology courses at UCLA and has also given dozens of invited presentations on marine mammals for local organizations. Bearzi also organizes on-the-water educational trips for more than 500 middle school and high school students.

Along with her teaching and dissertation research, Bearzi has founded three conservation-oriented research organizations, one in Italy and two in Los Angeles, and has served as the director of the Los Angeles Dolphin Project.

For her postdoctoral research, Bearzi plans to compare the social organization of dolphins to that of chimpanzees. They have much in common – both have been described as living fission-fusion societies, in which individuals travel in small groups of variable membership within a larger community.