Heidi J Auman, PhD
About Me
Dr Heidi J Auman has worked as researcher and science communicator for most of the past 30 years, focussed mainly on seabird biology. Her research is global in nature with a preference for isolated islands, including those of the US Great Lakes, sub-tropical Midway Atoll, sub-Antarctic Heard Island, and Tasmania. Her specialisations focus upon human impacts on seabirds, including plastic debris ingestion, toxicology, human disturbance, physiology, urbanisation and diet. She has demonstrated that our ecological footprint has reached the farthest corners of the Earth, often with disturbing consequences.
Current Occupations
October 2020 - present
Member, Board of Directors
Friends of Midway Atoll, National Wildlife Refuge
January 2011- present
Adjunct Lecturer/Honorary Associate, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies,
University of Tasmania
Lectures and supervises postgraduate students.
October 2011 - present
Research Outputs Officer, University of Tasmania
Reports on engagement and impact of high-quality research data of the University’s research to the federal government.
Collects, verifies and quality assures academics’ research outputs

Educational History
PhD in Zoology, University of Tasmania
Effects of anthropogenic food on the body condition, biochemistry, stable isotopes and egg quality in Silver Gulls Larus novaehollandiae in Tasmania
2004 - 2008
MSc in Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University
Plastic ingestion, biomarkers of health, PCBs and DDE in two species of albatrosses on Sand Island, Midway Atoll.
1992 -1994
BSc in Biology,
Alma College
Departmental Honors, Magna Cum Laude
Relationships of age, productivity and colony site tenacity in Great Lakes Caspian Terns
1989 - 1991