Michelle Caputo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Marine Sciences (Marine Mammal Ecology)
Location
Dr. Michelle Caputo is a cetacean ecologist and conservation biologist with 15 years experience in marine ecology. She has worked in variety of marine habitats across the globe, including in the Caribbean Sea, the north and south Atlantic, and the Western Indian Ocean, particularly focusing her research in understudied regions. Michelle’s work is largely field based, and her expertise includes trophic ecology and investigations of dietary niche, population ecology, and habitat modeling. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of cetaceans in their communities and their importance to ecological processes, such as food web dynamics, and nutrient cycling. Michelle is also a founder of Sound Ocean Science, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing marine ecological research and conservation application, particularly through community collaborations in understudied regions.
Credentials
Education
Expertise
- Conservation
- Ecosystem modeling
- Marine biology
- Marine mammal biology
- Population ecology
- Stable isotope analysis
Research
Current research
Understanding the trophic interactions of predators is critical to assess their role and importance in marine ecosystems. Dolphins can be locally abundant and have the potential to consume a considerable amount of prey due to their high metabolic rates and body size. As a consequence, they can strongly affect the structure and dynamics of communities and ecosystems. In addition to their roles as consumers in food webs, dolphin can also translocate and contribute to the recycling of nutrients within and across ecosystems. Despite their importance, an increasing number of species are declining due to human activities, including fisheries interactions, hunting, habitat degradation, and disturbance. Dr. Caputo's research focuses on how trophic ecology can elucidate the role of dolphins in marine food-webs and highlight the challenges to their conservation in low income economies.
Selected publications
My publications can be found at: