Monitoring seal populations in France
My research focuses primarily on the ecology and foraging behaviour of seals, using telemetry (Argos and GPS/GSM tags). Collaborations with local NGOs and managers of protected areas used as haulout sites by the seals also aim at understanding the trends in abundance of grey and harbour seals in France (from Western Brittany to the Eastern English Channel in mainland France and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon overseas, north-western Atlantic), their strategies of space and resources usage and the consequences of these studies on the management and conservation of these protected species in France. These last years, my research projects also focus on the impact of offshore windfarm projects on those same seal colonies.
In addition to these research activities, I belong to several expert groups at the national and international scale (e.g. CIEM, member of the Board of theSociety for Marine Mammalogy, etc) and am teaching in the Biology Department of La Rochelle University. I am currently in charge of the BSc of Biology as well as co-leader of the minor “ecology and management of marine mobile species” in the MSc of marine biology. (SPE).
Dr. Cécile Vincent
Lecturer
Département de Biologie / Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé
CEBC (CNRS/La Rochelle Université)
5 Allée de l’Océan
F-17000 La Rochelle
cvincent(at)univ-lr.fr
+33 (0)5 46 50 76 57