Behaviour is everything organisms do from the moment they are born until the moment they die. Ecology is all the resultant relationships among these organisms and with the environment. But everything that organisms do (including ourselves) has an impact on something else —we interact. We interact with the environment, with our peers, with other species. And these interactions have consequences.
At the LABIRINTO, we are interested in mapping the network that these behavioural and ecological interactions form to describe their nature and measure their consequences for organisms, populations, and communities. We study the intersections between behaviour and ecology both theoretically and in the field, combining computer models with real-world data. We focus on the interactions between humans and marine animals, because of their learning ability, social complexity, and the exciting fieldwork challenges they impose.
'Labirinto' is Portuguese for 'labyrinth', or 'a network of intercommunicating paths forming a complex system that causes bewilderment and perplexity'. Metaphorically, a 'labirinto' represents the web of complex relationships that Nature is, and the challenge that humans face of navigating without disrupting it.
Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences
Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University
Hatfield Marine Science Center
2030 SE Marine Science Drive
Newport, OR 97365, USA
Phone: +1 (541) 867-0357
Email: mauricio.cantor 'at' oregonstate 'dot' edu
Do you want to join the lab? Our letter to prospective postdocs and grad students is the place to start.
Prospective students can learn more about opportunities in the Marine Mammal Institute here
Would you like to support our research? Click here to see how
