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