Contact Information

Alaska SeaLife Center
PO Box 1329
Seward, AK 99664-1369
Phone: (907) 224-6344
Fax: (907) 224-6320
russ_andrews@alaskasealife.org

Russel Andrews Research Assistant Professor

Marine Mammals

Specialty

marine mammals, sea turtles, diving behavior, diving physiology, foraging ecology, energetics, remote monitoring equipment and instrumentation

Education

A.I.T 1982 U.S. Armed Forces School of Music
B.S. 1990 University of California Los Angeles (Biology)
Ph.D. 1999 University of British Columbia (Zoology)

Research Overview

One of the unifying themes of my research interests is: How and why do air-breathing vertebrates dive beneath the surface of the ocean? Some of my specific research interests are:

The physiological mechanisms that enable certain vertebrates to hold their breath for extended periods of time on a repetitive basis.

The diversity of such functions amongst various marine vertebrates and how physiological constraints have been a factor in the evolution of marine trophic niches.

How animals can respond, physiologically and behaviorally, to changes in their environment, such as reductions in prey availability or changes in ambient temperature.

The development of new instruments for remotely monitoring the behavior and physiology of marine vertebrates and the environment in which they live.

These interests and my concern for animals have led me to also be interested in the conservation biology of threatened and endangered marine organisms and their habitats.

Current Research Projects

Innovations in remotely monitoring Steller sea lions and their predators

Society Memberships

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
American Physiological Society
Canadian Society of Zoologists
Society for Marine Mammalogy

Selected Publications

Southwood, A. L., Andrews, R. D., Paladino, F. V., and Jones, D. R. (2005). Effects of diving and swimming behaviour on body temperatures of leatherback sea turtles in the tropics. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 78: 285-297.

Andrews, R.D. (2004). The population decline of Steller sea lions: testing the nutritional stress hypothesis. In: Experimental approaches to conservation biology, (ed. M. Gordon and S. Bartol). Berkeley: University of California Press, pg. 132-146.

Jones, D.R., Southwood, A.L., and Andrews, R.D. (2004). Energetics of leatherback turtles: A step towards conservation. In: Experimental approaches to conservation biology, (ed. M. Gordon and S. Bartol). Berkeley: University of California Press, pg. 66-82.

Cooke S.J., Hinch, S.G., Wikelski, M., Andrews, R.D., Kuchel, L.J., Wolcott, T.G., Butler, P.J. (2004). Biotelemetry: a mechanistic approach to ecology. Trends Ecol. Evol. 19(6):334-343.

Hochachka, P.W., Darveau, C.-A., Andrews, R.D., and Suarez, R.K. (2003). Allometric cascade: a model for resolving body mass effects on metabolism. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 134:675-691.

McPhee, J.M, Rosen, D.A.S., Andrews, R.D., and Trites, A.W. (2003). Predicting metabolic rate from heart rate in juvenile Steller sea lions, Eumetopias jubatus. J. exp. Biol. 206:1941-1951.

Darveau, C.-A., Suarez, R.K., Andrews, R.D., and Hochachka, P.W. (2003). Why does metabolic rate scale with body size?/Allometric cascades. Nature 421:714.

Andrews, R.D., Calkins, D.G., Davis, R.W., Norcross, B.L., Peijnenberg, K. and Trites, A.W. (2002). Foraging behavior and energetics of adult female Steller sea lions. In: Steller sea lion decline: Is it food II, ed. D. DeMaster and S. Atkinson, pp. 19 – 22. University of Alaska Sea Grant, Fairbanks.

Elliott, N.M., Andrews, R.D., and Jones, D.R. (2002). Pharmacological blockade of the dive response: effects on diving behaviour and heart rate in the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina). J. exp. Biol. 205:3757-3765.

Darveau, C.-A., Suarez,R.K., Andrews, R.D., and Hochachka, P.W. (2002). Allometric cascade: a unifying principle of body mass effects on metabolism. Nature 417:166-170.

Enstipp, M. R., Andrews, R. D. and Jones, D. R. (2001). The effects of depth on the cardiac and behavioural responses of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) during voluntary diving. J exp. Biol. 204: 4081-4092.

Andrews, R. D., Costa, D. P., Le Boeuf, B. J., and Jones, D. R. (2000). Breathing frequencies of northern elephant seals at sea and on land revealed by heart rate spectral analysis. Resp. Physiol 123:71-85.

Enstipp, M. R., Andrews, R. D. and Jones, D. R. (1999). Cardiac responses to first-ever submergence in the double-crested cormorant chicks (Phalacrocorax auritus). Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 124:523-530.

Southwood, A. L., Andrews, R. D., Lutcavage, M. E., Paladino, F. V., West, N. H., George, R. H. and Jones, D. R. (1999). Heart rates and diving behaviour of leatherback sea turtles in the Eastern Pacific ocean. J exp. Biol. 202:1115-1125.

Andrews, R. D. (1998). Instrumentation for the remote monitoring of physiological and behavioral variables. J. Appl. Physiol. 85(5):1974-1981.

Andrews, R. D. (1998). Remotely releasable instruments for monitoring the foraging behaviour of pinnipeds. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 175:289-294.

Webb, P. M., Andrews, R. D., Costa, D. P. and Le Boeuf, B. J. (1998). Heart rate and oxygen consumption of northern elephant seals during diving in the laboratory. Physiol. Zool. 71:116-125.

Andrews, R. D., Jones, D. R., Williams, J. D., Thorson, P. H., Oliver, G. W., Costa, D. P. and Le Boeuf, B. J. (1997). Heart rates of northern elephant seals diving at sea and resting on the beach. J. exp. Biol. 200:2083-2095.

Bradford, D. F., Gordon, M. S., Johnson, D. F., Andrews, R. D. and Jennings, W. B. (1994). Acidic deposition as an unlikely cause for amphibian population declines in the Sierra Nevada. California. Biol. Conserv. 69:155-161.