Current Research Projects

Ontogeny of Navigation and Diving

Geolocation Validation

Drone Counts & Photogrammetry

Isoscape from Seal Whiskers

Time-Activity Budgets During Molt

Benefits of Field Courses

Publications
PDFs available on Research Gate or Google Scholar

IN REVIEW. 
  • ​RS Beltran, JM Kendall-Bar, E Pirotta, T Adachi, Y Naito, A Takahashi, J Cremers, PW Robinson, DE Crocker, DP Costa. Lightscapes of fear: how mesopredators balance starvation and predation in the open ocean. 
  • ME Cronin, RS Beltran, E Zavaleta. Why field science needs harassment and assault prevention.
  • RS Beltran, GA Breed, AM Kilpatrick, T Adachi, A Takahashi, Y Naito, PW Robinson, WO Smith Jr., AL Kirkham, JM Burns. Sea ice dynamics vertically shift Antarctic food web. 

​PUBLISHED. 
  • [2020] ES Zavaleta, RS Beltran, AL Borker. How field courses propel inclusion and collective excellence. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
  •  [2020] DC Alvarado, PW Robinson, NC Frasson, DP Costa, RS Beltran. Calibration of aerial photogrammetry to estimate elephant seal mass. Marine Mammal Science.
  •  [2020] RS Beltran, E Marnocha, A Race, D Croll, G Dayton, E Zavaleta. Field courses narrow demographic achievement gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology. Ecology and Evolution. 10(12).
  • [2019] RS Beltran, AL Kirkham, GA Breed, JW Testa, JM Burns. Reproductive success influences moult phenology in Weddell seals. Scientific Reports. 9,5221.
  • [2019] G Frankfurter, RS Beltran, M Hoard, JM Burns. Rapid prototyping and 3D printing of Antarctic seal flipper tags. The Wildlife Society Bulletin. WSB964. 
  • [2018] RS Beltran, JM Burns, GA Breed. Review: Convergence of biannual moulting strategies across birds and mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 20180318.​
  • [2018] Z Smeele, JM Burns, K Van Doorsaler, S Kraberger, RS Fontenele, K Waits, D Stainton, MR Shero, RS Beltran, AL Kirkham, G Frankfurter, R Berngartt, P Lefeurve, A Varsani. Diverse papillomaviruses identified in Weddell seals. General Virology.
  • [2018] RS Beltran, B Ruscher-Hill (undergrad), AL Kirkham, JM Burns. An evaluation of three-dimensional photogrammetric and morphometric techniques for estimating volume and mass in Weddell seals. PLOS ONE.
  • [2017] E Fahsbender, JM Burns, S Kim, S Kraberger, G Frankfurter, A Eilers, MR Shero, RS Beltran, AL Kirkham, R McCorkell, R Berngartt, M Male, K Rosario, G Ballard, DG Ainley, M Breitbart, A Varsani. Diverse and highly recombinant alleloviruses associated with Weddell seals in Antarctica. Journal of Virus Evolution. 3,1-11.
  • [2017] RS Beltran, JW Testa, JM Burns. An agent-based model for predicting impacts of environmental change on a top marine predator, the Weddell seal. Ecological Modelling. 351,36-50.
  • [2016] N Lubcker, R Condit, RS Beltran, PJN de Bruyn, MN Bester. Vibrissal growth parameters of southern elephant seals: obtaining fine-scale, time-based stable isotope data. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 559,243-255.
  • ​[2016] RS Beltran, SH Peterson, EA McHuron, C Reichmuth, LA Huckstadt, DP Costa. Pinnipeds are what they eat, plus what? Determination of trophic discrimination factors in six seal species. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 30, 1115–1122.
  • [2015] L Schwarz, S Villegas-Amtmann, RS Beltran, DP Costa, C Goetsch, LA Huckstadt, J Maresh, SH Peterson. Comparisons and uncertainty in fat and adipose tissue estimation techniques: The Northern Elephant Seal as a Case Study. PLOS ONE. 
  • [2015] RS Beltran, MS Connolly, SH Peterson, R Condit, C Reichmuth, DP Costa. Whisker growth dynamics: a validated approach for assigning timescales to stable isotope analyses. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 523, 233-241.
  • [2014] M Connolly, RS Beltran and C Reichmuth. A calibration procedure for measuring pinniped vibrissae using photogrammetry. Aquatic Mammals. 40(2), 213-218.
  • ​[2014] RS Beltran, N Kreidler* (undergrad), D Van Vuren, S Morrison, E Zavaleta, K Newton, B Tershy D Croll. Passive recovery of vegetation from herbivore eradication on Santa Cruz Island, California. Restoration Ecology. 22(6), 790-797. Cover photo.